It’s quirky to think that something as pedestrian as a metal building could be inspirational.

But it has been for two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon, who spent many fond hours as a youngster with drag-racer dad Frank and brothers Frankie and Tony inside their metal-building shop.    

Now, Pedregon has taken the opportunity to own his own private-label discount metal building company that caters to the racing industry. Lee Beard, who consults on Pedregon’s Snap-on Tools Snap-on "Makers and Fixers" Dodge Hellcat Funny Car, coordinated the business deal, as well, introducing the principals.

Anyone familiar with the robust complexity of the Comp Eliminator category knows how difficult it is to win multiple races in a season. And getting back into the right mindset to compete on that level takes an adjustment period for most people, but Steve Szupka isn't most people. 

Szupka is coming into the 2023 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series as the Division 1 champion in Competition Eliminator, an accomplishment that's still sinking in for him - primarily because, at this time last year, he wasn't even planning to compete in the category. If it weren't for the generosity and camaraderie of the drag racing community, Szupka's championship hopes would not have been realized. 

Szupka's story is similar to many second-generation drivers. He grew up at the track where his mother fondly recalls warming up his baby bottles on the manifold of his father's Super Stock entry. When he was a teenager, it was only natural that he would attend Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School to get his license. His first car was a C/Econo Dragster, so he's no stranger to Competition Eliminator. 

When Nelson Hoyos came into drag racing decades ago, the most valuable lesson he learned was the value of dreaming big. And he's got a big one brewing right now. 

The dream is not significant, not because it's unattainable. It's large because it could be significant for the sport if it becomes a reality. 

Hoyos seeks to bring major league drag racing back to Louisiana for the first time since May 1990, when NHRA promoted the Cajun Nationals at State Capitol Dragway in Baton Rouge, La. 

Before the engine fired in the Funny Car, drag racing's jack-of-all-trades Alex Laughlin quickly realized he'd underestimated the task he faced. It was January 2023, and Laughlin, one month after he was named the driver of the Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car, was preparing for his maiden runs at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Ca. 

"I 1000% underestimated the difference between the Top Fuel and Funny Car,". Laughlin said. "I thought that based on just the acceleration factor of the Top Fuel car it would prepare me a lot more for this."

Those who know, know. Um, no. 

1. - Mike Salinas proves he’s not messing around – The San Jose, Calif., businessman has far too much on his corporate agenda to travel across the country just to spend money and time cavalierly with his Scrappers Dragster. He came to Florida this weekend to win. He nearly hit the Daily Double, finishing as runner-up in Saturday’s Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Call-Out bonus race. He scored impressively enough, parlaying his self-described “phenomenal” and “world-record-number” testing results into his eighth career victory and command of the standings as the Camping World Drag Racing Series heads west to Phoenix in two weeks for the Arizona Nationals. He and his crew have a unique relationship. After what he called a “pretty disappointing” weekend last November at the Finals at Pomona, Calif. – where he cemented a respectable top-five finish – Salinas set the tone for the offseason. He told the team, “You’ve got a long offseason. Go find me some horsepower, and let’s not talk until time to go racing. Don’t care what you do, how you do it – find it. And evidently they found it.”  That also puts him in a position to win the first Top Fuel #2Fast2Tasty Mission Foods Challenge.

During the offseason, Mike Salinas had one mission for his Scrappers Racing team: Find more performance.

While that sort of request is common in a sport that is measured in thousandths of a second, how it is accomplished was a bit of an anomaly. Following the final pass of the 2022 season in Pomona, Calif., Salinas handed the reins of his 11,000-horsepower dragster to his team and fully stepped away from the decision-making process.

The result? A victory at the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

It always pays off to have a Plan B. And for Justin Bond, the Canadian from Mission, British Columbia, having an alternative option translated into victory at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Bond tested and raced the previous weekend at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Modified in Bradenton, Fla. When a new car didn't deliver the desired results, he and his team parked the new ride and went to last season's car, aptly nicknamed Old Faithful.  

So what does an Old Faithful do? For starters, Bond took his trusty Camaro to the provisional pole on Friday, and even though he slipped to second in the final session, it was No. 1 on race day.

 Last season saw a jumpstart in Troy Coughlin Jr.’s Pro Stock career.

Coughlin finished a career-best fourth in the points standings thanks to two wins and three-runner-up finishes. He kept that momentum rolling into 2023 as he won the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Sunday.

Coughlin, driving the Jegs.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro, muscled past Mason McGaha in the final round.

It didn't take long for Gaige Herrera, the newest rider in the Vance & Hines camp, to find the winner's circle.

Herrera, who joined the renowned Vance & Hines team in the offseason, won the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Sunday.

Herrera, on the Mission Foods Vance & Hines Suzuki, clocked a 6.706-second time at 200.89 mph to defeat Angie Smith's 6.845-second run on her Matt Smith Racing Buell in Gainesville, Fla.