This past November 11, John “Jed” Copham, the owner of Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway passed away in a swimming accident near Sanibel Island along Florida’s Gulf Coast. He was 46.

The loss was devastating to the local racing community, yet Jed’s wife, Kristi vows to continue with her commitment to racing at BIR for the 2019 season.

Peaceful coexistence was nothing more than wishful thinking when it came to the nitrous versus supercharger combination racing in the Quick Eights, the formative years of Pro Modified. The nitrous to blown ratio at the time was roughly nine to one on the IHRA tour and even lesser in the southeastern Quick Eight events.

If you had a supercharger, you might as well have been a leper.

There might have been a blown car in the mix from time to time, but in the southeast, the blown cars were largely “California” cars and that stuff just didn’t fly out on the east coast where most of the IHRA races were.  And, the nitrous cars didn’t really concern themselves with the racers with the appendage protruding from the hood.

This offseason has been quite busy for NHRA Top Fuel driver Mike Salinas.

Earlier this week, he brought world championship crew chiefs Alan Johnson and Brian Husen to tune his dragster.

With Johnson and Husen onboard it brings high expectations which Salinas welcomes. Salinas finished in a tie for seventh in the NHRA Mello Yello Series points with Doug Kalitta.

If you raced Top Sportsman during the years of 1986 through 1989, it was important that you brought a label to the race. Usually that label was the world’s fastest [insert car year and make here] and that was usually enough of a calling card to generate match races, t-shirt sales and magazine articles.

There was no official World’s Fastest Group per se, but the ability to claim a niche in the fast-growing class was enough for the multitude of teams in the fledgling movement to seek out a unique identity.

R.C. Sherman’s unheralded introduction didn’t inspire any real titles, but when Dave Bishop proclaimed Charles Carpenter’s 1955 Chevy as the “World’s Fastest ’55 Chevy” – those immortal words spoken by a part-time journalist was enough to inspire other racers.

Two-time NHRA Funny car champion Cruz Pedregon will make a manufacturer switch in 2019, stepping away from Toyota to Dodge bodies.

"We are going to have Dodge Charger bodies," Pedregon confirmed Friday, January 11, in a Facebook live broadcast. "I am very excited about that. I've been with Toyota for many years but times have changed. We have moved on, and we wish them luck in the future.

"I've been a Dodge fan for many years. It's good to be with them, and I look forward to a long term relationship."

If Bruton Smith taught the city leaders of Concord, NC one thing, a strip owner has options. Smith threated to pack up his historic race track and move to another town if his drag strip proposal was not approved.

Chris Payne, who became the owner of Heartland Motorsports Park last January, has made a declaration of his own to the Shawnee County (KS) leaders. He's tired of fighting over property taxes and ready, will and able to bulldoze the current facility and move closer to Kansas City and construct another multi-faceted racing facility.

 If you’re a Pro Modified fan, March 10 is your Independence Day.

On a Saturday afternoon in 1990, within the small racing hamlet of Darlington, SC., a group of doorslammer racers declared their independence from Top Sportsman eliminator and became the first true professional addition to the drag racing fraternity since 1969 when Jim Tice’s AHRA introduced Pro Stock.

This time it was the IHRA’s opportunity to be the first to introduce a professional eliminator that it had developed and nurtured within the sportsman ranks, and after nine years of weaning was ready to leave the nest and stand on its own.

Top Fuel fans can expect the Scrappers dragster of Mike Salinas to be scrappier than usual in 2019.

NHRA.com reported Brian Husen will continue as crew chief for the independent team with Alan Johnson serving as tuning advisor. It is believed this will be their primary tuning effort, with the duo not returning to John Force Racing.

At the Route 66 Nationals – the NHRA race at which his family’s company shines with the JEGS Allstars countrywide competition-within-a-competition – a pessimistic fan harassed Troy Coughlin Jr.

The Top Fuel rookie was in 10th place in the standings with just four round-wins in 12 races. He was on a slide of what turned into eight straight first-round losses. And as he walked past some fence-hangers, one of them blurted out some ugly accusations: “Hey, Coughlin! You’re terrible! Why don’t you learn how to drive?!” And he kept it up.

Naturally, it bothered Coughlin. He’s human. But it especially bothered Brenna, his longtime girlfriend who since has become his wife. Her instincts made her wish she could put the heckler in his place. But Coughlin urged restraint. He told Brenna, whose dad happens to be a pastor, “Remember what Jesus said to the people who were mocking Him when He was on the cross?” He was referring to the scripture in the Gospel of Luke that tells that Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

NHRA officials announced today that Magic Dry Organic Absorbent will be the title sponsor of the second race of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The 35th annual Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals will take place Feb. 22-24 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix.

Based in Tulsa, Okla., Midwest Organics is the parent company of Magic Dry Organic Absorbent and CatSpot Organic Cat Litter, which was the title sponsor of the 32nd annual CatSpot Organic Cat Litter NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle last season.