Back in the early 1990s, when Greg Anderson was a Pro Stock crewman for drag racing legend Warren Johnson, there was a lot of animosity from the Pro Stock ranks toward the new kids on the professional block, Pro Modified. 

For the record, Anderson wasn't among those who looked down on the darlings of the drag racing scene.  

Friday, for the first time in zMax Dragway history, the Pro Modified pits were parallel with Anderson and the Pro Stock class.  

GameMill Entertainment and NHRA have announced a new licensing partnership to create original video games inspired by the intense action and classic hot rod designs of one of the world’s top motorsports. The first project, currently untitled, is in development for a range of video game systems and will be published by GameMill.
 
“NHRA gaming is back,” said Andy Koehler, SVP Business Development & Licensing, GameMill Entertainment. “From Pro Stock to Top Fuel classes and the fan-favorite, wheel standing Super Stock class. Get ready for heart-pounding action as you rocket over 330 miles per hour in the fastest 3 and a half seconds of your life.”

NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch was on hand at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals promoting Toyota's involvement in drag racing as well as his new Rowdy-brand energy drink.

For a day, Busch was a drag racing spectator -- and fan.  

Busch, whose driving style and personality have proven explosive in the past, pondered the question of whether he'd be a nitro racer or a Pro Stock guy given the chance.  

Krista Baldwin's enthusiasm is contagious.

The third-generation Top Fuel driver made her second start in three races since making the jump from A/Fuel Dragster. For her, the conversation starter at the ropes wasn't the beautiful, new-look black and gold dragster her crew had just rolled out of the hauler as much as it was her new kicks.

"I had to look swag, so we had to go out and get some custom bands, cheetah print," Baldwin said, enthusiasm prevalent. "I have to set myself apart from these other people. These people have been doing it for years. I'm fresh out here. You got to have some coolness. SoCal coolness here."

Technical alliance partners Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and the Mobil 1 brand will raise their profile with multi-time world championship drag racing team Kalitta Motorsports during the NHRA SpringNationals, May 21-23 with primary sponsorship on Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster. Since 2019 when the relationship was announced ExxonMobil, TRD and Kalitta Motorsports have worked together to develop next-generation Mobil 1 synthetic lubricants to improve engine and gearbox performance.
 
“Our relationship with Mobil 1 and TRD has been incredibly beneficial on and off the track,” said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports General Manager. “The engineering support has been instrumental in improved performance for our three race cars and we have been able to give Mobil 1 feedback on their oil under the most stressful environment possible. We put a tremendous amount of stress on our motors and there is no way we could be as successful as we have been without the support and input from Mobil 1 and TRD.”

Even men have a right to change their minds, and Steve Torrence definitely has changed his about four-wide racing.

In the beginning, if he had had his way, the three-time Top Fuel champion would have decreed a ban on the gimmicky notion of four 11,000-horsepower dragsters churning up chaos at one time.

The bigger the stage, the bigger the John Force performance.

And in Force's eyes, his 72-year old eyes, there's no grander stage than Bruton Smith has at his self-proclaimed Bellagio of drag strips with zMAX Dragway, the palatial straight-line speedway on the hallowed grounds of his Concord, NC, horsepower complex.

It took a little while for Dallas Glenn’s first NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock win to set in.

Literally, it did.

It’s true that Steve Johnson claimed the Pro Stock Motorcycle trophy Sunday at the NGK NTK Four-Wide Nationals, just like he did at the first-ever NHRA event at Concord, N.C.’s zMAX Dragway in September 2008.

It’s true he won for the first time in more than seven years, since the March 2014 Gatornationals.

After losing on a holeshot in the final round of the previous event in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, two-time defending world champ Stevie “Fast” Jackson made up for on Sunday, winning in the final-round quad at zMAX Dragway.

The race was the third event of the 2021 E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service season, and Jackson picked up his first victory of the season and the 11th in his standout career.