Drag racing history is full of comeback stories, but Bob Tasca’s top-qualifying performance in the Funny Car class Saturday at the Lucas Oil Summernationals at Indianapolis has to rank among the most dramatic.

Just about three weeks or so ago, Tasca was lying in a bed at Kent County Hospital at Warwick, Rhode Island, fighting pneumonia in both lungs, coughing uncontrollably, and frightened by his heart rate fluctuating wildly – all side effects of coronavirus. His already thin body was dropping pounds almost as fast as his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang burns nitromethane. Despite taking precautions, he had been exposed to the virus during a family-only Fathers Day gathering at his parents’ house.

Bahrain 1 Racing’s Khalid Al Balooshi kicked off the NHRA E3 Spark Plus Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service by registering low elapsed time of both qualifying sessions Saturday to qualify No. 1 for Sunday’s eliminations at the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis.

He was quickest at 5.814 seconds at 249.07 mph in a ’19 Chevy Camaro on the 1,000-foot course at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – two-hundredths quicker than closest challenger and Bahrain 1 racing mate Jeffery Barker, of Kathleen, Ga., and his turbocharged ’18 Camaro (5.838 seconds).

Tony Schumacher has fielded the question at least a dozen times: Will you be back here in August for a third and possibly fourth time here at Indianapolis this year?

“I do not know. Me and Antron are talking about it. I sure would love to. I just don't have that answer,’ he said. “Love to have Global Electronic Technology behind us. And if they choose not to, we're going to keep working on finding the money to go and race.”

But so far, Schumacher said, he’s having a blast.

On the heels of SFG Promotions successfully completing the highest paying drag race in history - Jegs Performance SFG $1.1 Million presented by Allstar Performance - SFG team member AJ Ashe has decided to step away from the promotion business. For the last few months, AJ had been considering this move to allow him to spend more time competing on the big money bracket racing circuit.  

“With the success of the biggest SFG race to date behind us, AJ felt that now was the right time to make this change. AJ joined the SFG team in 2018 and has been an important part of the success at many of our events in these past two years” said Kyle Riley, CEO of SFG. 

The WebMD Corporation follows Paul Lee’s journey back to 330 mph Nitro Funny Cars after he suffered a widow-maker heart attack in 2016. “The Green Light” showcases the trials of Lee’s rehabilitation back to a healthy lifestyle both on and off the track.

WebMD, the leading source for trustworthy and timely health and medical news and information, accompanied Paul Lee at the 2019 AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals where they captured a brilliant perspective of Paul as the race car driver, but also has a heart attack survivor.  

NHRA announced that the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colo. (Aug. 7-9) and the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. (Aug. 14-16) have been postponed until further notice, for pandemic-related reasons.

NHRA also announced the new NHRA Indy Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis Aug. 6-9. Qualifying for the new Indy event will air on FS1 and final eliminations will air on the FOX Broadcast Network. The NHRA Indy Nationals will feature an extravaganza of professional and sportsman racing over four days, with limited spectators per Indiana guidelines

Greg Ozubko wasn't looking for a way to expand his VA Ink screen printing business as much as he just wanted to help others. Thus was born RacerMasks.com.

"When the pandemic hit, virtually so many of my suppliers that I buy tee shirts from were sending out emails about masks," Ozubko recalled. "Every day, I would get like more and more emails for blank masks. What they were really kind of trying to do was either selling you blanks or blanks that you could decorate. But masks, by their nature, are not very easy to screen print. And as I was thinking about it, it just occurred to me that I bet you could probably sublimate these things."

Ozubko's gears in his head started to turn as he checked with one of his suppliers, and they had indeed already started a mask program.

The Mopar Dodge//SRT Funny Car of Matt Hagan and Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster of Leah Pruett will be sporting new “Demon-possessed” SRT Hellcat Redeye paint schemes to battle the “dog days of summer” – traditionally associated with the start of a month of high heat, drought and adversity – that begin this weekend with the Lucas Oil National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Summernationals in Indianapolis. It is the second of two consecutive national events at Lucas Oil Raceway to restart the 2020 NHRA schedule after a four-month pause in competition.

The fierce-looking red-and-black paint schemes for the two Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) entries come on the heels of the early July public unveiling of the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world. With a top speed of 203 mph and quarter-mile elapsed time of 10.6 seconds at 129 mph, the 2021 Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye is designed and engineered to appeal to muscle car enthusiasts who want even more — more power, more performance and more bragging rights at the drag strip.