When the 2022 NHRA season began veteran Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta was full of optimism for what his team could accomplish.

That positivity was fueled by the addition of world championship crew chiefs Alan Johnson and Brian Husen to his Kalitta Motorsports team in the offseason.

When a man named Captain Chaos stands there speechless, you know the poop is real. And that's precisely what happened to the master of Chaos, Kenny Koretsky, as he stood on the starting line at Maple Grove Raceway surveying the packed grandstands and the unending line of race fans still coming in.

"I couldn't even give my speech," Koretsky admitted. "It's just emotion; it got the best of me."

Koretsky might have been the only person who didn't see this coming. Those who know the man who runs seemingly a gazillion businesses simultaneously and does so efficiently knew when Koretsky and his family purchased Maple Grove Raceway in April 2022 that a grand time was on the horizon in September.

Cruz Pedregon cannot help it. He gets to meet all the cool people. 

Last month he met NFL Defensive Lineman Danielle Hunter and members of the Minnesota Vikings when he was invited to visit the team's preseason training camp. He's also crossed paths with professional wrestler Bill Goldberg and ATL Rapper Killer Mike. He's also spent time with iconic sports talk show icon Jim Rome and boxing champion Larry Holmes. Oh yeah, and there was the time he met the entire Las Vegas Raiders organization.  

But of them all, one stands out amongst them all. 

Shawn Bowen may not be a regular competitor in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series. Still, when he showed up at Tulsa Raceway Park with his 3000 horsepower Front-engine Top Fuel Dragster dubbed "The Violator" at this past weekend's Nitro Nationals, he was an immediate favorite right from the jump. 

Not only did Bowen win the race, but he did so in dominating fashion. Qualifying No. 1 while also setting low elapsed time in eliminations and the top speed of the meet gave Bowen and his Violator Top Fuel team a clean sweep on the weekend. 

A reporter suggested to Top Fuel racer Justin Ashley even before the 15th Countdown to the Championship began that “it's a pretty good time to be Justin Ashley right now.”

And the modest third-year driver from New York’s Plainview, Long Island, smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess so, right? I mean, things have been going really well. It's been a really good season so far.”

It got even better last weekend with the Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, Pa. – his 50th start. Although Ashley was just .0048 of a second, or about two feet, slower than John Force Racing’s Austin Prock to the finish line in the final round of the Countdown opener, he leapfrogged Mike Salinas – his semifinal victim – and speed queen Brittany Force to assume the points lead for the first time since the February Winternationals.

For Josh Hart, it was disillusioning. He called it painful.

It was satisfying to him to be among people who loved drag racing as much as he did. But the shine of it all faded when the Top Fuel owner-driver discovered that not everyone in the sport is trustworthy.

And he spoke out about the shady but prevalent practice of rivals trying to pursue his personnel and pirate his marketing partners.

“Last year, I genuinely did just come out here to have some fun. I wanted to race with the best people on the planet, taking it all at face value. I thought that [some] were upstanding, good people. As you enter this arena, you realize very quickly that nothing’s off-limits,“ Hart told Competition Plus’ Bobby Bennett.

Pro Stock legend Greg Anderson and award-winning drag racing publicist Dave Densmore will be recognized as Texas Motorplex Legends during the opening ceremonies of the 37th annual Texas NHRA Fall Nationals.

Anderson is the winningest Pro Stock driver in Texas Motorplex history with six Texas Fall Nationals titles, including his historic 99th career win last year. Densmore has been one of the most respected and influential drag racing publicists for over four decades working for the sanctioning body as well as the biggest names in drag racing.

Pro Stock veteran Greg Anderson recorded his 100th victory with his seventh U.S. Nationals triumph three weeks ago.    

He’s in exclusive company, with just John Force’s seemingly unmatchable standard of 155 victories on the NHRA’s professional side. Sportsman racers Frank Manzo (105 national events), Dan Fletcher (104), and David Rampy (100) also have reached or surpassed the 100-victory plateau.    

But at least in the pro ranks, it might be a long time before any driver earns 100 or more victories. Five active racers (Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, Ron Capps, Robert Hight, and Steve Torrence) have 50 or more victories. Doug Kalitta and Eddie Krawiec both are on the doorstep of 50. And Angelle Sampey has 46. Those drivers have combined for 27 championships and multiple NHRA records. Still, earning 100 victories is an extra-special accomplishment.    

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how you get there; you just have to get there.

Sunday afternoon, the NHRA definitely got there.

Following the NFL on Fox’s 1 - 4 PM EST slot on Sunday, the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals delivered 1,678,000 viewers – the most for NHRA on FOX. The NHRA receives one NFL adjacent game per year, and this season’s was up 10 percent (the equivalent of 150,000) viewers over last year’s NHRA Carolina Nationals broadcast.