Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage (JHG) has partnered with Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, with the Tennessee-based company highlighting its world-class car collection on the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car of three-time champion Matt Hagan.

JHG will serve as the co-primary sponsor of Hagan during the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals April 28-30 at zMAX Dragway. The red, white and blue car design will feature JHG on the hood of Hagan’s 11,000-horsepower machine. JHG will also be Hagan’s co-primary sponsor at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals June 9-11 at Bristol Dragway and primary sponsor at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals July 28-30 at Sonoma Raceway. For all other races, JHG will be featured in an associate partner position on each side of the rear wing.

Two of the most prolific drivers in nitrous Pro Modified racing, Jim Halsey and “Tricky” Rickie Smith, squared off in the Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous final round Sunday afternoon at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix. Racing at Virginia Motorsports Park, Halsey won when Smith went red. Halsey recorded a weekend-best 3.646-second pass to go back-to-back at the second stop on the 2023 PDRA tour.

An afternoon of heavy rain showers put a stop to Saturday eliminations at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix at Virginia Motorsports Park. Eliminations will continue Sunday. 

With several hours of rain in the forecast for Saturday afternoon, Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) officials moved the first round of eliminations up to Friday night at the Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix at Virginia Motorsports Park. The low qualifiers in several classes continued their success with first-round wins. 

CompetitionPlus.com reported on April 21 that Bandimere Speedway will close at the end of its 2023 race season.

Seeing the curtain drop on the Morrison, Colo. facility near Denver is hard to imagine for many racers and fans. The Bandimere family has been running the facility since its opening in 1958.

The facility has been a mainstay on NHRA’s Division V calendar and home to the NHRA national event – the Mile-High Nationals for more than 40 years. The final Mile-High Nationals is set for July 14-16.

Tami Bandimere, part of Bandimere Speedway’s executive team, said there’s nothing in stone right now about relocating Bandimere Speedway.

Standout Pro Mod racer Lizzy Musi unveiled on a YouTube video that she is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

“I’m going to start at the beginning and explain to everyone and give some awareness while speaking about it,” said Musi, 31. “I started out about two years ago with breast augmentation and it didn’t work out, so I had to do a revision of it, and I went to the doctor in Mississippi, and he did an awesome job and I was very happy with it. It fixed my first situation and then I had my second revision done in June and a couple months down the road, I want to say six months later around December/January I noticed like a marble-sized lump in my breast.”

Musi kept a positive outlook about that finding.

 
A trio of repeat winners highlighted the second race of the year for the Southeast Gassers Association (SEGA) Apr. 15, when they visited historic Shadyside Dragway in North Carolina.
Ted McKee visited victory lane again after picking up the B/Gas win three weeks earlier at Reynolds, GA, as did 2022 class champion Tim Hall in C/Gas, and Super Stock winner Rick Varner, who actually won twice in the Peach State after also earning the A/Gas title there in a second car.

Last NHRA national event at facility will be Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals on July 14-16 during track’s 65th anniversary season 
 
MORRISON, Colo. (April 21, 2023) – NHRA and the Bandimere family have jointly announced that the 2023 Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals on July 14-16 at Bandimere Speedway will be the last NHRA national event at the historic track just outside of Denver.

A familiar face from the modern years of Mountain Motor Pro Stock racing will return to competition this year.

Pete Berner, who won IHRA championships in 2006 and 2008, reached 13 final rounds during his time racing in the class while winning five times. When the sanctioning body disbanded its professional racing series, he held five IHRA track records for the Mountain Motor Pro Stockers.

“I wasn’t really even thinking about making a return, but after talking to my wife and a few of my old racing friends, we decided it was a great opportunity,” Berner said. “This is a great team that Richard’s put together with J.R. Carr, and it’s an excellent program. Getting to race with them again is going to be an awesome experience.

When it comes to the NHRA's new Factory X class, Geoff Turk has been the first at a few things. He was the first to display a completed race car at the 2022 PRI Show in Indianapolis, and almost four months later, was the first documented of the next level of Factory Stock Showdown cars to hit the track.

The first two out of three aren't bad. It's just the third one of the firsts that has Turk kicking himself.

Turk also became the first to crash a Factory X car.

"Very dubious honor," Turk admitted. "It wasn't one I was looking for. I would have been happy to let somebody else have that first."