Robert Hight powered to the provisional qualifying lead Friday evening at the 33rd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. behind a record-breaking run.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also top qualifiers in their respective categories at the second of six playoff events during the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

Defending NHRA Dodge Nationals champion and ten-time national event winner Vincent Nobile is apparently done for the season.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned NHRA, in the 2018, is going to require nitro Funny Cars to run the same rev limiter settings that are currently being run in Top Fuel which is 7900 RPM.
Glen Gray, NHRA’s Vice President of Technical Operations, addressed why the Funny Cars will have identical rev limiters as and Top Fuel dragsters next season.

“To curtail the escalation of speed in the Funny Car category,” Gray said. “Funny Car top speeds have increased by more than 10 mph over the past two years. While Funny Car speeds today are not an issue. If speeds continue to escalate at this rate, we could have safety issues a few years from now. This is a proactive measure.”

Robert Hight and Jimmy Prock.

Both are legends in their own right. One, a masterful racer with a championship and nearly 50 wins under his belt. The other, a nitro whisperer who can tune a machine to do the impossible. Together, they have formed a dangerous duo.

Capable of both record runs – Hight currently owns both the national records for speed and elapsed time with the National Hot Rod Association – and remarkable consistency, the pair have leapt into the favorite position for the Funny Car championship following a win earlier this week at the NHRA Carolina Nationals to kick off the 2017 Countdown to the Championship.

There has been plenty of talk about the small NHRA Pro Stock counts at national events during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

One racer who has put his name in the Pro Stock fray is Alan Prusiensky. He’s been at every national event since the Chicago race in July of 2016.

Prusiensky enters the Dodge Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., this weekend, 11th in the point standings.

Prusiensky, who resides in Rockaway, N.J., campaigns his Dodge Dart with his company – ARCRACEENGINES.com as his primary sponsor.

“It just comes down to power,” Prusiensky said. “It has nothing to do with the changes (in the Pro Stock class). We’ve got to get better, we’ve got to make more power. I only race carburetors for one year so it wasn’t like I had a big history with carburetors and then I switched over (to fuel-injection). I like the fuel injection so we just need to make more power and better runs.”

Remember when Radial Vs. The World cars were merely based on making the tires work? Chris Daniel's new Jerry Bickel-built RVW Camaro represents a changing trend in these niche-built cars where aerodynamics are soon to play an important role. The slick piece is headed to ProLine engines. Headed for pro line to get engine work installed. 

One thing is for sure at any NHRA event; the drivers know how to show their appreciation for the fans, whether it is through autograph signing, posing for photographs… or helping a couple tie the knot.

NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman has now performed his services as an ordained minister at several NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events, the latest of which were wed Saturday afternoon behind the Don Schumacher Racing hospitality units at zMAX Dragway.

“A lot of people want that highly religious, God-surrounding type of wedding, and I’m not that guy,” explained Beckman. “I married a couple in Reading two or three years ago and they asked me if I would do it. And I said, ‘Well, I can’t, I wouldn’t know how to do something like that.’ And they go, ‘Well, it’s easy.’ They gave me the website to go to. You log in, you become an ordained minister, and away you go.

This slick piece is another masterpiece rolling out of the Jerry Bickel Race Cars doorslammer factory. This beauty belongs to Pro Nitrous standout Lee Atkins, and is destined for PDRA competition with a husky Reher-Morrison-built, nitrous-injected powerplant.

Kryptonite Kustomz, a full-service, custom vinyl wrap company based in Broken Arrow, OK, announced it has signed on as a 2018 full-season sponsor with the Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS). Kryptonite Kustomz founder and owner Chris Davis confirmed, however, that the company will begin its sponsorship this Oct. 13-14, with the MWPMS event at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park, and then will attend and support all MWPMS races throughout next year.

“We’ve worked with (track co-owner) Keith Haney at Tulsa Raceway Park for several years and with him also promoting the Mid-West Pro Mod Series, where most of our drag racing customers are, it makes a lot of sense for us to get involved,” Davis said. “I like to support the guys who support me is what it really comes down to, so I see a great future for Kryptonite Kustomz with the Mid-West series.”

Bob Tasca III and his AutoAlert Ford Mustang return to a familiar race track for Tasca.

“It feels like it’s been an eternity since I was in the seat. Coming off a semifinal appearance at Norwalk, it killed me to have to sit on the sidelines all summer waiting for the Maple Grove race I can’t wait to get back out there.”