Buddy Hull stuck to his plan no matter how badly he wanted to do otherwise.

Hull, after running two events in the first part of the season, parked his Top Fuel dragster until this weekend, when he will return to competition at the Menards Nationals presented by Pet Armor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kansas.

"It has been an awesome summer, but I am tired of looking at my race car in the shop," said Hull during an interview on the CompetitionPlus.com Power Hour podcast. "I want to see the race car sitting next to the trailer in the pits. I want to see my race car being towed to the staging lanes."

Past Pro Stock driver and current Factory Stock Showdown frontrunner Mark Pawuk admits he never pushed his kids into drag racing. However, if they wanted to try the sport from behind the wheel, he knew he wanted it to be at a top-notch drag racing school. 

Dating back to his days as a General Motors-sponsored driver, Pawuk knew from experience The Frank Hawley Drag Racing School was the place for them to learn the trade he’s plied on the largest stage of the sport.

Kyle and Kassandra Pawuk grew up at the race track watching their father navigate the quarter-mile and recently gave driving a spin with Frank Hawley at the school. 

Please be advised: The Hudson family’s enthusiasm for sportsman racing is highly contagious. Prolonged exposure could lead to increased levels of energy, fierce competition, and high levels of engaged interest in all of the complexities associated with sportsman drag racing. Read and proceed with caution.

Those lucky enough to have met this impressive family will almost certainly agree with the statement above. The Hudsons, Ashton, and Mignon, who have been married for 31 years, met when they were teenagers and one of their first dates was to a points meet in Baton Rouge. The couple are beyond passionate about the sport, and they raised their daughters, Bliss and Ella, with the same enthusiasm and desire to improve the experience for everyone.

It was a show that would have made the late Bill Bader Sr. smile.

In front of a packed house for the 45th annual Cornwell Tools Night Under Fire, Summit Motorsports Park delivered a show worthy of being drag racing’s largest single-day independent drag race.

Alexis DeJoria headlined the winners by winning the Chicago-Style eliminations format over John Force, and Larry “Spiderman” McBride won the two-wheeled nitro division.

Can anybody stop Kirk Williams?

Kirk Williams, the winner of the last three points-paying Funny Car Chaos events in 'A' Field, continued his onslaught of the competition this past weekend in Eddyville, Iowa capturing his fourth win of the season and fourth in a row. Williams's domination on the field has allowed him to build a nearly insurmountable point lead on the rest of the competition with just three races left to go in the season.

Tim Cullinan joined Williams in the winner's circle in Eddyville by taking home the honors in 'B' Field along with Wayne Hofmann, son of Nitro Funny Car legend Al Hofmann, capturing the win in 'C' Field competition.

The NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock season returns to action at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN, August 10 - 21, 2022.  

The MMPSA confirmed that SweetLeaf brand Stevia Water Drops will be the official presenting sponsor for the class for the remaining three NHRA events of 2022. In addition to Brainerd, the large displacement Pro Stockers will race at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Charlotte, NC.

As the NHRA’s best drivers prepare for a pivotal Countdown to the Championship showdown at zMAX Dragway Sept. 23-25, officials have announced that the event will have a new name. Betway, a global betting and gaming brand, has signed on as the entitlement sponsor for the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals.

The second race in the NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series’ six-event Countdown to the Championship brings cooler fall temperatures to the lightening-fast drag strip – providing the potential for track-record speeds when nitro-powered Top Fuel and Funny Car machines scorch zMAX Dragway’s pavement in search of a coveted Countdown triumph.

Now that Chris Karamesines has retired, one of his Top Fuel contemporaries gets the honor of the oldest competitor in the class. 

Washington State’s Ron Smith, a retired Boeing employee, has an anniversary to celebrate. He earned his Top Fuel license in 1972, 50 years ago. But he has been drag racing longer than that. He said, “I have been out here, I think 60 years.” 

Smith, who’ll turn 80 years old Oct. 28, did win the Top Fuel open benefit at Bremerton, Wash., to raise money in 1974 for Herm Peterson, who was burned severely in an accident at Southern California’s Orange County International Raceway. 

A lot has gone on at Pacific Raceways since the NHRA was here last there in 2019. So fans have noticed and felt the differences at this Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals. Most noticeable are the new garages, which represent Phase I of a technology campus vision that track owner-president Jason Fiorito has orchestrated to keep the legendary racetrack resistant to urban encroachment and tempting offers to sell. 

That has resulted in a few inconveniences for fans, many of whom have complained about changes to their parking habits and the fact that Friday racing offers just one qualifying run rather than the traditional two. The NHRA instituted the latter practice in 2020 – but fans here missed out on a 2020 race and a 2021 event because of pandemic restrictions. 

He and his team have survived a pandemic. They are navigating their way through what appears to be a recession. And, yet the NHRA and its President, Glen Cromwell, continue making moves to guide the NHRA in a positive direction.

Is the NHRA's world perfect? No. And even when Wally Parks was at the helm of the world's largest sanctioning body, there were challenging times.

Recently CompetitionPlus.com's Bobby Bennett caught up with the NHRA's fifth president to discuss the hot-button topics of today's drag racing in regards to the NHRA and its world.