Top Fuel drag racer Clay Millican figured if the NHRA's Pep Boys Call-Out event was essentially like Street Outlaws on nitro, they might as well go in all the way. Friday's Pep Boys Call-Out ceremony was television-quality entertainment. 

That's why when Millican, as the No. 8 seed, was called out by the top runner Brittany Force, he challenged her to a $1000 side bet. Judging by Force's reaction, the move caught her off-guard. 

Millican, satisfied with that belief, made sure before he threw the side bet out there that he didn't catch his wife Donna by surprise. 

Reigning world champ Brittany Force opened the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season in impressive fashion, racing to the provisional No. 1 qualifier on Friday at the 54th Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the first of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. The second qualifying session in Top Fuel and Funny Car on Friday was cancelled due to inclement weather

As J.R. Todd stood there, looking down the Gainesville Drag Strip, the thoughts of a new season, a new challenge, and a chance at a third championship flooded his thoughts.

The thoughts rarely change from one season to the next, but mainly it's about shaking off the rust and getting comfortable in his office. After all, almost 90 days between runs is enough to ensure the first hit of the throttle is a breathtaking experience.

"Winning a championship always preoccupies your mind," Todd admitted. "People will say to me, 'you guys finished in the top ten, so you had a good season."

One of the staples in Justin Ashley’s relatively short professional drag racing career has been the ability to bring in non-automotive sponsors. This weekend he will roll down the Gainesville Racing surface with National Debt Relief branding. 

Ashley will be focused on the communication and promotion of National Debt Relief’s messaging through various media outlets and during the Pep Boys All-Star Callout specialty race which will be contested during the Gatornationals.

In some respects, Gaige Herrera’s got to feel like a young actor who’s been shoved onto a stage into the heat of a glaring spotlight.

Given an opportunity to race in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition late last season, the 29-year-old Herrera didn’t make the field at the first two NHRA races in which he competed. He came back to qualify in his next four outings, and even though he didn’t win a round of competition, his performance on the Xtreme Dragbike Association circuit and a test session earned him a full-time ride with the Vance & Hines team. 

The first day of the 2023 season is in the books, with completed qualifying for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisions at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. 

Jim Greenheck made the trip from Wisconsin worthwhile as he drove his B/Econo Altered to the top spot with a 7.526 elapsed time, -.744 under the index. Veteran class runner Pat Ross was second at -.721 under the E/Altered standard. Doug Engels D/Dragster was third. 

CompetitionPlus.com, through its CompetitionPlusTV YouTube Channel, will present coverage of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing's International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on March 9, 2023, at 8 PM EST.

Viewers can watch for FREE as John Force, Shelly Anderson Payne, Ron Attebury, Sonny Messner, Carol "Bunny" Burkett, Graeme Cowin, Vinny and Richard Napp, Bob Frey, and Linda Jones are inducted as the Class of 2023. 

Tonight's broadcast marks the second season the event has been live-streamed in a joint effort with Masters Entertainment. 

Even before being promoted to President of the National Hot Rod Association, Glen Cromwell knew what his team would need to do to grow drag racing on an upward trajectory. It is called the ten-step theory and was put into action two weeks ago.

There is no official ten-step theory or plan per se, but it was on full display at the NHRA Division 4 season opener at No Problem Raceway just outside New Orleans in Belle Rose, La.

As he strolled through the staging lanes, Cromwell would take roughly ten steps and stop to engage various sportsman racers in competition. He might be the highest-ranking member of the NHRA staff, but he was a drag racing fan on this day.

Steve Johnson doesn’t hesitate to describe Pro Stock Motorcycle racing as more a rollercoaster ride than a shot down the quarter-mile.

And that’s the voice of experience with 35 years of NHRA competition in that class speaking.

The 62-year-old native of Granada Hills, California, enters this weekend’s NHRA season opener in Gainesville, Florida, on the heels of two very good campaigns. He won three events in 2021 – the most wins he’s had in any single campaign – and his third-place standing at season’s end tied his career-best points finish.