Courtney Force raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday evening at the eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel) Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional qualifying leaders at the sixth of 24 events on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Tory Coughlin raced to the qualifying lead for the NHRA J&A Service Drag Racing Series portion of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. This is the third of 12 events on the schedule and this weekend’s Pro Mod event is co-sponsored by JEGS.com and Plugfones.

The category is racing in the four-wide set-up for the first time in class history. Coughlin quickly adapted to the format with a run of 5.770-seconds at 254.95 mph in his JEGS.com Chevrolet Corvette. Coughlin posted the No. 1 time during the second qualifying session.

John Muldowney, the son of drag racing icon Shirley Muldowney, died of a blood clot Thursday at the age of 59 in Springfield, Mo.
 
John Muldowney was the only child of Shirley Muldowney and her first husband Jack. He worked on Shirley Muldowney's dragsters throughout her driving career and has since worked for a variety of other teams, machine shops and fabricators.

However, the decorated soldier still craves victory in the one battle he's never won; a fight which is likened to a war when four 10,000-horsepower dragsters run simultaneously. The unique format of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, scheduled for this weekend at zMAX Dragway, the palatial drag strip located on the grounds of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC.
 
If anyone knows this war is hell, it's Schumacher. 
 

In an average high school senior's life, there are important issues to deal with. There's picking out the right college, getting ready for the Junior - Senior Prom, and eagerly anticipating graduation. 

With all due respect, Tanner Gray isn't your average high school senior. 

Gray, who turned 18 on April 15, already has one Pro Stocck victory to his credit in Las Vegas and has never finished lower than quarter-finalist. 

"My dad and my grandpa definitely paved a path for me that there should be the results," Gray explained. "They definitely put in a lot of hard work in this race team, and they’ve put forth a lot of effort and money to make this race team the caliber that it is. I’m definitely very blessed to have been able to hop in a car that good and go win my fourth race ever. 

Alexis DeJoria will not compete in the eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals this weekend in Charlotte, N.C.
 
DeJoria must step away from the driver’s seat to deal with a family matter. Although she will not attend the Charlotte event, it is important to DeJoria that her team still have the opportunity to make a run for the Four-Wide Wally. In her absence, DeJoria has appointed Kalitta Motorsports Director of Safety and established Funny Car driver Chad Head, to pilot the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry.

Pro Stock favorite Shane Tucker will return to the states to compete this weekend at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Tucker currently plans on attending 14 races in 2017 and running their own engine program all season.
 
“I’m really excited about running our own stuff this year,” Tucker said. “It’s been a long time coming to run our own program. My dad has always built our engines back in Australia and to run our own stuff this year will be really rewarding. I hope we can get some good results; it’ll be that much sweeter when we do.”

The Jim Dunn Racing 7-Eleven / Oberto Beef Jerky Dodge Funny Car returns to drag racing action this weekend at the Charlotte NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.  The team will start the event by making an appearance with its Funny Car display and driver autograph session at the 7-Eleven store in Concord near I-85 and Bruton Smith Blvd close to zMAX Dragway this Thursday, April 27, from 5:00-7:00pm.
 
Jim Dunn Racing enters this weekend’s 4-Wide Nationals with a Top 10 position in the NHRA Funny Car points standings.  Team Manager Jon Dunn is looking forward to the annual 4-Wide spectacle.  “We are excited to have the 7-Eleven and Oberto colors back on the Funny Car this weekend.  It’s always fun to see the large crowds that come out for the 4-Wide race to enjoy the sights, sounds, and overall sensory experience of four nitro Funny Cars at a time.

JEGS.com, a worldwide leader in high performance parts, and Plugfones, a hearing-protection company, have been named co-presenting sponsors for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 28-30 at zMAX Dragway, NHRA announced. It is the third of 12 races during the 2017 NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series season, and also the first time the series will take part in the popular and unique four-wide racing format.
 
“The NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series continues to grow and the chance to race four-wide for the first time in 2017 is something everyone is looking forward to,” said Brad Gerber, NHRA vice president and chief development officer. “JEGS.com and Plugfones are great partners for the Pro Mod series and have been instrumental in its development.”

Pro Modified, a 10-race series which competes as a part of the NHRA's championship drag racing platform, has been described as putting three species of wild territorial animals in a cage and expecting them to get along. 

The volatile division features full-bodied cars with three different power adders racing under three different sets of rules. Those combinations include nitrous oxide-injected engines utilizing either carburetors or electronic fuel injection, superchargers or turbochargers. Maintaining parity has been a never-ending proposition for the NHRA's technical department. Establishing peace has rarely ever been achieved.