Ever since Jim Campbell started competing in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car ranks, he has always been a glass-half-full guy.

Fast-forward to 2022 and that positive mindset has remained for Campbell. Campbell has driven for legendary team owner Jim Dunn since the 2017 season.

Campbell lost in the first round of the Mile-High Nationals on July 17 to John Force. Force clocked a 3.997-second time at 324.59 mph to get past Campbell’s 4.234-second lap at 299.20 mph at Bandimere Speedway.

Next time, Matt Smith will know better.

The five-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion walked into the media center at Bandimere Speedway with a sly grin and a reality that he had the field covered by a bunch. After the first session at the Dodge Mile High Nationals, the spread was almost .07 of a second. It tightened to a little over .06.

Smith cited the lack of spare parts for parking his Suzuki for the event, but he knew the Vtwin had an advantage in the thin air.

The truth was when qualifying ended on Saturday, Smith had .064 on the closest Suzuki. This advantage was nothing new as the Vtwins have held dominance over the Suzukis on Thunder Mountain. Last season, Smith held .06 headed into race day, and in 2019 (2020 was canceled due to COVID), low qualifier Eddie Krawiec, then on a Harley-Davidson, carried almost .11 into final eliminations.

In year one as a team owner/driver Ron Capps everything has exceeded expectations.

Capps, the reigning NHRA nitro Funny Car world champion, is third in the points standings after a second-round loss to Bob Tasca III at the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver.

Although Capps was unable to make it in the winner’s circle at Bandimere Speedway he was still gushing about the work of his team.

Just when Stevie "Fast" Jackson thought he'd seen it all, he admitted the latest actions by the NHRA to rescind rule changes before they were put into effect on the track adds a new dynamic to the collection of examples he's witnessed.

On July 1, 2022, NHRA announced they reduced the centrifugal supercharger rpm limit from 10K rpm to 9500. The screw supercharger combination would have its overdrive from 75 to 65 percent, while the roots supercharger combination would have its minimum weight reduced from 2640 to 2615.

Twelve days later, the NHRA's tech department rescinded the adjustment.

Drag racing is headed back to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., near Chicago. 

The track hasn’t hosted any type of drag racing since the end of the 2019 season.

Now, on Aug. 5-7, the NHRA North Central Division 3 race will take place. On Aug. 4, there also will be a Test and Tune session.

DENSO will not only be the primary sponsor of this weekend’s upcoming NHRA stop in Sonoma, they will also be the primary sponsor on the side of Clay Millican’s 11,000 horsepower Parts Plus top fuel dragster. Stringer Performance will again showcase the DENSO brand at the annual visit to California’s wine country during the second of three events in NHRA’s famed Western swing.

“DENSO continues to be a great partner and having them with Clay at their own NHRA race event is something very special. We value DENSO and their commitment to offering Parts Plus a full line-up of products, which makes this a win-win!” said team owner, Doug Stringer.

Clay Millican not only drives the Stringer owned Parts Plus top fueler, he also is a major player in the social media world with his highly successful YouTube channel and will continue to drive custom content related to this exciting DENSO program from their Sonoma race all weekend.

Mike Salinas smiles as the notion hits him.

If someone had walked up to him before the 2022 season and said, “By the midpoint season, you’ll be the number one points guy, and you’ll be the most dominant Top Fuel driver in the class this year to this point.” 

I would have responded, “It would be nice in my dreams. It’s something we’re working on.”

Tony Schumacher was hopeful his return to driving a Top Fuel dragster full-time would result in an epic 2022 season.

So far this year, if Schumacher didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck.

Schumacher’s latest misfortune came at the Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver Sunday.

That didn't take long.

Megan Meyer, a two-time NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, announced her unretirement earlier this year and wasted little time rekindling her winning ways.

Meyer took home top honors in the "A" Field at the recently-completed Nitro Chaos event at the legendary Mo-Kan Dragway, a facility named for its proximity to the Missouri-Kansas state line. Joining Meyer in the winner's circle was Dave Gallegos, who took home the "B" Field honors.