Jet car gypsies are racers who live a very different lifestyle from that of the everyday racing community. Unlike most racers who race for class domination, record runs, or championship points, jet cars are actually exhibition vehicles. They are not competition machines created expressly to win every time they make thunder. On the contrary, they are WOW machines conceived to put on a show, and they get paid to show up. Winning anything is just a perk. Their bag is entertainment, not who gets to the finish line first.

They each will do their best to get to the stripe first every time, no matter who is in the lane next to them. They are all genuine racers at heart.

The professional exhibitionists who own and sometimes pilot their jet cars are a unique bunch who add greatly to the flavor of the sport known as drag racing. There are roughly thirty jet car teams in the continental United States in the year 2021. For close to 52 weeks a year, these ultimate mayhem machines crisscross continental America, earning their keep by entertaining throngs of racing fans everywhere. With enormous billowing smoke shows that can bury the largest house you can think of, and with their fire shows, they can make even the most seasoned firefighter cringe.

The fields are now set for the 50th anniversary Nightfire Nationals in Boise, Idaho.

Johnny West thundered from worst to first in the final day of qualifying, driving to the pole of the AA/Fuel Altered division. The nitro divisions headed by Bobby Cottrell (Nostalgia Funny Car) and Dan Horan Jr. (Nostalgia Top Fuel) remained at the top of their respective divisions. Ed Marx took over the top spot in Pro Modified.

West, the longtime fuel Funny Car racer who is a noted tuner in today's Big Show, came from the outside looking into the No. 1 position with a 6.100. West will take on Shayne Stewart in round one.

Multi-time NHRA Heritage Series Funny Car champion Bobby Cottrell was in a league of his own during first-day qualifying for the 50th anniversary Nightfire Nationals in Boise, Idaho.

Joining Cotrell atop their respective divisions were Nostalgia Top Fuel veteran Dan Horan Jr., Rick Van Horn (AA/Fuel Altered), and Sean Renteria (Pro Modified).

Should you ever wander through the pit area at an NHRA drag race and see Christina DiBartolomeo tossing bags at a cornhole board, just admire her work …

… because you don’t want any of that. Odds are strongly in her favor that she’ll whip your butt.

You don’t think so?

OK, be that way -- but don’t whine that you weren’t warned.

​On Thursday, August 5, high winds visited the Bonneville Salt Flats race course and wreaked havoc across the Salt. 

Gusting winds to 80 mph caused complications throughout the pits and across racing courses. The high gusting winds persisted throughout the night.

Chris Graves, the photographer turned Funny Car promoter, laughs at the notion, if his Nitro Chaos event were a dinner, it could be considered a pot luck meal.

"Everybody brought their favorite dish," Graves confirmed.

And they indeed did.

The inaugural Nitro Chaos at Eddyville Dragway in Eddyville, Iowa, attracted not only fuel Funny Cars but also dragsters and altereds. The Funny Cars were new and old, while the dragsters had engines in the rear and the front. Some entries had superchargers, and others had injectors. Some were small mom-and-pop teams and at least two Big Show NHRA fuel cars.

Justin Ashley Racing has confirmed the addition of Anderson Enterprises as an associate sponsor for the final race of the historic Western Swing. The 61st NHRA Winternationals is being contested this weekend at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and will close out a grueling three races in three weeks schedule. Anderson Enterprises will be branded on the Smart Sanitizer Top Fuel dragster powered by Strutmasters.com for all three qualifying sessions and during final eliminations on Sunday. Ashley, the No. 7 qualifier, will face Buddy Hull in the first round. Additionally, Anderson Enterprises will be utilizing the team’s hospitality area throughout the weekend.

Tony Stewart was adding to his motorsports empire in 2009, starting Stewart-Haas Racing, when he had the chance to visit with another giant in the business sector of the industry.

In the course of the conversation, multi-car NHRA team owner Don Schumacher said, "Hey, we'll get you in a car and get you over 300 miles an hour."

Stewart said, “I thought, ‘Man, that'd be great. Yeah, let's get it lined up sometime.’ And thank God we never got it arranged and organized, because that would have been the dumbest thing I ever did. I mean, I wouldn't have done this if I hadn't gone to Frank Hawley's twice.”

It's a conversation Mike Salinas is willing to have but to a point.

For a while now, Mike Salinas has been rumored to have an interest in purchasing Auto Club Raceway at Famoso. There are only rumors at this point.

If and when Salinas does purchase a drag strip, he's got a plan in place.