The sun put the spotlight on commanding competition at the NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines, March 17-20, 2022 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.

The first of six events on this year’s Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals tour excited every step of the way, as racers went all-out with their sights set on the NMCA Winner’s Circle and alluring Victor awards.

Most VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod racers recorded 3.60s and 3.70s in incredibly intense qualifying sessions, and among them was Robert Abbott. He rocketed to a 3.66 in his Camaro to earn the top spot. Though Abbott made it to the final round of eliminations, Scott Wildgust wheeled to the holeshot win with a 3.71 against Abbott’s 3.67.

After a long, bumpy, and challenging road consisting of engine blowups, reconfigurations, and just some plain old bad luck, Competition Eliminator veteran Scott Cashio turned to his father after the Dallas national event last year and asked if he still wanted to do this. After all, the Cashios, like many of their fellow competitors, consider drag racing to be a family activity. 

Cashio's father, Tommy, a lifelong bracket racer, enthusiastically reassured his son that he is all in on this endeavor. Thus continued the journey of persistence that every drag racer experiences. For Cashio, the spark he needed to reignite his passion was just around the corner. 

At the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 4 opener in Belle Rose, La., Cashio emerged victorious in his 2009 Cobalt, securing his first win in 11 years. Perhaps more importantly, he rose to the top of the list of competitors vying for their piece of Rodger Brogdon's alluring Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund, which offers additional prize money, to the tune of $300,000, at the end of the season to drivers competing in Division 4 events. 

Rob Goss and his Procharger-packed '09 Gen3 Hemi Challenger have some unfinished business to take care of next weekend at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Early last month at Lights Out 13, after qualifying number one in X275 with a near-record 4.14-seconds pass on the same track, Goss bowed out in round three of racing with a narrow redlight start. The round before he'd lowered his own class ET record to 4.13 seconds.

For the reigning back-to-back Radial Tire Racing Association (RTRA) X275 champion, it just bolsters his belief that having the quickest package is not necessarily what wins races.

Leave it to a guy who likes a challenge to bite off a big one. 

Knowing that the midsection of the country was devoid of a big-time Pro Mod series, Keith Haney led the drive to create one. 

This weekend, the Mid-West Drag Racing Series launches its sixth season south of Dallas, Texas. It has evolved year to year as Haney tries classes, discards what doesn’t work, and adds more in an attempt to stay fresh.

When Pro Mod-based series ADRL and XDRL faded, and the upstart PDRA opted to stay well east of the Mississippi, Haney – himself a racer in the class – decided to take matters into his own hands. 

Up until today, likelier scenarios have happened, like the cow jumping over the moon and the dish running away with the spoon.

Longtime Chevrolet Mountain Motor Pro Stock stalwart John Montecalvo confirmed he will be driving a Ford in 2022 in alliance with Hall of Fame drag racer Roy Hill and sponsorship from Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School. 

“Yeah, I got all my Pro Stock friends saying Hell has frozen over and thinking I’ve fallen and hit my head,” Montecalvo said. “It’s got them all talking for sure.”

It’s not hard to understand why there’s a lot of talk going around considering Montecalvo, a multi-time series champion while racing IHRA, ADRL, and PDRA Pro Stock divisions, at one time was the only factory hot rod racer in those series receiving sponsorship from GM.

The fact they were at the NHRA Gatornationals spoke volumes about the heart of the Jim Head Racing team. 

Then to reach the final round, said it in a tone as deafening as the team's Mustang Funny Car driven by Blake Alexander. 

Gainesville was the first race back since the team suffered the tragic hauler accident that cost crewman Dylan Cromwell's life, killed in an accident en route to the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. 

Big money will be on the line as some of the best DOT radial drag racers in the world look to battle it out at the 5th Annual Sweet 16 "Battle of the Thrones."

Presented by DuckX and BossX, and sponsored in part by Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Sweet 16 5.0 will feature the Baddest Radial Vs. the World, Pro275, X275, Limited Drag Radial (LDR) and ULTRA STREET competitions. Races will be held March 24-26 at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Drag Racing Series (MWDRS) presented J&A Service and its racers, and they’re ready to see the results of their hard work this weekend at the season-opening MWDRS Xtreme Texas Nationals, March 18-19 at Xtreme Raceway Park in Ferris, Texas. 
 
Headlining the Xtreme Texas Nationals are the series’ two quickest and fastest classes, Stroud Safety Pro Mod and J&A Service Funny Car. 
 
In Pro Mod, which has been a part of the Mid-West series since its inception, the competition has become incredibly tight, with several different power adders and engine combinations competing at a high level.

Stevie "Fast" Jackson understands the optics of the situation don't yield much in the way of positivity.

For the first time since 2002, the NHRA Pro Modified enters the new season without a series sponsor. Additionally, a last-minute signing of FTI Performance provided a purse for the class at the NHRA Gatornationals.

However, the racers have always been responsible for funding their purse, whether through a sponsor or their own marketing branch, such as the former Real Pro Modified Association, which disbanded at the end of 2019. 

Regardless of how one paints the picture, Jackson believes having a purse is essential.

Doorslammer racing veteran Keith Haney has added yet another eye-catching hot rod to the list of Keith Haney Racing entries over the years, as he plans to unveil his screw-blown “America - Lady Liberty” ’16 Camaro during the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Drag Racing Series (MWDRS) presented by J&A Service season opener, March 18-19 at Xtreme Raceway Park in Ferris, Texas. 
 
“Lady Liberty” started life as “Enigma,” Haney’s record-setting, nitrous-fed Radial vs. the World entry that he debuted at Lights Out 7 in February 2016. “Enigma” made waves in the radial racing scene with Haney and Brandon Pesz sharing driving duties. Street Outlaws star “Daddy Dave” Comstock also made some passes in Enigma. The car even carried Haney to the MWDRS Radial vs. the World championship in 2017, the same year Haney also won the Pro Mod title.