Justin Ashley was about as green as a driver could be. 

Ashley, a rookie in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks last season, showed just how much of a novice he was by going out and qualifying No. 1 in his first-ever race. The next week he went all the way to the winner's circle at the NHRA Gatornationals. 

So much for the learning curve.

There's always the sophomore season, but for Ashley, he cannot wait for the opportunity to showcase what he's learned as a second-year driver for Top Alcohol Dragster icon Randy Meyer. 

In the wake of Lights Out 9, the first of two annual drag radial celebrations he’s staged since 2011 at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP), Donald “Duck” Long has precious little time to regroup. His sister event, No Mercy 8, isn’t scheduled until this fall, but Long is experimenting with a unique, limited-access third race this year, with his inaugural Sweet 16 going off Mar. 22-24, at the track just a few miles north of Valdosta, the southernmost city in Georgia.

Long awarded “Stevie Fast” Jackson a cool $50K Feb. 11, after he capped off Lights Out 9 with a final-round win over Keith Haney in Radial vs. the World, the 3.7-second, 200-mph headlining class for Duck’s events, which routinely draw 400-plus entries and well over 20,000 spectators each time weekend he visits SGMP. Ironically, it’s that kind of success that led Long to create a new, more intimate format for Sweet 16, one that not only drops the RvW qualified field from his traditional 32 to 16 cars, but makes it the lone official class (though 16 No Time grudge racers will battle it out, too), and even limits admission to a paltry 500 tickets sold. 

Richie Stevens Jr. confirmed to Competition Plus he will be competing full time in NHRA’s Pro Mod Series in 2018 and he will be driving a Camaro for Al-Anabi Racing and Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

“We are going to run all 12 NHRA Pro Mod races and about four or five of the PDRA races,” Stevens said. “I’m just grateful for KH to give me the opportunity to do this. The car will be the best of the best and everything he’s always done has been top notch. He’s going to field four Pro Mod cars this year, Mike Castellana, myself, Mike Janis and Brandon Snyder. I will be the only nitrous entry, the other three are all going to be blower cars.”

Stevens drove for Al-Anabi Racing for the first time last season competing at NHRA’s U.S. Nationals and a PDRA race at Galot Motorsports Park in Benson, N.C. Stevens advanced to the semifinals in both races and he be will driving the same car in 2018.

The 11th edition of the Race & Performance Expo rolled into the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in suburban Chicago last week, and while it marks the prelude to the upcoming Midwest race season, this year it brought something extra - youth and enthusiasm.

Tom Stockenberg, Race and Performance Expo's Marketing Director reported strong attendance by racers, fans and hot rodders who visited with parts manufacturers, racetrack operators, car builders and dozens of swap meet vendors over two days. 

Seven-time and defending Gatornationals winner John Force will race a fan designed PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS at the upcoming NHRA Gatornationals March 16-18. PEAK reached out to fans across the nation for creative designs. William Codianni, 22 from San Diego, was selected from a group of finalist to have his “American Made” themed design adorn Force’s hot rod.

“There are no bigger American classics than the Chevrolet Camaro and John Force,” said Codianni. “I have so much pride in having my design a part of John Force and his Camaro Funny Car. What they both stand for as far as respect of the country and what the flag stands for is amazing.”

Against the backdrop of a giant American flag unfurled from the top of the control tower at the Texas Motorplex, the Frankenstein Engine Dynamics Mid-West Pro Mod Series got its 2018 season underway this past weekend with the Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet North vs. South Frankenstein Pro Mod Shootout. By the time the race teams were packed up and heading home from the track in Ennis, TX, Todd Martin had prevailed in his return to Pro Mod competition after a two-year layoff, Jeff Naiser won in Radial vs. the World, Kenny Hubbard took the X275 drag radial title, and Clint Hairston recovered from a first-round loss to win the MWPMS Slammer class for non-qualifiers and buyback Pro Mod entries.

“It was side-by-side racing almost every single pair that went down the track, just an amazing weekend,” stated Keith Haney, owner and promoter of the Mid-West Pro Mod Series and also a competitor. “The spectator count was good; we sold out of all hoodies and T-shirts. Our marketing partners were very happy; they loved what they saw. I couldn't have painted a prettier picture. It was just a remarkable, fast, great pace, over-in-a-day-and-a-half race.”

Things aren’t supposed to happen this quickly.

In only his second Top Fuel start, Greg Carrillo qualified No. 16 and then did the improbable by upsetting multiple-time world champions Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown before having his Cinderella day end at the Arizona Nationals, Feb. 25, with a loss to Scott Palmer in the semifinals.

The Jerry Bickel Race Cars hot rod factory has cranked out another beauty. This neat entry, destined for Top Sportsman, will run a Charlie Buck engine topped with a Brandon Switzer EFI unit.

The Frankenstein Engine Dynamics Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS) is pleased to welcome San Antonio-based VP Racing Fuels as its official fuel supplier for the 2018 racing season. The all-eighth-mile drag racing series staged its first race of the year this past weekend at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, TX, where VP Racing Fuels had product available to competitors.

"One thing about VP Fuels is that we've always strived to have the best fuels out there and when you look at these guys in the Mid-West Pro Mod Series, especially the nitrous Pro Mods, these guys need top-grade fuels in order to run right and go fast," VP Racing Fuels Midwest Regional Manager Jason Rueckert pointed out. "Being associated with the Mid-West Pro Mod Series allows us to showcase our products in the highest-horsepower, best-of-the-best combinations."