Erica Enders has won a lot.

She has four world championships. She has 38 career wins. She has 404 round wins.

And this year, she might be having her best start yet. The 38-year-old driver from Houston, Texas, has five wins and six finals in eight total races. She has a commanding points lead..

So how does a driver of her skill and stature stay motivated when nearly every run is routine, and more often than not, another win?

Tyler Hilton wouldn't mind experiencing a normal NHRA Holley Hot Rod Reunion.

A year ago, at the traditional nostalgia event held over Father's Day weekend at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky., the second-generation drag racer endured one of the most catastrophic fires from a front-engine dragster. Hilton's fire was so destructive it resembled a scene from the movie Ghost Rider as Hilton traveled down the shutdown area.

A year later, he found himself racing for the title at the closest national event venue to his home. The will of redemption drove him to return this year, not politics or anything else.

Staying in your own lane when it comes to business can be challenging - just ask Richard Freeman. 

To clarify lane assignments, Freeman is adamant his lane is in doorslammer racing, whether it be his beloved Pro Stock or Competition Eliminator. Fuel racing or any other type that doesn't have doors is classified as outside his lane. 

"Every time I get out of my lane, I get in trouble," Freeman admitted. "That's one thing about that Top Fuel deal. It's out of my lane, but just like Pro Stock, I believe those two classes, Fuel and Funny Car, need some help and need some new blood. Not taking anything away from anybody that's over there, but Pro Stock was in that situation. We were having trouble getting cars, and we didn't change the platform, we just changed the class a little bit, how things were done, and it's worked tremendously. It seems like every time somebody decides to hang it up; somebody else comes in."

July 15, 2021, will go into the history books as one of the most critical dates in the history of Australian drag racing. 

On that date, the four leading Oz Top Fuel teams, Jim Read Racing, PremiAir Racing, Rapisarda Autosport International and Lamattina Top Fuel Racing, announced they had joined forces to establish their own Australian Top Fuel Championship series.
  
The six-round series would run from January to June 2022 across three states and territories and include venues in rural Australia.

The announcement sent shockwaves through the Aussie drag community that was still in the grip of the Covid -19 pandemic that had wreaked havoc on the sport. 

The drag racing community is mourning the loss of jet-truck driver Chris Darnell, who died on Saturday, July 2, 2022, following a crash at the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Michigan.

Darnell, 40, was performing in the Shockwave jet-powered Peterbilt semi amid pyrotechnics when a tire on his rig reportedly failed, sending the vehicle into a series of rolls at a high rate of speed. Police have not officially released a cause for the crash.

Throughout the upcoming NHRA Western Swing Doug Kalitta’s Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster will feature major associate branding from Revchem Composites as the third-year sponsor increases their visibility. The three-race stretch from Denver to Sonoma to Seattle will highlight Revchem’s alliance and contributions to Kalitta Motorsports. The relationship continually grows as Revchem utilizes Kalitta Motorsports' VIP hospitality and B2B program to increase brand awareness. The company was an integral part of the Toyota GR Supra Funny Car redesign and continues to make contributions to the team throughout the season. As an industry leading composite materials distributor and technical resource Revchem is involved with many industries, from surfing to aerospace and everything in between.
 
"We have seen our relationship grow with Revchem over the past two years. Their sponsorship has helped the Revchem brand become recognized as the composite distributor of choice in the NHRA. We are their primary promotional tool so highlighting them on Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster was a great opportunity during the Swing," said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports general manager. "Their relationship and input with our fab shop have been a huge plus to our technical development."

The last time the National Hot Rod Association debuted a video game for the masses, Antron Brown was competing on a Pro Stock Motorcycle.

That was nearly 15 years ago.

Brown was in that game, titled, “NHRA: Countdown to the Championship” and still remembers the excitement of being a part of a game that touched fans around the world and brought them closer than ever to the sport of drag racing.

“I remember back when we ran the bikes and they did it, I think the coolest part was that people who could race against you and truly felt they could compete against you,” Brown said. “And maybe they could.”

As the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals embarks on its 25th anniversary, the series shifts its iconic Spring Break Shootout season opener to Orlando Speed World in 2023, diversifying the event with even more Blue Oval action.
 
“It’s become clear that modern Ford fans demand motorsport variety, and we plan to celebrate NMRA’s 25th-anniversary tour by bringing the festival atmosphere of our World Finals to the season opener in Orlando, Florida,” explains Steve Wolcott, Founder & CEO of NMRA. “Our fans love drag racing, but we need to offer even more motorsport action around the event. Our move to OSW opens the door to the most exciting Spring Break Shootout yet."

Pro Nitrous frontrunner Chris Rini has a new hot rod. This beauty recently rolled out of Jerry Bickel Race Cars destined for battle in the super challenging PDRA wars. Here's the first look at this monster. 

Former IHRA National Tech Director Robert Leonard passed away on June 27, 2022, following an extended illness. He was 83.

Leonard was preceded in death by his wife Doris and is survived by his son Jerry. He had five grandchildren. 

"Drag racing was a way of life," Jerry Leonard said. "It was his passion. He was all about the racer and making sure everybody got a fair shake. Sometimes he had to make the tough decisions, but the racers understood it wasn't personal; it was him being as fair across the board." 

Leonard worked with the IH