The Zappia Racing crew traveled to Adelaide last week and attended the ANDRA Championship Dinner before Round 3, and driver John Zappia was presented with his Top Doorslammer Championship Gold Christmas Tree for 2015/2016 – his ninth back-to-back championship.
 
“Many thanks to ANDRA for supporting racers and Group 1, and Snap-on for the vouchers," Zappia said. "This Gold Christmas Tree is prestigious and I am so proud of what we have achieved as a team together for this Championship. It means everything to me as a racer and team owner – drag racing is our life. I presented my ANDRA Championship Jacket this year to longtime dedicated crew member Frank Cook, who works so hard for the team”.

Motorsports parts and equipment buyers packed the booths and overflowed into the aisles of the Indiana Convention Center on Friday during one of the busiest days in Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show history.

Day Two of PRI 2016 kicked off with a trio of Show-sponsored seminars focused on enhancing business and marketing, making connections and achieving success on- and off-track, and the themes carried over onto a Show floor that more than lived up to host city Indianapolis' tag as the Racing Capital of the World.

Courtney Force will roll into the 2017 season with a familiar name emblazoned on her Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car.

Force, the youngest daughter of 16-time NHRA champion John Force, will race with sponsorship from Advance Auto Parts, as part of a multi-year agreement announced on Friday at John Force Racing's Brownsburg, Ind.-based facility.

“I am thrilled to be driving the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car starting in 2017," said Force. "Last season, we made some big strides toward our first championship, and I am very confident in my team led by my crew chiefs, Dan Hood and Ronnie Thompson, and that next season can be even better. I love the look of this red, yellow and black Camaro and I can’t wait to get it into the winner’s circle."

Here's a sneak peek of "Trickie" Rickie Smith's 2017 ZL1 Camaro destined for battle in NHRA Pro Modified. The Jerry Bickel race car factory is cranking out these beauties at a rapid rate. 

Indy car legend Rick Mears and NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon helped pace the start of the 2016 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show with an unforgettable appearance at the Show's Grand Opening Breakfast in the Indiana Convention Center's Sagamore Ballroom Thursday morning. Hosted by MAVTV’s Dave Despain, this year's traditional kickoff event featured a lively hour-long talk show-style program with two of the best to ever pilot a race car.

“Day One of the 2016 PRI Show exceeded our expectations,” said PRI General Manager Bill Miller. “Rick Mears and Jeff Gordon set the tone at the opening breakfast, and on the show floor the day was filled with business and networking. There are so many new products debuting, lots of great seminars to attend and race professionals to meet with.”

Respected drag racing journalist and photographer John Baremans will officially take over as the new ANDRA Media & PR Officer on Monday December 12.

John takes the reigns from Tim Baker, who leaves the organisation on Friday, December 9, to take up a new sports media opportunity elsewhere.

As the 10,000 horsepower engine fired to life, Top Fuel driver J.R. Todd knew there was no turning back. His intuitions were confirmed as the crew lowered the Toyota Funny Car body, and he was motioned to move forward with the burnout. 

Todd was no longer a pilot of a 300-inch Top Fuel dragster but instead a rider in the most volatile drag racing vehicle on the planet - a fuel Funny Car. 

Todd made his first runs in a Funny Car earlier this week during a private test session in Bakersfield, Ca.

Elite Motorsports team owner Richard Freeman announced Thursday at the PRI Show that multi-time world champion drag racers Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Erica Enders will fight for the 2017 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock crown in a pair of RJ Racecars-built Chevrolet Camaros.
 
The move back to Chevrolet was widely anticipated as Freeman and Enders used the bowtie brand to capture the 2014 and 2015 titles for Elite Motorsports. Coughlin drove a Chevrolet to four of his five Pro Stock championships and also piloted a Chevy when he won the 1992 Super Gas world title.

ProMedia Events & Publishing is pleased to announce that Kurt E. Johnson has joined the team roster as Competition Director for the NMRA and NMCA event series. Johnson takes over for longtime ProMedia staffer Shannon Murphy, who will be stepping away from the role, but remains a part of the ProMedia family.

As Competition Director, Johnson will run on-track operations for both ProMedia series events, and will be working directly with Racing Operations Director Gene Bergstrom and General Manager Rollie Miller.

The Southeast Gassers Association, drag racing's strictest period-correct Gasser series, has confirmed they will not return to Greer Dragway in 2017. 

The SGA. a traveling series founded by past IHRA Pro Modified champion Quain Stott, began life at the historic drag strip located in the Upstate of South Carolina and traditionally opened and concluded their ten-race series at the eighth-mile track.