Tony Schumacher raced his U.S. Army dragster to the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifying position at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

Courtney Force (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the seventh event of 24 on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

It has been a tough stretch for NHRA nitro-class crew members as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series gathers for the third straight weekend for the Lucas Oil Southern Nationals.
 
Clint Brewer, the clutch specialist for Scott Palmer’s Marck Industries/Voodoo II Dragster, spent several days after last week’s race in the hospital at Charlotte with a ruptured intestine. And Palmer and his team kept vigil at the hospital. Palmer called Brewer “a very close friend to our entire team” and said that as soon as Brewer became ill “I’ve been more focused on his health than race stuff – he’s a great person and friend.”

One of the most historic days of Australian Drag Racing is in the record books – now overflowing with new standards from the 2017 Gulf Western Oil Nitro Thunder.

The re-surfaced racetrack at Sydney Dragway showed glimpses of promise on day one, but after a full day of racing it showed that it is a world class surface with Australian records and personal bests tumbling across the board.

A veteran drag racer was killed Friday morning at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho, the result of a pit area accident.

Mike Castellana powered to the qualifying lead Friday during the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by Pro Line Racing and FuelTech, is the fourth of 12 events this season.

Castellana ran a 5.739-second pass at 250.92 mph in the lone qualifying session in his Al Anabi Racing ’17 Camaro. Qualifying sessions for the Pro Mod series was cut short due to persistent rain.

Angelle Sampey is the current No 1. Qualifier for Pro Stock Motorcycle after a partial qualifying session due to inclement weather. NHRA officials ended racing for the day at the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

Sampey powered her Team Liberty Racing Victory Magnum bike to a 6.904-second pass at 193.16 mph during the lone qualifying session of the day.

NHRA Pro Stock driver Chris McGaha had made the tough decision and was going to stick with it. Then he won and winning changes everything.

McGaha appeared relaxed on the tree during qualifying for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals outside of Charlotte, and he had a good reason for being what some might call lackadaisical in getting off the starting line.

Public relations representatives Lee Montgomery and Mike Harker couldn’t have worn themselves out any more Thursday if they had been helping Funny Car icon John Force blow out candles on his birthday cake.

Force turned 68th years old Thursday, May 4. In honor of his birthday, they compiled some statistics and milestones related to Force and the No. 68. (Curiously, it doesn’t contain any mention that Force has said 68 times, “My wife loves me – she just don’t like me.”)

Here is the sum of their archive-digging:

Super Comp racer Jimmy Stahl of Boone, N.C., was responding to NHRA officials after his dragster went out of control in the shut-down area of a qualifying run. Stahl is being transported to Athens Regional Medical Center for further medical evaluation. 

The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Thunder delivered a spectacular opening day, providing some of the most memorable runs in Sydney Dragway History.
 
Racers were delivered an almost brand new racing surface, manicured and prepared over the last week by the Sydney Dragway Track Crew. Although some racers had question marks as to how best attack the new surface, any reservations were soon forgotten with personal best performances being delivered by over 20 racers over the course of Day 1.