A full list of 60 drivers will fight for the right to race in the 32-car, $32,000-to-win M&M Transmission Pro Mod presented by Carmack Engineering field at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by Diamond Pistons at Bradenton Motorsports Park this weekend. The race serves as the kickoff of the 2022 outlaw drag racing season, with a host of small-tire classes set to join the headlining Pro Mod show. 
 
The U.S. Street Nationals comes less than two months after Bradenton hosted the 50th annual Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, where 50 Pro Mod drivers raced for $50,000. 

On Jan. 19, veteran Top Fuel racer Terry McMillen announced he was returning to the track in 2022 in NHRA after sitting out last season when he lost his primary sponsor Amalie Oil.

McMillen will be competing on a limited schedule, competing in six to eight national events in 2022, so he can continue to support his son Cameron’s junior dragster career. McMillen will race under the Dan Mercier Racing banner. Cameron is 8 years old, and he competes in the 1190 division in Junior Dragsters.

McMillen said he’s thrilled to be racing again but acknowledged sitting at home in 2021 took a toll on him, especially racing is all he had known for 20 years.

Monster Energy and Flav-R-Pac Frozen Fruits and Vegetables will continue to share primary sponsorship of Brittany Force’s Top Fuel dragster. Monster Energy was originally with the John Force Racing family from 2015-2018 during which Brittany Force won the 2017 NHRA Top Fuel World Championship and returned in 2020 to split primary sponsorship duties with Flav-R-Pac Fruits and Vegetables, a recognized brand of PNW VEG CO., LLC DBA NORPAC, a subsidiary of Oregon Potato Company (OPC) which is owned by Frank Tiegs.

After a successful 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season that featured 12 No. 1 qualifying positions, five final round appearances, a win at Topeka, Kansas and ultimately a runner-up finish in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship, Monster Energy and Flav-R-Pac will continue with the Top Fuel stand-out in a multi-year partnership.

Red Line Oil signed a two-year agreement becoming the title sponsor of the NMCA Muscle Car Nationals, solidifying the oil company’s commitment to the modern and vintage muscle car market. The Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals offers six national events catering to grassroots drag racing, street performance, and the restoration and customization segments. 

“Red Line Oil has a rich history in motorsports and bringing them into the NMCA as the series sponsor is a great fit from hardcore Pro Mod racers to street performance enthusiasts as well as fans across the country,” said Steve Wolcott, CEO and founder of ProMedia Events, the parent company of the NMCA Muscle Car Nationals. “We’ve worked with Red Line Oil, along with Arrington Performance, through our exclusive Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout program and we’re thrilled they’re stepping up to an even higher profile position with the NMCA for 2022 and beyond.”

Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) has fielded as few as one car and as many as nine.

And Schumacher told Competition Plus that he doesn’t think the single-car team – à la Antron Brown’s and Ron Capps’ new operations – is an indication of things to come.

“No, I don't feel that is ultimately the trend in the direction the sport will go,” Schumacher said. “I believe the multi-car teams with the current owners and the new owners will be ultimately the way the sport progresses and goes forward.”

Who could argue with him? Even Brown and Capps likely won’t remain single-car operations. Brown has said that eventually he’d like to expand his team, with the ultimate limit two Top Fuel dragsters and two Funny Cars. Dean Antonelli, Capps’ co-crew chief along with John Medlen, said, “I would say he has aspirations to grow to a multiple-car team, probably a two-car team, in the next few years – not right away.”

SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) has released its “SEMA Future Trends – January 2022” report. The in-depth report, conducted by the SEMA Market Research Team, provides valuable insight and information to help the specialty-equipment industry make vital decisions and plan for the future.

The SEMA Future Trends report provides a detailed analysis of the industry’s most important issues and trends in 2022 and beyond. The report includes four primary sections:

Don Schumacher Racing is proud to announce that it has added a third team to its 2022 Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series line-up with the addition of Warren Walcher to the organization’s championship-winning program. Walcher, who will campaign a third 2021 Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak for DSR, is eager to join his two new teammates, David Davies and Mark Pawuk, as he begins his first full season competing in the popular FSS category.
 
The Grand Junction, Colo. resident is scheduled to compete in all eight FSS events, making his DSR debut at the series’ season-opener at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. in March. Walcher’s machine will utilize a DSR engine and drivetrain, and the car will be tuned and maintained by co-crew chiefs Kevin Helms and A.J. Berge who will continue to oversee Davies and Pawuk’s Drag Paks, in addition to Walcher’s new entry.

NHRA championship-contending Top Fuel driver Justin Ashley announced the addition of Aladdin Bakers, Inc., a Brooklyn based bakery and owner of Baked In Brooklyn pita chips, snack sticks, and assorted snacks, as an associate sponsor for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Baked in Brooklyn logos will appear on Ashley’s 11,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragster.

“We are thrilled to have Baked in Brooklyn join our team,” said Ashley, the 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year and No. 4 finisher in Top Fuel in 2021. “As a native New Yorker, I am proud to represent a company with such delicious snacks located so close to home. I am looking forward to introducing these foods to NHRA fans across the country.”

Weldon High Performance has signed as presenting sponsor of CompetitionPlusTV.com, the video department of iconic internet drag racing magazine CompetitionPlus.com. CompetitionPlusTV presented by Weldon High Performance celebrates its tenth year and the popular YouTube Channel has grown to over 42,000 subscribers largely in part to its original and historical content including its Legends: The Series and Storytellers videos.