The start couldn’t have been much better for Jerry Savoie’s White Alligator Racing Pro Stock Motorcycle team.

Savoie’s teammate Karen Stoffer won the Gatornationals, the season-opening race for NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle riders, March 10-13 in Gainesville, Fla.

Moreover, Stoffer won in record-breaking fashion as she ran the two quickest elapsed times in NHRA’s storied Pro Stock Motorcycle history.

As the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series begins to pick up speed, Pro Stock rookie driver Camrie Caruso continues to succeed on and off the track. The 24-year-old racer from Denver, North Carolina, will experience the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals for the first time with a new look Chevrolet Camaro featuring the branding of Air Flow Research (AFR) SCAT Crankshafts and Procar by SCAT. Caruso has been hard at work since January improving her driving skills and introducing new companies to the NHRA’s diverse fanbase. The alliance with Air Flow Research, SCAT Crankshafts and Procar by SCAT is another example of Caruso’s marketing savvy.

“We have been talking with the team at Air Flow Research, SCAT Crankshafts and Procar by SCAT about getting involved with our program for a while,” said Caruso, who has qualified at all three NHRA national events in 2022 and advance to the quarterfinals the past two races. “They are the aftermarket go-to seat for Chevrolet Camaros so this relationship was literally a perfect fit. When you add in the backing of Air Flow Research and SCAT Crankshafts with their long history in Pro Stock, I could not be more excited to represent these companies.”

Here’s a sneak peek at Street Outlaws Star Robin Roberts’ new 1968 Pontiac Firebird built by RJ Race Cars using a plethora of Quartermax components. 

This two-year project will be powered by a ProLine Racing Hemi boosted by a Hart’s Charger centrifugal supercharger run through a FuelTech ECU.

“I met Robin four years ago at the PRI Show, and we got to talking,” said Rickie Jones of RJ Race Cars. “We got to be good friends and started working with him, and in the years since, we’ve pretty much redone everything on his old Firebird — we’ve front-halved it, mostly back-halved it, put all-new suspension and four-link in it, new housing, anti-roll bar, redone the pedals, the seat, some of the roll cage stuff. So that car is about 75-percent RJ. He went out and was doing well and winning races, and every time we did work to it, he saw that it was going faster, so when it came time for a new one, he turned to us.”

The past is a nice place to visit, but not to live.

For Gary Densham, the visit to race a Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car is always a treat. Densham drove the family's 1969 flopper at the 64th annual Bakersfield March Meet. 

"Our whole team loves this Nostalgia, funny car racing; after we blew the body off of [in Bakersfield] in 2019, we had to build something again," Densham explained. "We got another body exactly the same. I haven't had a chance to paint it yet, don't know if we're going to go back with the same paint scheme or do something different."

After a dream 2021 NHRA season that saw Bruno Massel III win his third career Comp world championship, he plans on taking a different approach to his racing schedule in 2022.

“I'm going to run an abbreviated schedule,” Massel III said. “I'll run probably six or seven national (events). That's all I know. No points meets. The focus is really... I just got to be a dad more. Like these long travel sports and stuff like that, and just need to be around for that. You know what I mean? We've got some big trips this summer. Cooperstown for baseball and all that.”

In addition to his abbreviated Comp schedule, Massel III said he also will run a limited slate in the Pro Stock class with Elite Motorsports again.

NHRA and Racing Electronics have teamed up to announce the renewal of Racing Electronics as the Official Radio Communications of NHRA.

Headquartered in Concord, N.C., Racing Electronics is the trusted 2-way radio communication provider for most NHRA teams, including John Force Racing and Kalitta Motorsports. When visiting a NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series event, fans will see Racing Electronics communication equipment being used by crews, drivers and NHRA officials. Fans can purchase a variety of products from Racing Electronics’ trackside location and listen in on uncensored team communications as well as in-venue commentary.

This weekend’s car auction involving a variety of cars and trucks built and restored by Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, Florida, drew rave reviews from collectors and bidders after two days of furious bidding action saw over $1 million in sales.  

Nearly 100 of some of the most beautiful and collectible cars from across the country were sold with a 1970 Chevelle SS and 2021 Ford Bronco leading the way gaveling for $126,000 and $100,000 respectively. The two-day event was held at World Equestrian Center, Expo 2 (1750 NW 80th Ave Ocala FL 34482) and a future event is already planned for December of this year. 

It was deja vu - in the worst sense of the term - for Jasmine Salinas this year at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. In the semifinal round of Top Alcohol Dragster competition, she found herself in the same lane (the right), facing the same competitor (Karen Stalba) as she had just one year ago when she survived a traumatic experience that still lives on, rent-free in her mind. Lifting off the ground, seeing only blue, flying through the air, landing in a heap of unrecognizable metal - a terrifying blowover that shook her to her core. This year, the outcome was very different. After defeating Stalba, she went on to win her first national event in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. It was not an easy journey to the winners circle. It was one full of emotion, determination and persistence. And isn’t that what makes any journey great? 

Famed research professor and author Brene Brown says, “Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s our greatest measure of courage… Vulnerability is not winning or losing. It’s having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome.” If that’s the case, every drag racer who gets behind the wheel faces extreme vulnerability. This sport is emotional. It’s psychological. It’s dangerous. It takes a mental toughness that is courage at its finest. 

Jasmine Salinas is not afraid to be vulnerable. In fact, she’s not really afraid of much, now…

In what promoter Donald "Duck" Long described as "essentially a $115,000 test session," Jason Lee, Charlie Cooper, Tim Kincaid, Rob Goss and Kieffer Simpson prevailed in their respective classes Mar. 27, for Duck X Productions' Sweet 16 V at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

In front of minimal fans and with relatively small fields in each of the five featured classes--Radials vs. the World, Pro 275, Limited Drag Radial, X275 and Ultra Street--it was a quick, tight show that wrapped up about 1 p.m Sunday.

There are times when Ozzy Moya wonders, “Why in the world do I run a dragstrip?”

Then there are others when he wonders what he would do without it.

“Honestly, it’s a love/hate relationship,” Moya said when asked what makes him want to be a dragstrip owner. “I believe there’re some racers that appreciate everything you do. And it keeps you motivated, but then some of them just bash you, and they’re never satisfied. And it makes you think, 'Well, what do I do this for?' I will tell you that the good ones outweigh the bad ones. I would say that 80% of the people that do appreciate what you do — and they do — when things go wrong, they make a phone call to me, It outweighs the negatives. You’ve always got those one bad apples or two bad apples that honestly sometimes make you wonder, ‘Why do I do this?'