Seemingly what could go wrong – did go wrong for NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Ryan Oehler in the 2022 season.

Oehler finished 10th in the final world standings but only won three rounds in an extremely frustrating season on his Buell.

“Pretty much from the get-go until the very end. We finally got a grip on everything going into the last couple races of the year,” said Oehler, who competed in the full 15 race schedule for the PSM class. “And it really felt good to have honestly really finally turned the page. And it just took basically the whole year to get everything sorted out.”

The 2023 Australian drag racing calendar has been dealt a major blow with the shock announcement that The Bend Motorsport Park Dragway in rural South Australia will not host rounds of the Burson Auto Parts Top Fuel Championship or 400 Thunder Aeroflow Drag Racing Series that were scheduled for March 2023.

This week they announced that operations will officially commence in March while the Grand Opening and major events won’t happen until October 2023.

Track management has given no reasons for the delay.

Tis’ the season for giving, and Kalitta Motorsports made good on their promise to feed the hungry during the holiday season.

Kalitta Motorsports, along with longtime sponsor DHL donated 750,000 meals to Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States.

The ‘Drive for Purpose’ charitable program, which exceeded its original goal of 500,000 meals, was based on win lights recorded by Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon and J.R. Todd at the Carolina Nationals in Charlotte, the Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, the Texas Fall Nationals in Dallas and finally, the Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas -- along with fan and corporate donations.

The brand was out, and now they are back in. 

Today, the leading online national retailer revealed it would continue its sponsorship of Elite Motorsports in 2023. Jegs will again serve as the primary sponsor for driver Troy Coughlin Jr. 

CompetitionPlus.com had learned shortly after Indy that Jegs had planned to discontinue its drag racing programs, including the sponsorship of Coughlin in 2023. However, in the past few weeks, a significant internal campaign inspired the company to reconsider its position and keep Jegs in the straight-line sport. 

Towards the end of her successful quest for a fifth Pro Stock championship this fall, Erica Enders said to her challengers, “I am not scared. Bring on whatever you got.”

The driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / SCAG Chevy Camaro can say that with confidence because of the tight-knit group that has surrounded her, one that not only prepares a quick and fast car for her but would go to war for her off the racetrack.

“I know it sounds clichéd, but they're the most important part of the puzzle, to have a group that operates as one and that you can trust, not just on making the race car safe for you, but trusting them with everything . . . whether it be something that you tell them, executing a job perfectly, having your back when somebody's doing something as stupid as running their mouth, or they're not trying to sneak your ride from underneath you,” Enders said. “There's no ulterior motives. There's just a good group of men. I didn't always have that, but I have it now. I feel like that was the most challenging part was to weed through all of the crap to get to the cream.

Veteran NHRA tuner Jim Oberhofer will join legendary Australian Top Fuel team Jim Read Racing for rounds three and four of the Australian Top Fuel Championship at Willowbank Raceway, January 6-7 and Sydney Dragway, January 27-28.

Oberhofer has close links with the Read family and last visited Australia in January 2020 where he worked alongside tuner Bruce Read on the car driven by three-time champion Phil Read.

“I am very excited about coming over,” said Oberhofer. “I have always enjoyed heading to Australia and being around the Read family – I always say they are my Australian family and Bruce Read is one of my dearest friends and a brother to me.” 

American Powertrain, the world’s largest TREMEC® Elite dealer, announces the return of their popular #BaconShift promotion. Beginning December 12th through January 6th, American Powertrain will reward customers with two pounds of Benton’s Bacon from Madisonville, Tennessee with the sale of any ProFit™ 5 or 6-speed manual overdrive transmission kit. With the moniker “The Best Bacon on Earth,” the company’s annual BaconShift promotion has been a huge hit and one that American Powertrain has received the most positive feedback from customers, according to American Powertrain’s Marketing and Sales Manager, Matt Graves.

There is something to be said for the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Of course, this location is known worldwide for all manner of racing, but the yearly arrival of the Performance Racing Industry show here still makes big news locally. Following its return in 2013 to the Hoosier State after a number of years in Orlando, Fla., the city rolls out the red carpet for this event and local news programs pointed out that visitors now fill the myriad group of downtown hotels and quality eateries to the “breaking point.” The truth is, this is truly a trade show that belongs to this city of motorsports importance. Indeed, PRI now has its main headquarter in nearly Speedway, Ind., as well.

Heading into 2023 Texas Motorplex, the only quarter-mile multi-use racing facility in North Texas and home of the Stampede of Speed and NHRA Texas Fall Nationals will once again host a wide variety of drag racing events drawing fans from across the country. The Stampede of Speed, the largest continuous motorsports event second only to the Indy 500, will anchor an exciting season of racing action in 2023.

“We saw tremendous growth in 2022 and we are expecting even bigger events in 2023,” said Christie Meyer Johnson, Texas Motorplex co-owner. “The Stampede of Speed will be back and bigger than ever. The whole team is looking forward to promoting and hosting the best drag racing events in the country. We will have some more exciting announcements about additional events in the coming weeks.”

John Force Racing announced today a multi-year extension with Chevrolet that will see the iconic Bowtie prominently displayed on the National Hot Rod Association’s championship-winning team’s Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars.

“We’re excited to be extending our partnership with Chevrolet and General Motors,” team owner and CEO John Force said. “We have a long history with Chevy, a long successful history and we look forward to continuing that tradition into the future. The support we receive from Chevrolet goes beyond the racetrack. They are part of the John Force Racing family; they help keep us doing what we love and we want to keep winning for them.”