What a difference a year can make.

In his last visit to the Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona - a rare pandemic-delayed summer trip to the southern California track - Justin Ashley had to be helped from his 11,000-horsepower dragster in one of the most disappointing days of his young career.

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​2019 was a banner year for Robert Hight and John Force Racing (JFR).

Hight raced to a season-high six wins and his third NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series championship that year, all while leading the standings - with the exception of a single race at the beginning of the Countdown to the Championship - wire-to-wire.

The magnitude of this weekend's historic 900th NHRA Pro Stock race is not lost on four-time NHRA champion Erica Enders. The veteran driver of the Elite Motorsports Camaro drove her way to the top of the provisional qualifying list with a 6.521-second elapsed time at 210.44 miles per hour. 

Winning this weekend's Pro Stock race will also come with a special edition Wally created by Cold Hard Art. 

After a disappointing 2021, Funny Car standout Robert Hight got off to a strong start to open the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, rocketing to the provisional No. 1 spot on Friday at the 62nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the first of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Willowbank Raceway, Queensland will receive a $11 million upgrade as part of the Australian Government Community Development Grants Program to support infrastructure in local and regional economies.

The phrases “single-car team” and “multi-car team” seem like they’re pretty elementary to define: single-car team, one car . . . multiple-car team, more than one car. Ahh, but it’s not that simple. 

Take, for instance the curious pairing of Justin Ashley’s Phillips Connect /Vita C Dragster team and Antron Brown’s Matco Tools/Toyota/Sirius xm/Hangsterfer’s Dragster outfit. Each has one car. Each has one driver. But they’re linked for data-sharing, research-and-development, and marketing/promotional ventures, with ambitions to help not only their team but also the entire sport to flourish. 

All Doug Foley wanted was a fair shot.

With a brand-new Morgan Lucas Racing-built car that crew chief Aaron Brooks put his handprints all over before it was finished, along with quality parts and a trustworthy crew, the ProTechs Construction Dragster co-owner/driver just might have that for the first time.

That makes this a pivotal year for Foley & Lewis Racing.

Top Fuel racer Austin Prock never has telegraphed the slightest bit of self-doubt, and even though he has sat out the past two seasons, he’s showing no signs of it as he returns in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Dragster.
 
“I think our car will be able to race with the best of ’em. We have every piece of the puzzle to go out there and succeed. There’s no doubt in my mind we can go out and contend for a championship,” the 26-year-old who’s youngest in the class said. “We’ve got a great group of crew members put together. I can’t wait to get back into that competition mindset and go out there and [drive] to the best of my ability. And we’ll see how the cards fall.” 

Prock was the quickest of PRO Nitro Spring Training testing on Saturday, and the third quickest overall of the event thanks to a Saturday afternoon 3.685, 333.66.