Don Schumacher Racing is calling it Tommy Johnson Jr.’s “31st ‘Nitro-versary.'” That’s a great word – and the Funny Car racer has a great fondness for Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. It’s where he began his professional career in 1989 in a Top Fuel dragster.

Now, 472 races later, the M.D. Anderson Dodge Charger Hellcat driver is looking for his 20th victory. He has two victories in the Top Fuel class and 17 in Funny Car, putting him in an elite group of double-nitro winners. He was the 12th of only 17 ever to do that.

Johnson credited “a lot of people who helped along the way. There’s a lot of right place / right time, a lot of luck, and a lot of work. There’s stuff I didn’t want to do, but I did it. A lot of things have to line up. People always ask, ‘How do I get into this?’ I tell them, ‘First off, it takes a little money. Secondly, it takes a ton of work and sacrifice and commitment. Otherwise, you’re never going to make it.’”

It didn’t take Steve Torrence long to make an impact at the Arizona Nationals Friday.

Torrence, the reigning two-time NHRA Mello Yello Series Top Fuel world champion, who sat out the season-opening Winternationals earlier this month, didn’t show any signs of rust as he piloted his family-owned CAPCO contractors dragster to a 3.671-second elapsed time at 326.48 mph at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix

Matt Hagan has begun the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Series season on a roll – at least in qualifying.

For the third event in a row – dating back to 2019 – Hagan powered his way to the provisional nitro Funny Car pole.

A two-year quest comes to a head this weekend for a blind racer.

Dan Parker of Columbus, Ga., who was left without sight following a 2012 drag racing crash, will attempt to break the speed record of 200.9 mph held by a blind racer from England, Mike Newman. Parker, the 2005 ADRL Pro Nitrous world champion, will pilot a Corvette -- a car he’s spent the past two-plus years constructing -- at Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, N.M., on Saturday and Sunday.

Parker’s attempts will come in a 2008 C6 ‘Vette sponsored primarily by strutmasters.com and Harbin’s Mechanical. He bought the car, minus engine and interior, after it had been in a flood, and he’s installed a Fulton Competition-built 427 cubic-inch engine built with a 14:1 compression ratio.

John Gaydosh Jr is returning to Pro Stock with Beaver Motorsports at the 2020 NHRA AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, March 12-15, in Gainesville, Florida.

Gaydosh recently sold his racing operation and has been out of the driver’s seat for nearly a year.

Beaver Motorsports is making their Pro Stock team debut with the support of Strutmasters.com, Beaver Bonding, T Parke Services, MB Auto, Gaydosh Performance, RacerDirect.com, Norwood Towing, and a technical alliance of Kenny Delco Racing and Engines from Frank Inconio Racing Engines.

Alex Laughlin announced Tuesday that he will be competing in the Caruso Family Racing Pro Mod Camaro at the Inaugural World Door Slammer Nationals March 6-8 at Orlando Speedworld Dragway with ATI Performance Products as a Primary Sponsor. 

“When this race was announced, I just knew I had to find a way to double enter in Pro Stock and Pro Mod”, said the reigning U.S. Nationals Champion. “After racing both classes competitively last year, we couldn’t let this opportunity pass without attempting a double-up. The Caruso’s planned on being in Gainesville for the Gators, but had no plans of running the Orlando race as of yet, so we quickly came to an agreement where I would run the car.” 

This video was shot by Wayne Holland at an IHRA points race held at Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip in North Georgia, just South of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

A building was blocking the view down track but there's some good starting line footage with some excellent sound. NHRA killed the Modified division in 1981, but over in the IHRA it ran strong for a long time. 

CompetitionPlus.com readers can win big, as six drag racing fans found out yesterday.

CompetitionPlus.com, a trusted source for drag racing news for the last two decades, rewarded six full subscriptions to the NHRA.tv live streaming service for the 2020 season.

Jimmy Essex, who has been a reader of CompetitionPlus.com for the last year, was the first winner selected.