​Pep Boys Auto Service & Tires recently announced that Pep Boys, one of the nation’s leading automotive service networks, is partnering with NHRA Top Fuel driver Mike Salinas at several events on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule this year. Coming off of their first win of the season in Phoenix, the Scrappers Racing team, led by Salinas, first revealed this new partnership at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. when the 11,000-horsepower dragster rolled up to the starting line displaying a new Pep Boys livery, catching the attention of everyone in attendance as well as the thousands tuned in to NHRA on Fox. 

This partnership marks the first time that Pep Boys, a staple in American auto service for more than 100 years, has sponsored a driver in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and the esteemed car care provider plans to partner with Salinas for several additional events throughout the 2022 season including the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., close to the Pep Boys headquarters in Philadelphia.

What started out to be a discussion about next weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ended up being a declaration of love.

All that moderator Brian Lohnes asked John Force toward the end of an NHRA-arranged Zoom press conference with the John Force Racing (JFR) team was which lane in a four-wide race he prefers.

Before he closed the session by saying, “Robert [Hight] stole my line: the one you win in,” Force poured out his heart about drag racing and its premier sanctioning body and pronouncing the sport has a bright future.

“The pandemic about took me out, mentally and financially. And the sponsors stayed by me, by us. In the process, I changed a lot of how I looked at things,” he prefaced. “But I know how to get my mind right.”

Veteran nitro Funny Car Paul Lee didn’t like the trend his team has been since 2021.

The 2021 season saw Lee finish 12th in NHRA’s point standings after compiling a 7-15 elimination round record.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gotten better in 2022.

Lee failed to qualify for the season-opening Winternationals and then lost in the first round to Robert Hight and Chad Green in Phoenix and Gainesville, Fla., respectively.

 Bob Tasca III will return to defend his win at the 4- Wide Nationals in Las Vegas on April 1–3. This time around he will be in a BG Products’ wrapped Ford Mustang. This is the first of three races in 2022!

“I’m thrilled to have BG on board as a primary sponsor for three races in 2022. They have been a huge supporter of our race program and I have always wanted to run an all BG Mustang,” said Tasca III. 

BG Products, Inc., is a market leader for top quality automotive maintenance products through creative innovation and an unprecedented standard of excellence. They provide products and equipment to a worldwide network of distributors since 1971. 

AMALIE Motor Oil revealed plans to join Dan Mercier Racing as an associate sponsor on the Mercier Racing Top Fuel Dragster driven by Terry McMillen, a two-time NHRA winner, including the 2018 US Nationals. AMALIE will also be an associate sponsor on the Mercier Racing A-Fuel Dragster driven by Dan Mercier

“We’re so excited to have AMALIE joining us for 2022,” McMillen said. “The pandemic caused us to have to pause our contract with AMALIE. So, having them on the side of our Mercier Racing dragster just feels right. Dan runs a family-friendly team that fits so well into our family racing roots and the AMALIE Family.”

“AMALIE, a family-owned company, manufactures and blends a wide variety of high quality, top-performing lubricants for automotive and industrial applications,” said Harry Barkett (President and CEO of AMALIE). “Both Terry McMillen and Dan Mercier are considered part of the extended AMALIE Family. Terry has been a friend and the pilot of the Xtermigator for over 20 years, he is a true professional and competes with the highest level of intensity I’ve seen.” Harry continued, “Dan was a customer for years prior to becoming an AMALIE distributor. He is a consummate businessman who is doing a tremendous job growing our brand north of the border and we look forward to continued success on and off the track.”

Al Segrini held his own as a nitro racer, posting five NHRA national event wins in nine final rounds and one in IHRA competition. When you pulled to the starting line to race, you weren't exactly enthused to see the popular driver in the other lane, and it had as much to do with him being a popular racer as it did that sometimes bad stuff happened to you in your lane.

Weird stuff usually happened to racers when Segrini was in the opposite lane.

Just to think, it all started in 1974 when Segrini lined up against his hero Jim Liberman for the Summernational final round. 

Currently among the most unique annual drag racing events in the country is promoter Donald "Duck" Long's Sweet 16 V, set for this weekend (Mar. 25-27), at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP). By design, few spectators will be on hand to watch the country's best radial-tired racers pull out all the stops in going after big money and literal crowns and thrones for the winners. 

While Long's recently completed Lights Out and No Mercy events each fall at the same track attract huge crowds for the radial racing set, Sweet 16 is designed as a celebration of speed and good times for the race teams themselves.

"It's basically a really big test session that pays about $115,000," Long says.

There's also an element of self interest, he freely admits, explaining the decision to limit attendance beyond the race teams this year to "only about a hundred" paying spectators.

After years of establishing his name in NHRA’s Pro Stock division, seasoned veteran Mark Pawuk has found his groove in another style of factory hot rod.

Pawuk clinched his first victory in the NMCA’s Holley EFI Factory Super Cars class a week after establishing a new World Record in the NHRA’s Factory Stock Showdown. As a result of his success, Pawuk became the first to claim the new Direct Connection Contingency Program that pays $10,000 to a Drag Pak driver that wins in the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown or NMCA Factory Super Cars categories. The $10,000 purse is the largest available contingency award from a manufacturer in either class.

Running his own Burnyzz Speed Shop and an NHRA Top Fuel team apparently isn’t enough to keep Josh Hart busy.

This weekend Hart is embarking on a new endeavor.

Hart is now involved with helping car collectors and enthusiasts add hot rods, high-performance vehicles, and iconic cars to their collections through a business relationship with Show Stoppers Collector Car Auctions.

Hart is hosting the Show Stoppers Car Auction on March 25-26 at the World Equestrian Center in Expo 2 in Ocala, Fla., Hart’s hometown.

Nothing sends a message like winning in your first race, and this is exactly what Justin Ashley did.

Winning the NHRA Winternationals, in his debut with Phillips Connect, and reaching the semis just two races later, was enough for the national leader in semi-trailer tracking and sensor technologies to extend their initial program into the full 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. The original program was just for the first three races. 

“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue representing Phillips Connect for the remainder of the season,” said Ashley. “It is a privilege to work with a company that so evidently embodies the principles of success within each level of their organization. It’s a driver’s dream to work with such an outstanding company, and I truly believe this is the beginning of a special relationship in the racing and business sector. I look forward to further introducing Phillips Connect to the NHRA community and using motorsports as a platform to help generate business.”