Shawn Langdon understands there’s very little wiggle room. 

Langdon, the past NHRA Top Fuel champion in his freshman season as Funny Car driver, entered this weekend’s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals ranked ninth in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series points. 

Langdon has qualified for the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship every full season since he became a professional racer in 2009, as a team driver for Morgan Lucas Racing.  

 Justin Ashley knew the odds were definitely not in his favor, but he wasn't the least bit deterred in his effort. 

Ashley, who debuted a new 1-800-CASHOUT A/Fuel Dragster team this weekend during the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals qualified for the most prestigious drag race in the world with a car he only started for the first time a week ago, and with a team assembled two weeks ago. 

Defending Funny Car event champion J.R. Todd secured his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season Sunday evening at the 64th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Tanner Gray (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) secured the No. 1 qualifying position in their respective categories at the 18th of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

According Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Jimmy Underdahl, he is expecting to have a new teammate on the Underdahl-Stoffer operation next season. The team has backing from Suzuki Extended Protection.

“Next year, I should be back out here for the full season and we do have another rider, Jianna Salinas, who we are training right now, and she should be ready to go by next season,” Underdahl said.

No one can say Fernando Cuadra doesn’t know how to overcome adversity.
Cuadra was competing in NHRA’s Pro Stock class in 2004, and then he had to abruptly quit because of a natural disaster.

“In 2004, we were in the Tsunami in Indonesia,” Cuadra said. “We have a business established in North Sumatran, Medan, in front of Singapore. The Tsunami just hit the business. We had 1,500 people working for us on the island and it was full of snakes and lizards and all that. So, the company was based on exotic leathers. When they called me on December 27 and said, ‘did you see the Tsunami?’ Nobody knew what was going to take place. When I saw the news and tried to call them, and nobody answered, I sent people to Singapore and it was a disaster. It was washed out completely. Family, kids, wives, everybody was gone. Died. At that time, I sold all my equipment. Sold everything including my house.”

Since joining the NHRA Pro Stock ranks in Drew Skillman has had a strong run.

Skillman was NHRA’s Auto Club Road to the Future award winner in 2015, recognizing the sanctioning the body’s top rookie. In his Pro Stock career, Skillman has compiled seven career wins, including the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis last year. He also has finished fifth in the season points standings in 2015 and 2017.

Jimmy Daniels etched his name into Dodge Mopar Hemi Shootout history Friday evening at the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals .

Daniels, 22, of Yardley, Pa., won an unprecedented third consecutive title, the first all-1968 Dodge Dart by beating his 72-year-old Ray Barton Racing Engines teammate and No. 1 qualifier Gary Wolkwitz.

As they say in sports, the best competitors shine brightest on the biggest stage.

And that has certainly proven true for J.R. Todd.

Perhaps inspired by the late drag-racing legend Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen, to whom he has dedicated the paint scheme on his Scrappers Dragster this weekend, Mike Salinas cranked out a 3.756-second elapsed time at 321.04 mph to lead the Top Fuel field in Friday’s first day of qualifying for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

The recycling-center owner from San Jose, Calif., said he felt “like a little kid a candy store” even racing on this storied track (known now as Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis) for the first time.