One needs to look no further than today's modern doorslammer chassis to see the contributions Don Ness made to its evolution. Those are not our words, but rather those of legendary Pro Stock icon Warren Johnson. There many out there who share the same sentiments. 

Ness, the heralded chassis builder from Minnesota, died on March 17, following an illness. 

If anyone knew Ness, it was Johnson, who purchased at least a dozen cars from the Picasso of bending and welding chassis tubing. 

The field for the K&N Horsepower Challenge will feature eight of the top Pro Stock drivers in the category and seven racers have secured their position in the starting field. The eighth position will be filled via a fan vote which is still open to the public to select their favorite racers.
 
Drivers that have already clinched a spot into the K&N Horsepower Challenge include Jason Line, Greg Anderson, Bo Butner, Shane Gray, Vincent Nobile, Drew Skillman and Allen Johnson.

John Force’s Funny Car victory Sunday in the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., was memorable for many reasons, including yet another milestone over the team’s 40-year existence in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

After winning all four rounds, and coupled with Robert Hight’s first-round victory, the team achieved the 2,500-round victory threshold for Funny Cars. Force’s final-round win over rookie Jonnie Lindberg sealed the deal.

Imagine a job where you go into your office, and you have a multitude of people in public forums, many of whom you've never met, screaming for your head on a platter, demanding you retire from your job. And for what? You enforced the rulebook as it is written. 

It's not all doom and gloom, as you have many private supporters and your team respects your challenging position. This doesn't make for good media fodder or social media banter. 

Welcome to Graham Light's world, NHRA's VP of Operations. He's the man in the NHRA with the thickest skin of them all. 

"When you’re doing something that was your hobby, that you have a passion for, then the time you invest in doing it doesn’t matter," Light said. "I don’t think everybody disagrees with my decisions all the time. We’re in a sport where we have two cars side by side, one winner, and one loser. One person’s unhappy, and one’s happy. And when you make a decision on a competition issue, one competitor’s happy and one’s not. 

Veteran Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan is going off road racing again in 2017.

Cory Mac, as he is known, finished in sixth place in the points standings in the Lucas Oil Off Road Regional 2016 season.

Jeff Conley has been named as NHRA’s North Central Division Director (Division 3). The North Central Division includes tracks in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and is home to four NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events. Conley began working with the North Central division in 2007 as a member of the certification team.
 
“I’m excited to continue in this position and further my career with NHRA,” Conley said. “I look forward to meeting and working with our member tracks, competitors and sponsors.  I am excited to have an opportunity to grow the sport of drag racing and enhance all programs.”   

As the president of a motorsports venue that annually welcomes more than 500,000 fans for sportsman and professional drag racing, Bill Bader, Jr. was proud to announce the installation of a state-of-the-art lighting system in 2016 to illuminate both sides of the track surface at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Designed by Musco, it cost $400,000 and features 15 steel poles on the Budweiser side of the park from the head of staging to the sandtrap, where an additional pole is located on the Summit side of the park.

Nitro Funny Car legend John Force added another line to his illustrious resume Sunday.

The 16-time NHRA world champion, driving his PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, beat Jonnie Lindberg to capture the title at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Tony Schumacher denied team colleague Leah Pritchett a chance to write NHRA Top Fuel history by making some of his own Sunday at the Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.

He broke a tie with Florida favorite son “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Joe Amato, and Larry Dixon in becoming the most successful in his class at this spring classic. His fifth victory here came as he defeated yet another Don Schumacher Racing mate, Antron Brown, in the final round.

Eddie Krawiec’s journey Sunday to his 37th NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle victory and repeat triumph at the Amalie Oil Gatornationals began with a scare and ended with a score.

Nearly pitched off his heavily leaning Harley-Davidson during his first-round race against Mike Berry, Krawiec held on.