It's the uncertainty which Terry McMillen cannot stand.

McMillen, who, for over a decade, has raced Top Fuel in the NHRA, faces an uncertain 2021 where the odds do not appear to be in his favor. But those who know the fan-favorite drag racer from Elkhart, Ind., understand he's made a career out of beating the odds.

Though, this time might be the most overwhelming situation he's faced since jumping into Top Fuel in the mid-2000s. McMillen's longtime sponsor Amalie Oil suspended his contract amid a pandemic-fueled slowdown.

Kirk Lanz, a well-known Western Canadian Top Sportsman racer, is making the jump into NHRA Pro Modified in 2021. Here's a sneak peak of his Jerry Bickel-built 1969 Camaro, which is headed to Proline Racing Engines to be set up for a new Procharger combination. 

Don Schumacher Racing will soon expand its involvement in the straight-line racing world beyond the NHRA, and into the popular ‘outlaw’ style of drag racing.
 
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) and Don Schumacher Precision Manufacturing (DSM), DSR’s manufacturing arm, are pleased to announce that Don Schumacher Racing Performance Parts (DSR.parts), the recently-launched full-service web shop for racing and production vehicles, will join the Funny Car Chaos and Outlaw Fuel Altered circuits as an associate partner of each series in 2021.

Crew chief John Collins, the wrench boss for nitro Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr at Don Schumacher Racing the past seven years, has a new address.

Collins has joined Cruz Pedregon and will serve as the crew chief for the team owner and nitro Funny Car driver.

“Including myself, I brought eight guys with me who worked with me on Tommy’s car at DSR to Cruz’s team,” Collins said. “It is different. The surroundings are completely different. After being here a week and going through all his stuff, with Rip and Ryan, Cruz has done a very good job I think in what he has built. He has great stuff. He has great policies. I’m impressed with how well he has done.”

A drag racing institution will return to NHRA in 2021.

If you raced Modified Eliminator in the 1970s, you didn’t pick Cotton; he picked you. Back in those days of the high-winding, 50-pound flywheel, Doug Nash shifted coupes and sedans, the gentleman from Ringgold, Ga., named Cotton Perry was not the ideal opponent.

No, he didn’t have a finely tuned small-block engine or a sleek Corvette Stingray.

But he did have as nice of a Modified Production entry as the others, a ’67 Chevy II.

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In 2020, Alexis DeJoria returned to the cockpit of a nitro Funny Car after a two-year hiatus.

DeJoria drove the ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car to a solid eighth-place finish in points in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series that was abbreviated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DeJoria compiled an 11-11 elimination-round record, highlighted by four semifinal appearances at the season-opening Winternationals, St. Louis, Houston, and Las Vegas.

“The highlight of the season I would say was coming off a two-year hiatus and having a great showing at the Winternationals in Pomona,” DeJoria said. “We had a new team and I hadn’t been out there for two years.  Even with all that newness we went out and ran good numbers and made it to the semifinals. That was a huge, huge highlight for me. Unfortunately, after that our season got cut short and we had to sit for a while. When we did come back out, we struggled a little bit at first but as soon as the guys figured out the tune-up, we were running really good and consistent. Coming back after being off for so long and getting back to running well in itself was a huge highlight, too.” 

In 2020 the NHRA season was a roller-coaster ride because of the COVID-19 pandemic canceling races.

Former world champion Shawn Langdon, who pilots the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster, got through the abbreviated season that saw him finish sixth in the points standings, highlighted by him winning the U.S. Nationals.

“For me winning the U.S. National this year was more gratifying for me based off of the circumstances and for my team,” Langdon said. “It is awesome to win the U.S. Nationals and I have won it before, but it was different this year. In 2017 I raced with Connie (Kalitta) but the one regret that I had was leaving that team and not being able to win with Connie. We had a couple runners-up.

Jasmine Salinas admittedly is “terrified” of public speaking.

But the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver, through her distinguished video documentary “Five Foot 280,” has been a global ambassador for drag racing – and, maybe more importantly, a strong advocate for women in every walk of life.

The film, a joint venture with videographers/producers Joshua Harding and Matt Klug which runs for just four minutes, 44 seconds, offers a brief glimpse of this paradoxical 28-year-old powerhouse who is at once shy and self-assured, low-profile but principled.