Fresh-faced and brimming with anticipation, 11-year-old Bob Tasca III attended his first NHRA national event in 1987 and scrambled straightaway into the line of fans. They all wanted Ford Motor Company and Pro Stock king Bob Glidden’s autograph.

There in the corner of his trailer sat Glidden on a stool, happily obliging. Young Tasca’s grandfather had coined the phrase “Win on Sunday – Sell on Monday!” and rolled out countless Escorts, Tempos, Tauruses, Broncos, F150 pick-ups, and Aerostar vans on behalf of close friend Henry Ford. Just the same, the precocious young son/grandson of his dealership-owner namesakes waited his turn in line.

Defending Funny Car event winner J.R. Todd powered to the top of the category Friday evening during the single qualifying session at the 64th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

At least three sportsman categories solidified their qualified fields during the second day of the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals outside of Indianapolis.

Stock Eliminator was king as the day was reserved for class eliminations in everything from the quickest to the slowest.

Paul Wong remained the top runner after four sessions with a 13.485 in his V-6 1987 El Camino, -2.015 under the V/Stock Automatic standard. The 128-car field required at least an -.885 to get in the field which was anchored by Bill Bagley and his 1973 Plymouth Duster.

Gary Wolkwitz raced his Super Stock 1968 Dodge Dart to the top spot during qualifying for the NHRA Dodge HEMI® Challenge, the popular race-within-a-race held during the NHRA U.S. Nationals. Wolkwitz will start from the pole for the second consecutive year as he seeks his first career win at the Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis facility.

The event, now in its 18th season, comes during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Mopar-powered 1968 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda Super Stock cars that compete in the fan-favorite event. The iconic 42.6-lb NHRA Dodge HEMI Challenge trophy and $15,000 winner’s purse will be on the line tomorrow during eliminations. All drivers finishing in the top 16 will receive cash rewards.

The good thing about NHRA's Stock Eliminator is the oddest of combinations can emerge as the king of the hill over the obvious favorites.

Let the record reflect Paul Wong could do no wrong in the first two sessions of Stock Eliminator qualifying at the Chevrolet U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway outside of Indianapolis.

Growing up, Top Fuel racer Mike Salinas was admittedly a huge Snake and Mongoose fan, having watched them race at Fremont Dragway. Once, Salinas fondly recalls, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme let Salinas set in his car when he was just 8-years old, and from there the passion was set in stone. He  drew no greater pleasure than in watching Prudhomme and his friendly rival Tom "Mongoose" McEwen battle it out on the drag strip. 

Race Winning Brands, Inc. (RWB), a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, LLC is pleased to announce the acquisition of Dart Machinery, LTD. (Dart), a performance industry leader and manufacturer of high-performance engine blocks, cylinder heads, and intake manifolds. 

Dart’s founder, Richard Maskin, will continue to play a leading role within the organization as a partner and Chairman of Research & Development. Maskin founded Dart Machinery in his two-car Oak Park, Michigan garage in 1981. Maskin is an icon within the racing industry stemming from his technical acumen. The 2015 Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee has earned multiple National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock world championships as an engine builder, while Dart-equipped racers have dominated professional and sportsman racing for decades.  

Rapisarda Autosport International will return to the NHRA Mello Yello series at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, August 29-Sept. 3.

Wayne Newby will drive for the team with tuning duties shared between Santino Rapisarda and Santo Rapisarda Jr.

Forgive John Force if he didn't truly understand the way the process worked.

Force was on the receiving end of a phone call from an NHRA Marketing Department rep who needed an answer yesterday.

"Force, we need your choice for your walk-up song ... now!"

And without hesitation, Force exclaimed, "Take this job and Shove it!"

He was only 10-years old, but J.R. Todd clearly understood the impact of the moment.

Todd, then a Jr. Dragster racer was part of a group invited to perform an exhibition of the new "little league" version of drag racing at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. The impressionable kid was in the staging lanes as the legends rolled in alongside his half-scale race car.

Fast forward 26 years later, the same kid emerged as a seasoned veteran drag racer as he crossed the finish line first to capture his first career NHRA U.S. Nationals title.