Despite the 49th annual NHRA Summernationals being all set to run this June at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, track officials there announced mid-January that effective immediately the facility would no longer host drag racing events. The unexpected news out of Englishtown, NJ, not only ended nearly five decades of tradition at one of the most storied and prestigious events on the NHRA trail; it threw the premiere schedule for the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body into sudden disarray.

Step forward Tommy Franklin, who last October with his wife, Judy, purchased Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP), with an offer to take over the June 8-10 race dates at a facility that last hosted an NHRA national event nine years ago.

“Basically, when the Englishtown race dropped out we reached out to NHRA at the same time they were looking for something to fill the hole, so it was just great timing,” said Franklin, who also is co-founder and now principal owner of the all-eighth-mile Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA). “When we got involved with VMP, we knew it would take something like that for us to even have a chance at bringing NHRA back on the schedule here, but we definitely didn’t plan on it.

Two-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Matt Smith revealed to Competition Plus Tuesday he has signed a deal with Joe Riccardi to compete fulltime in 2018.

“I’m going to ride a Suzuki this year for Joe,” said Smith, who won his world titles in 2007 and 2013. “It is all Vance & Hines power. They are doing the motors and Joe and I are going to collaborate on tuning and it should be an interesting deal.”

Mopar and Dodge//SRT are once again teaming up and taking aim at world titles in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, armed with an increased commitment to Top Fuel star Leah Pritchett and renewed support of two-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan for the 2018 season, which commences at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California, February 8-11.

The brands will take primary placement on Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Pritchett’s 330-plus mph NHRA Top Fuel Dragster at seven of 23 events on the 2018 NHRA schedule, more than triple from two races last season as primary sponsor.

“Mopar and Dodge have a winning heritage at the drag strip, and our brands are working even closer together in 2018 to continue that tradition with a lineup that includes Leah Pritchett, Matt Hagan and the entire Don Schumacher Racing organization,” said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA. “From the professional classes to the Sportsman ranks to the enthusiast experience, we are committed to connecting with NHRA racers and fans who are passionate about horsepower both at the track and on the street.”

NHRA announced a new NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event today, adding the NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., to the championship tour on June 8-10.

NHRA announced a new NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event today, adding the NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., to the championship tour on June 8-10. This event brings the number of 2018 national events back to 24. Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) was one of several tracks vying to host an NHRA event after an opening created by the cancellation of the event in Englishtown, N.J. 

There are easier ways to start a season, and for the Courtney Force Funny Car team, they'll be behind the eight-ball for at least one day.  In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, January 31, thieves hit the team's crew SUV in the parking lot of the Fairfield Inn in Chandler, Az., taking all four wheels and leaving the vehicle on blocks. 

After one month of voting, the final round of the Strange Engineering Throwback Showdown 2 has pared down to two Funny Car institutions - Jungle Jim (Jeff Diehl) and The Chi-Town Hustler (Tim Wilkerson). This race ends Friday, February 2, 2017 at 8 PM, EST. 

Team Kalitta is pleased to announce an extension with WIX Filters, a global manufacturer of filtration products.

The relationship will expand for the 2018 season as both J.R. Todd and Shawn Langdon will serve as WIX Filters’ lead National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drivers. WIX Filters will receive major associate branding on Todd’s DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car and Langdon’s Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry Funny Car. WIX Filters will also continue to serve as the Official Filters of Team Kalitta and have associate branding on the Top Fuel dragsters driven by Richie Crampton and Doug Kalitta.

After five months of serving as a massive storage facility for tens of thousands of flooded cars in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Royal Purple Raceway, site of the annual NHRA SpringNationals, will reopen March 2 with a brand-new racing surface among many other facility upgrades and improvements.
 
"We're very happy to reopen in March for the 2018 race season," General Manager Seth Angel said. "In this extended offseason we had a great opportunity to complete a series of major facility projects, most importantly the repaving of our race track."

Jeff Diehl and his Jungle Jim tribute avenged a painful loss in the inaugural Strange Throwback Showdown by stopping defending champion Del Worsham in the semi-finals on Friday.

Diehl will face Tim Wilkerson in the revered Chi-Town Hustler, who stopped Bob Bode in the Tom Hoover Showtime tribute.