Chip Ellis dipped into the 6.7-second range and leapfrogged both of his Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Street Rod teammates early Saturday in Pro Stock Motorcycle to lead qualifying for the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Madison Ill.

He held on through the final session, and his 6.764-second elapsed time at 196.76 mph on the Gateway Motorsports Park quarter-mile gave him the 17th No. 1 start of his career and his first since the September 2015 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.  

Mike Castellana set the national elapsed time record Saturday afternoon in front of a sold out crowd to clinch the No. 1 qualifying position at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by Real Pro Mod Association, is the ninth of 12 races this season.

Castellana powered his ‘17 Camaro to a 5.676-second pass at 255.39 mph to set the record. This is his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 12th of his career as he chases his first victory of the season. He will face Shane Molinari in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.
 

Steve Torrence piloted his Top Fuel dragster to the No. 1 spot during the final round of qualifying Saturday evening in front of a sold-out crowd at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Robert Hight (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the second of six payoff events during the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

The NHRA’s latest track preparation method is geared to slow down the nitro-powered cars. But once in awhile, weather conditions and surface conditions combine to give racers that thrill of swinging for the fences again. It happened Saturday at Madison, Ill., with cooler temperatures during the last day of qualifying for the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, and Funny Car’s Robert Hight called it “Candyland.”

He and crew chiefs Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham indulged in the sweet opportunity and enjoyed the taste of success Saturday.

Courtney Force leaped from 11th place in the Funny Car order to first Friday night at the NHRA’s AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals near St. Louis, drawing a bead on her 12th No. 1 start of the season in 20 races.

Just as on so many weekends before during this season, she dominated this overflow field with a 3.881-second elapsed time at 331.04 mph on the 1,000-foot Gateway Motorsports Park course at Madison, Ill. But she said she wasn’t convinced it would hold up, with several pairings to follow hers.

Clay Millican carried out a Top Fuel duel Friday night at Gateway Motorsports Park with Steve Torrence that might be a preview of how the Countdown will play out in its latter stages.

Millican led the opening qualifying session of the NHRA’s AAA Midwest Nationals at Madison, Ill., with a commanding 3.757-second elapsed time at 326.24 mph on the 1,000-foot course.

Thirteen year old Alex Mee has today made treasured memories at Mildura’s Sunset Strip Dragway thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group.

Growing up in a drag racing family, Alex has always dreamt of racing himself however after being diagnosed with the terminal disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), it appeared this dream would never come true.

However, today Alex realized his dream of travelling the drag strip, with the car-loving youngster able to ride in a specially-liviried Junior Dragster as it was pushed by a golf cart to the start line and then down the drag strip* while his family, friends and racing community watched on decked out in special 'Alex Mee' race gear and clutching their special edition 'Alex Mee' racing posters.

Mike Bowman, Oak Hills, Calif., was involved in an incident during the second qualifying session of the E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

At the end of his pass in his ’69 Chevelle, the parachutes failed to open, and his car came to rest in the catch fence in the sand trap. “It felt like it made a decent run, I went to throw the chutes out and didn’t feel like they came out. I’m fine; it’s just one of those bad deals.”

Courtney Force raced to the provisional qualifying lead in Funny Car on Friday night at the seventh annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock), and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the second of six playoff events during the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

Mike Janis raced to the current No. 1 qualifying position at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by Real Pro Mod Association, is the ninth of 12 races this season.

Janis powered to the top spot in his ’69 Camaro when he posted a pass of 5.725-seconds at 248.02 mph.