Drag racing has lost one of its greats as Frank Aragona, Jr., 53, passed away following a brave battle with cancer on February 10, 2023. The three-time champion from Freehold, NJ, was a three-time NHRA Comp Eliminator champion who supplemented his success with seven NHRA Division 1 titles as well as 16 national event victories and 40 more on the divisional level. His three world championships in Comp Eliminator place him in a tie with four other Comp racers (David Rampy, Bill Maropulos, Norwin Palmer, Bruno Massel Jr.) for the most championships. He is only the third Comp racer to win back-to-back titles, joining Dean Carter and Coleman Roddy. 

While Aragona is primarily known for his success in Comp Eliminator, he did win a Super Comp title at the 2015 NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. 

The news of longtime Sportman racer Mark Sharrock becoming a Top Fuel owner with his driver Sydney Shaw is old news.

How Sharrock got to this point of his life being a deputy constable in Kaufman County Texas and an owner of Top Fuel team is far more compelling.

Sharrock spoke with CompetitionPlus.com at length recently to discuss his journey.

From the time drag racing journalist Dave Bishop proclaimed Charles Carpenter's all-steel 1955 Chevy as the fastest of its kind back in 1983, the auto repair business owner from Charlotte, North Carolina, was destined for big things. 

Next month, the latest of many accolades bestowed upon the drag racer considered the Godfather of Pro Modified will put Carpenter in the midst of one of the richest Pro Modified events ever.

Carpenter will serve as the Grand Marshal of the 2023 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Modified, March 3-5, at Bradenton Motorsports Park. He will give the command and flip the starter switch for the first pair of Pro Mod eliminations on Sunday morning.

Heading into 2023 Texas Motorplex will host the Funny Car Chaos season opener for the third year in a row. Recognized as the largest Funny Car event in the country, the excitement and anticipation for the Funny Car Chaos season has been building since the season finale during last year’s Stampede of Speed. The Funny Car Chaos Classic will happen March 16-18 at the famed track south of Dallas and early indications are this event will be record-setting.

John Force Racing will once again feature four full-time hot rods in the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Driven by their returning roster of 2022 drivers, Brittany Force, Robert Hight, Austin Prock and John Force, the legendary team will be chasing the organization’s 23rd and 24th NHRA world championships.

“The 2022 season was good to us. We all got wins, did the work for our sponsors,” said the founder and CEO of John Force Racing, John Force. “Brittany with the championship and Robert battled all the way to the end. Austin kind of surprised us all with the late surge and I held my own too. We’ll build on that success this year. We’ve promoted from within, made some changes and it makes me, all of us, excited for this season.”

After a three-year hiatus, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will make its highly-anticipated return to Chicago for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance. The fan-favorite event has seen countless historic NHRA moments over the years and the 2023 race promises to once again deliver action-packed, 11,000-horsepower, 330-mph excitement in NHRA’s return to Chicago and Route 66 Raceway. 

“The NHRA fan is our core consumer for products manufactured under the PEAK and BlueDEF brands,” states Old World Industries Director of Sports Marketing, Brian Bohlander. “Without races at Route 66 Raceway in nearby Joliet, there’s been a void for the fans in our home market so it’s exciting to have the NHRA back in 2023 and hopefully for many more years to come.” 

Fuel Factory has entered a multi-year partnership to fuel the efforts of racers in the Mid Atlantic Super Series. 
 
The Mid Atlantic Super Series is a northeast based organization, hosting ten series races at three different racetracks for Super Gas, Super Comp and Super Street. Additionally, the newly added Top Dragster, Top Sportsman and Jr. Dragster runners will compete at six events. 

One thing has been a constant for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class since it became a points-earning professional division in the NHRA. It always started the season at least one or two races after the other professional divisions started. 

That is, until now. Yes, in 2021, they all started together, but only because the schedule was adjusted for COVID restrictions. This time it was a planned start. 

When the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series kicks off next month in Gainesville, Florida, the two-wheel racing contingent will be on equal ground with its four-wheel brethren.

A proverbial pot of golf awaits the winner in Top Fuel at the 65th running of the iconic March Meet at historic Famoso Dragstrip in Bakersfield, California. The race is slated for March 2-5. 

Bob McLennan, the owner and crew chief of the famed Champion Speed Shop Top Fuel dragster and head of the AAFD (All-American Fuel Dragsters) association, recently announced with the help of Top Fuel driver Jim Young and Famoso track operator Blake Bowser that the eliminator field would be racing for the largest purse in the history of the March Meet. 

A total of $60,000 in prize money will be up for grabs, with $10,000 awarded to the winner from Custom Floaters, and Planet Fitness is putting up $5,000 for the runner-up. The semifinalists will earn $3,000, while the quarterfinalists will be paid $2,500.

The Funny Car Chaos Championship drag racing series is very excited to welcome new marketing partners Performance Motorcoaches and Excel Drywall to its growing list of supporters who are fueling the continued expansion of the run whatcha’ brung funny car series. 

These new partnerships along with continued primary support from Spell Paving Services, Wulff Pumps and Fat Tirez Apparel have made it possible for big changes in the per event and year end payout program for the 2023 season.