During the offseason, NHRA Funny Car and Top Fuel driver Blake Alexander took a massive leap in his drag racing career when he became a team owner.

Alexander purchased Brian Stewart’s Funny Car and in partnership with savvy veteran Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson, announced he would attend 12 races in 2019 as a team owner and driver with primary sponsorship from Pronto Auto Service Center.

Clay Millican plans to go back to where it all began.

For the first time since his Top Fuel debut in 1999, Millican and the Chicago White Sox will partner for the NHRA Route 66 Nationals outside of Chicago, Ill.

The 2019 NHRA Heartland Nationals will be a race to remember for Evel Knievel fan and Top Fuel Dragster pilot Scott Palmer. In collaboration with the Evel Knievel Museum and the Knievel family, Palmer will honor the late daredevil with an Evel-themed dragster, driving suit and helmet June 7-9 in Topeka, Kansas.

Troy Coughlin Jr. began his first-ever Division 1 championship charge with a strong runner-up finish that, combined with a No. 1 qualifying effort, let the rest of the "Land of NED" know the JEGS.com McPhillips Racing Top Alcohol Dragster will be a force all season.

After running a stout 5.186-second pass at 278.98 mph in qualifying, Coughlin led the field into race day as the favorite to win it all. He then beat Brandon Greco and Jeff Veale in the first two rounds before losing on a holeshot to past world champion and defending event titlist Duane Shields.

Morris Johnson Jr. can’t help it. Every time he hears those lyrics from the famous Lee Greenwood song “Proud to be an American,” his eyes well up with tears.

“I am the kind of guy who looks at the flag for the greatest country in the world and gets goose bumps,” Johnson admits. “I get a tingle that I don’t know that everyone gets when they see the flag or the Star Spangled Banner is sung. When Lee Greenwood sang that song it became almost as popular as the national anthem.”

World championship NHRA crew chief Mike Green has been on a crew chief carousel.

Green began the season as the co-crew chief for Bob Tasca III’s nitro Funny Car team. On May 7, Green departed Tasca’s team and joined John Force Racing as the crew chief for the Top Fuel dragster driven by Austin Prock.

In Green’s first race with JFR, the Virginia Nationals last weekend in Richmond, Prock qualified No. 10 (3.824 seconds) and beat Richie Crampton in the first round before losing to Mike Salinas in the second round.

Rodger Brogdon’s Pro Stock Camaro will have a new look next weekend in Chicago.

The veteran driver announced a new sponsorship deal with DMG MORI, one of the largest machine tool builders in the world, for the rest of the 2019 NHRA season. That means a striking new wrap for Brogdon’s Camaro, which will debut at the upcoming Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

Life is good these days for NHRA racer Drew Skillman in the Sportsman ranks.

“This is about as good as it gets,” Skillman said. “Every time we go to the races, we win so I can’t really complain. Things have been really good.”

This season, Skillman has won two NHRA Factory Stock Showdown class races in Gainesville, Fla., and in Richmond, Va. He also won in Stock Eliminator in NHRA’s national event in Charlotte, N.C.

The 17th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion® presented by AAA Insurance will feature legendary guests and machines from drag racing’s past for a three-day celebration of American hot rods, racing, and more June 13 - 15 at historic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky. Leading the list of legends is Grand Marshal Randy Walls.

Changes are coming for the NHRA's Factory Stock Showdown division. NHRA's Technical Department announced on Thursday, May 23, 2019, the minimum weight for the 2015 Drag Pak combination has been reduced from 3,575 lbs. to 3,500 lbs.