It's in the nature of a drag strip operator. Prepare to get slapped in the face by calamity, and once you make it through the tempest, there'll be another waiting for you. They are all too often gluttons for punishment as some would assume.

However, there are those such as second-generation drag strip owner Bill Bader Jr., who understand their destiny in giving fans a show worthy of their hard-earned entertainment dollars.

Almost a year ago, overwhelming rainstorms in the area did a convincing job of sinking his season. And now today, an ever-expanding pandemic of the Coronavirus threatens a second whammy.

CompetitionPlus.com Editor Bobby Bennett in his first assignment back on the job caught up with the straight-shooting Bader for a discussion of today's drag racing landscape, primarily from a track owner's point of view.

Six-time drag racing world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will always pick the familiar confines of his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as his preferred mode of go-fast transportation. But for three years, from 2008-2010, Coughlin enjoyed the unique experience of hitting breakneck speeds driving an Olympic bobsled as part of the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge.
 
"As I think back on those three events, that was actually pretty crazy," said Coughlin, who will pullback from full-time racing at the end of the year. "At the time, the competitor in you comes out and the way they set it up was NASCAR versus NHRA so we just kind of dove into the fight. It probably was a bit insane but it was also a lot of fun.

In the modern annals of auto racing, there are a handful of people, who, behind-the-scenes, played pivotal roles in the Sport. Billy “Bones” Miller was one of those individuals. When referring to Billy as an angel, it’s not in the heavenly sense of halos and wings but as a person of great generosity. Sadly, on the 28th of March, he did earn those wings.

First a bit of background information. A So-Cal kid, Billy started attending the drags at Santa Ana in the mid ’50s and then other local tracks especially Lions. He made fast friends with many of the area’s racers including Tom “The Mongoo$e” McEwen and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. While his friends developed their racing careers, Billy focused his time and intellect on the restaurant industry. He started out at a Jack-In-the-Box drive-in and ended up owning twelve very lucrative Sizzler Family Steakhouses throughout the Los Angeles area.

In preparation for this piece, some of those who had been very close to Billy were contacted: Pat Galvin, Donnie Couch, Skip Hess, Lynn Rose, Tom Prock, Roland Leong and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. To a person, they spoke at length and very fondly of Billy’s extreme kindness, generosity, loyalty and friendship, sharing stories which exemplified those traits.

Don Schumacher was still an active Funny Car driver when the energy crisis of the mid-70s hit the United States with the force of a Category 5 hurricane. Thirty-five years later the owner of a multi-car drag racing operation has a front-row seat for a crisis of another nature.

Schumacher admitted his age and single-minded interest in racing kept him from taking the energy crisis too seriously, but now, as a seasoned race team owner, the nation’s economic situation, which bears some similarities to that long-ago energy crisis, has his full attention.

“In the early ‘70s, I was young and carefree to the point that I couldn’t say I truthfully identified enough with the energy crisis,” Schumacher admitted. “We found ways to get around it and continue to get on down the road.”

Someone finally did it, and Clay Millican is happy it was him.

Terry McMillen has been invincible in Virtual Reality Hot Rod Association competition, scoring two No. 1 qualifiers in as many races, and up until 10 minutes before the 7 PM voting finish on Tuesday, was poised to maintain his dominance. Ten minutes left into their fan-vote determined race, Millican and McMillen were in a dead tie with hundreds of votes cast.

Then Millican inched a little ahead, and at the stripe won by only seven votes, the equivalent of a race determined by two inches.

"You can call it being on a roll," Millican said with a laugh. "I have to be honest; I am bouncing off the walls from the experience of it all. It's really cool being a part of this. Let me tell you this; Terry is a bad dude.

It's race day at The Thunderdome. Qualifing is complete, now it's time to begin the process of eliminating down for a winner at Thunder at the Dome, Race 2 of 4 in the Virtual Reality Hot Rod Association. 

It's all fun in fantasy land to get away from the troubles of what is happening in the real world. 

For those new to this fantasy world, this is how it works. The race with the most votes advances to the next round. We had two days of voting to seed the eight-car fields. 

First round ends Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 7 PM EST. 

The U.S. has seen shortages in hospital supplies, testing kits, and ventilators due to the coronavirus outbreak. Scrappers Racing along with its partner True Disruption have started collecting donations to send to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation to aid in research and relief.

Donations in any amount are accepted and donations over $30 will receive a Scrappers Racing t-shirt. All proceeds will be donated to the CDC.

Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) and Don Schumacher Motorsports (DSM), DSR’s manufacturing arm, are proud to join the fight to help protect our nation’s brave health care workers on the front lines that are tirelessly treating patients seeking medical assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.          
    
In response to the growing need for supplies, DSM has teamed up with Stratasys, a global leader in additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology, to produce headbands that will be used for medical face shields in healthcare facilities. DSM’s two Stratasys FDM 3D printers, the Stratasys Fortus 450mc and F370, are typically used for chassis fixturing, weldment fixturing, rapid prototype development and proofing out new components for DSR’s fleet of race cars. With NHRA drag racing at a temporary standstill, both printers have switched gears and are now working round-the-clock to churn out as many headbands as possible throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

After announcing a revised national event schedule last week, NHRA officials announced today the schedules for the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by J&A Service, the Mickey Thompson Tires NHRA Top Fuel Harley Series, the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown Series and the Mountain Motor Pro Stock category.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, SFG Promotions Inc. has postponed the JEGS-SFG 500 at South Georgia Motorsports Park, originally scheduled for April 21-26. Over the weekend, President Trump extended social distancing guidelines across the nation to April 30th, giving SFG no other option on that matter. SFG has also made two other major adjustments to their 2020 plans to adapt to the new global environment.

One of those adjustments is the cancellation of the JEGS-SFG Super Bowl of Bracket Racing that was scheduled to be at Darlington Dragway during September 16-20, which is the new JEGS-SFG 500 date. Anyone who is pre-entered into the Super Bowl, or a SFG season pass holder will be contacted by a representative of SFG Promotions to either process a SFG account credit or refund: each racer has a choice between the two. Additionally, all pre-entries in the JEGS-SFG 500 will transfer to the new September date.