It was the late 90's in the IHRA and one driver thought if a dragster could run injected nitro why not a flopper.

The driver, Scott Weis, of Richmond, Va., believed what was good for the goose should be good for the gander. Or, to be more precise, if it worked in a dragster, who not in a Funny car.

Thinking back, Weis remembers the 1998 season when he debuted an injected nitro flopper in IHRA competition. The injected nitro phase was quickly catching on within the NHRA's Top Alcohol dragster teams; proving to be a quicker combination.

An A/Fuel Funny car seemed reasonable, at least to Weis.

The NHRA is expected to announce Tuesday a bold back-to-work plan of 16 consecutive races throughout the country, perhaps with an added event or two at Indianapolis.

But a few Funny Car drivers and one really creative track operator have been thinking about what the NHRA could do to capitalize on the opportunity to show off drag racing while most other sports are idle.

Don Schumacher Racing drivers Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan, along with John Force, already had been considering how feasible it might be to have an event or two at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. The dragstrip sits about a mile, maybe two, from most of the shops at Brownsburg, Ind.
  

A two-month delay was worth the wait for two-time world champion Tommy Franklin, as he opened the 2020 Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) season with a Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous victory in his “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro. Racing at the East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech at GALOT Motorsports Park, Franklin defeated Jim Widener in the final round.
 
Franklin was joined in the winner’s circle by Melanie Salemi in Penske Racing Shocks/Precision Racing Suspension Pro Boost presented by WS Construction, Johnny Pluchino in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock, Travis Davis in Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle, Walter Lannigan Jr. in $hameless Racing Pro Outlaw 632, and Mark Micke in Drag 965 Pro Street.

The Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) was in the middle of professional class eliminations at the East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech when a lengthy oildown and popup rain shower halted the action Saturday night. The race is slated to continue Sunday at GALOT Motorsports Park in Benson, N.C.
 
“We’ve been fighting the weather all week, and it bit us again tonight,” said Tyler Crossnoe, race director, PDRA. “We really appreciate our racers sticking it out and working with us to make this race happen. Sunday’s forecast looks like it will make for a smooth, fast day of racing.”

Thunderstorms and rain showers kept racers in the pits Friday at the season-opening Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech at GALOT Motorsports Park. Race officials called off the day’s qualifying sessions later in the evening. Jr. Dragster racers completed one qualifying session between storms. 
 
“We sure tried to get some racing in today, but Mother Nature wins this one,” said Tyler Crossnoe, series director, PDRA. “The PDRA and GALOT Motorsports Park track teams worked hard to get the track dry all afternoon and evening. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

If the PDRA’s delayed season-opening race goes off this weekend as planned, it will take place without the series’ reigning champion in the Extreme Pro Stock ranks.

John Montecalvo told competitionplus.com Thursday afternoon that he isn’t making the nearly 600-mile trip from his home on Long Island, New York, to the outskirts of Benson, North Carolina, for a race that was shoved to the back burner for nearly two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2019 EPS titlist said there are three reasons he won’t be among the competitors at GALOT Motorsports Park.

Since the postponed Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Terry McMillen has been staying busy in his race shop with crew chief Rob Wendland but in his downtime he has let his family go to the dogs. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series has been on hiatus since mid-March and McMillen along with his wife Cori and son Cam have been fostering puppies for a Northern Indiana organization, Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Group. The McMillens already have three dogs and a cat so bringing additional puppies into their family only seemed like a logical idea.
 
“When we got back from Gainesville, our dog sitter Jen Schwartz, who runs the organization, asked if we wanted some puppies to play with for a couple of days, and it has turned into a constant cycle of fostering,” explained Cori McMillen. “We have had about 15 puppies since we started this. We typically have two puppies at a time.  If one gets a home, then she brings me another that same day.”

The NHRA is finalizing details for its return to action – although it isn’t 100-percent sure which month or which venue will kick off the ambitious re-revised 2020 schedule.

“We’re very much on the positive side of starting in Seattle and working through a schedule that starts there. There’s an opportunity for some events to go before that. I just don’t know if that’s going to happen. They’re talking through it,” Jeffrey Young, the NHRA’s vice-president of marketing and communications, said.

His remarks came on the eve of an expected announcement from NHRA headquarters at Glendora, Calif. But that announcement has been postponed until next Tuesday, June 2.

Reportedly, the remainder of the season will start with the July 31-August 2 event at Pacific Raceways, near Seattle.

Aeromotive, a leading manufacturer of aftermarket fuel systems and accessories, has opened an in-house Customization Shop for fuel systems. The program is designed to help builders and customizers find fuel system solutions for race cars, street rods, off-road vehicles, marine, powersports, heavy equipment and other vehicles.
 
Using existing Aeromotive fuel pumps and components, the Customization Shop provides access to the company’s in-house expertise for specifying a fuel system tailored to the application’s needs. All customized fuel systems will be benchmark tested for performance and durability. For applications with factory OEM fuel tanks, the complete fuel tank unit must be sent in for a minimum of two weeks for evaluation and installation of the custom fuel system.

The past Mountain Motor Pro Stock Champion who now serves as crew chief/teammate for J.R. Carr, recently drove to Galesburg, Illinois to take delivery of a new hood scoop-bearing, large displacement powered Camaro built by the team at R.J. Race Cars.

"It's taken me five years to come full circle," Frank Gugliotta said. "I'm here to pick up JR Carr's brand new Mountain Motor car and I got to tell you, I am really, really happy. This thing is gorgeous. Same guys here did the first chassis that I came here 20 years ago, the same guys that did this one. And that says a lot. And I know JR's going to be happy with his car."

Carr plans to race in PDRA Extreme Pro Stock as well as the new NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock Series.