Alan Johnson knows both ends of the emotional spectrum at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, the legendary drag strip located in Indianapolis.

An iconic tuner by all nitro standards, Johnson has won drag racing's most prestigious event, the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals, an incredible eight times while crew chief for four different drivers. Three times he won it as a team owner, most recently in 2013 with Shawn Langdon. 

However, the one driver Johnson should have won the race with, weighs on his heart like a ton of bricks.

This weekend will mark 20 years since Blaine Johnson, Johnson's little brother, after setting low elapsed time at the 1996 U.S. Nationals, was killed in an accident at the Indianapolis facility. 

Bucky Hess walked away from an accident during Friday's Mopar Hemi Challenge. 

Hess, who drives the Kandy Kuda 1968 Plymouth Barracuda driven was blazing through eliminations after driving to the No. 1 qualifying earlier in the day. In the opening round, Hess knocked out Jim Keyes and his Barracuda then edged Eldon Baum Jr.'s '68 Dodge Dart to earn a bye run into the semifinals, but that was where his day came to an abrupt end.
 
Hess was a cool .005 at the starting line to Hebert's .047, but things went wrong quickly as smoke began to pour from the bright Kandy Kuda, a car painted by hand by Hess's son, Travis.

The line snaking from the roped-off pit area and across the pit entrance road told the story. While there are 34 entries in J&A Performance NHRA Pro Modified, none had an autograph line like the one behind Justin Shearer's pit area during first-day qualifying for the GM Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.  

Shearer, best known as Big Chief on the Discovery Channel's Street Outlaws reality show, made his NHRA debut; another move to bring more peace between the parties who have resolved a once adversarial relationship. 

Even Miss Cleo couldn't have seen this one coming. 

The renowned television psychic couldn't have predicted 18 races into the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello  Drag Racing Series defending Pro Stock champion Erica Enders and her super successful teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. would be fighting for the last two positions in the regular season point championship run. 

"Pro Stock is like any class in drag racing, and it all goes in cycles," said Enders, who came into this weekend's U.S. Nationals ninth in points. "Has it been frustrating? Absolutely it has because our Elite guys work so incredibly hard. People on the outside don't get to see that. I do. I see the time they spend in the shop and away from their families pushing to make these cars run faster. That's the most frustrating aspect."

There are crazier things that have happened than Vincent Nobile competing on a Pro Stock Motorcycle, but that is a subject that has been discussed.

“If NHRA would allow you to run two professional categories at once, my dad (John) has always wanted to build a bike and I’m pretty sure he would put me on one and we’d do both. I’ve never been on one (a Pro Stock Motorcycle), but I would try it out.”

Veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Hector Arana Jr., who is marrying Vincent’s sister – Nicole Dec. 10 – shared his thoughts about Vincent getting on a two-wheel motorcycle.

Longtime Top Fuel owner-driver Bruce Litton’s race shop and hauler business sit right across the street from the main gate of Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

 

Yet his path back to NHRA competition in his dragster for the first time in three years in NHRA action, at the 2013 Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, has wound from Orlando to San Antonio, through Edmonton in Western Canada to Ontario’s Grand Bend, and south to London, Ky., north to Martin, Mich., and final down along the Mississippi River at Memphis.

 

Moreover, Litton has spent more time since 2014 in a nitro Funny Car than he has in a Top Fuel dragster.

Another race, another track, another very fast lap for Matt Hagan.

In what has become a bit of a record stuck on replay, Hagan once again bested the field - and did so in record fashion - during the first of five qualifying sessions to kickoff action at the “Big Go” at the 62nd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Steve Torrence skipped last week’s test session here at Indianapolis.

And it didn’t hurt him one bit Friday during the opening day of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

Stock Eliminator took center stage for the second day at the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, as class eliminations got underway for all classes.

In qualifying, the V/Stock Automatic 1987 El Camino of Jim Parsons passed Paul Mercure in the pecking order. 

Parsons recorded a 13.958  in his Missouri-based El Camino to leap to the top with a -1.542 performance.  Mercure fell to second with a 9.677, -1.523

Matt Hagan sprinted to the qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the 18th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals is the final race of the regular season.