This is a trend that has left nitro Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. smiling.

Johnson Jr. has qualified No. 1 at three consecutive races – Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., and now Las Vegas

Jeg Coughlin is keeping up the good fight to try and win his sixth career NHRA Pro Stock world championship.

Coughlin piloted his Jegs.com/Elite Performance Chevy Camaro to the top of the qualifying sheet with his 6.628-second lap at 206.73 mph Saturday at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Troy Buff’s most recent appearance on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series was in early August, at Seattle, where he qualified No. 11 and fell to Leah Pritchett in the first round. But his most recent visit to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a bit of an odd experience. Team owner Bill Miller had said at the NHRA Finals in November 2017 that he was stepping away from competition. Then Miller had second thoughts. He decided to go to the Phoenix race, No. 2 of 24, this February – where Buff started 13th and also ran up against Pritchett in Round 1.

NHRA Pro Stock teams reacted to the memo distributed on Friday, as they rolled their cars out of the trailer for Saturday's final qualifying sessions.

In a letter penned by incoming NHRA VP of Operations Josh Peterson, those teams were informed their 24-race schedule would be pared to 16 in 2019. The sanctioning body is awaiting feedback from the teams before making the move official, which management says is not a done deal.

NHRA distributed a letter to their Pro Stock teams Friday afternoon between qualifyign sessions at the NHRA Toyota Nationals insinuating their intentions to scale their 24-races down to 16. the sanctioning body is awaiting feedback from the teams before making the move official, which management says is not a done deal.

“We did send a letter to teams, but an official decision and announcement has not been made," NHRA President Glen Cromwell confirmed.

Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Joey Gladstone is butt-hurt – literally. And that’s why Cory Reed is back on the Team Liberty Buell this weekend at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“He crashed a jet ski and bruised his right butt cheek,” team owner Reed said with a laugh. “It has been a week now, but every time he goes to sit down, right before he hits [the seat], he goes ‘Ow-ow-ow.’ Poor guy. He’s butt-hurt.”

Mike Castellana improved on his No. 1 qualifying pass from Friday to remain atop the field going into race day at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the NHRA Toyota Nationals. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by Trask Performance, is the last race of the season for the category.
 
Castellana posted a run of 5.710-seconds at 252.80 during the first qualifying session of the day on Saturday in his '17 Camaro

Clay Millican remained a contender for the Top Fuel world championship securing his 10th No. 1 qualifying position on the season Saturday afternoon at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the fifth of six playoff events during the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

Reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion Bo Butner made his professional debut in the factory hot rod class in 2015, and the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the 88th Pro Stock race of his career. There in Vegas, Butner has had a fair share of success – including a double-up victory in Comp and Stock Eliminator in 2012 and his first Pro Stock final round in 2015. As the 2018 season of NHRA's Mello Yello Drag Racing Series comes to close, it is only fitting for Butner to announce his future drag racing plans at a facility that has held such significance for him for so long.

Clay Millican is doing everything possible to try and keep his NHRA Top Fuel world championship dreams alive.

Millican arrived at the NHRA Toyota Nationals this weekend at Las Vegas, the second to last race of the season, in second place 169 points behind Steve Torrence.