Alex Laughlin came to Atlanta Dragway focused on winning the final NHRA Pro Modified event to be held at the track located outside of Atlanta, Ga. He didn't qualify at the top, nor did he get a round win, but there was plenty for the versatile drag racer to remain upbeat. 

On May 1, the final day of qualifying for the Southern Nats, Mattel released its second Hot Wheels replica of one of Laughlin's race day rides.

"It should be hitting stores soon," he said. "But for it to be a car that has meant so much to me, you know, the Corvette that won Lights Out and whatnot, it's awesome just to see it made.

Three-time champ Phil Read returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2012 when he downed Peter Xiberras in the final of the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Thunder meeting at Sydney Dragway.

Local racer Sam Fenech produced the feel-good story of the weekend when he won Pro Slammer, and an emotional Nino Cavallo took the honors in Pro Stock. Veteran Steve Read dominated Pro Alcohol, and hot favorite Jeremy Callaghan reigned supreme in Pro Mod.

The return of Pro racing for the first time since January 2020 ran into a significant roadblock when day one set aside for shakedown runs, and qualifying was cancelled due to persistent showers. Consequently, race day became a cutthroat affair, a massive challenge for all competitors and, in particular, those teams that had not tested ahead of the meeting.

Top Fuel racer Shawn Langdon isn't ready to proclaim himself as a D.I.Y. home improvement kind of guy, but he is certainly stepping outside of his comfort zone in this post-Pandemic world.

"I've learned to be better in the last year or so with spending a little bit more time at home," Langdon said. "Just doing stuff around the house and yard work and stuff that I normally don't do because I'm on the road so much.

At first, the home projects were engaging. At third or fourth, not so much.

One look at the DNA of Josh Hart's Top Fuel operation and his debut victory at the NHRA Gatornationals back in March shouldn't come as a surprise.

The team was built to win on a budget; a Moneyball type of approach in the volatile world of nitro-fueled drag racing. And for Hart, this approach might not be the truest sense of the term, but it sure is working.

Yeah, I had a very smart person. Some people have probably heard of him, Don Garlits," Hart said. "He said, 'You can pay every weekend to blow all your stuff up, or you can dig real deep and find a really good crew chief who won't blow all your stuff up."

If John Force was asked once about the final NHRA national event at Atlanta Dragway, he was asked a million times.

"I was at the last drag race at Lions [Drag Strip], and life moves on, and it'll move on from here," Force, the 16-time champion, said. "But when they talk about how bad I feel, I don't like it. I don't want to see it closed, but I also have 35 years of memories of fans, people, wins. Ashley won her first race here, and to me, it's not dead. We're just moving on, but the memories move on with us. That's how I feel about it."

Force admits he wasn't as sentimental early in his career when tracks closed down, although he understood the magnitude of the situations at the time.

After a hiatus of 468 days, the 400 Thunder series returns to Sydney Dragway with the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Thunder meeting on May 7-8. 

Since January 2020, there has been no Pro level racing in Australia due to Coronavirus and numerous State government-imposed border closures and travel restrictions.

Top Fuel has attracted only three entries - three-time champ Phil Read, Carrot king Phil Lamattina, and Sydney team owner-driver Peter Xiberras.  

 Warren "The Professor" Johnson knows Atlanta Dragway like it's the back of his hand.

Johnson raced the Commerce, Ga.-based track for decades, winning the last IHRA national event and clinching his first career series championship.

The year was 1979, and Johnson was a hired gun for Georgia-based businessman Jerome Bradford.

What gets lost in the history of the storied facility is its formative years as an IHRA sanctioned track which hosted two national events a year from 1976 until 1979, when the track closed and switched to NHRA.

After qualifying No. 1 at the first two races of the 2021 Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) season, Jim Halsey leads the way in Nitrous Wars presented by Structural Concrete. The two-time and defending world champion in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous is also the defending champion in Nitrous Wars, the PDRA’s bonus program rewarding top performers in Pro Nitrous.
 
“It’s no surprise to see Jim Halsey, [tuner] Brandon Switzer and that whole team continue to lead the way in our Nitrous Wars program,” said Tyler Crossnoe, race director, PDRA. “Those guys won back-to-back championships for a reason, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. We’re proud to have Jim and the baddest nitrous Pro Mod racers in the world racing with us in PDRA Pro Nitrous.”

When the 2021 NHRA national-event season kicked off in March at Gainesville, Fla., there was a notable omission from the field.

Jay Turner, the champion in the inaugural season of NHRA Top Fuel Harley racing, wasn’t among the entrants. Other bikes that he fields were, though, and a pair of those riders duked it out in the final round. Randal Andras, the 2020 kingpin in the class, downed 2018-19 titleist Tii Tharpe for the Wally.

And that trophy was all there was in the way of post-race spoils. NHRA was unable to find a sponsor for the class during the offseason when Mickey Thompson Tires declined to return in that capacity.