Gene Fulton represented the thought process of the average small-town southeastern teenager in 1966. In his world, you did your time in high school, fiddled with hot rods and when your country called – you answered, and did so with pride.

The Vietnam War draft was in high swing and for Fulton, he didn’t wait for Uncle Sam to ask, he answered ahead of time by enlisting in the U.S. Air Force.

“Back when I went in, it appeared to be the patriotic thing to do,” said Fulton. “We felt patriotic and serving our country was the right thing to do. Really, there was a draft, so you didn’t have a choice.”

Fulton was assigned to the Air Force’s 346 Tactical Squadron and during his time in Vietnam flew missions in and out of Vietnam and at times through Thailand. He also spent time in Abilene, Tex., Hawaii and the Philippine Islands.

NHRA officials announced the details of the 2021 Camping World Drag Racing Series 23-event season, revealing national event pro category qualifying days and specialty series schedules. Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series categories will be contested at all national events.

At 17 Camping World Drag Racing Series national events, professional teams will run three qualifying sessions over two days, Friday and Saturday, with final eliminations on Sunday. At five events, pro teams will run two qualifying sessions on Saturday with final eliminations on Sunday. This quick-draw format, which was utilized as NHRA first returned to racing in July 2020, provides racing excitement, and allows economic balance for all stakeholders in current times. NHRA expects to return to the customary four qualifying runs in the future.

For more than 30 years, Kevin McKenna has reported on NHRA racing for its publication, National Dragster. He’s written reams about the accomplishments of racers from the local bracket level to the top-of-the-heap nitro ranks.

Now it’s time to turn the tables on the 55-year-old Rhode Island native, who recently captured the National Mustang Racing Association’s season championship in the Super Stang ranks. McKenna earned the No. 1 decal for his car in a manner befitting a champion: He KO’d the points leader in the second round, then disposed of his remaining two opponents to win the race and the title by a slim margin.

“I don’t want to say I think of myself as champ,” said McKenna, who lives in Avon, Ind. “It’s really just kind of a hobby thing.”

He rose to the top behind the wheel of a 2014 Mustang GT that he drives to every race — not a car he hauls in, or on, a trailer, but one that gets 20 miles to the gallon in its six- to seven-thousand miles of annual travels. The only big-buck alteration to the showroom Mustang is a supercharger that allows the engine to churn out 650 horsepower.

Iconic Pro Modified drag racer Charles Carpenter suffered a severe stroke on October 12, 2020, caused by blockages in his carotid artery. 

Carpenter, whose doorslammer legend was built on his exploits behind the wheel of the "World's Fastest 1955 Chevy” starting back in 1983, began experiencing symptoms while racing in the Pro Nitrous division the PDRA Drag Wars event just days earlier. 

Carpenter is on the road to recovery but has a long road ahead of him. 

The Funny Car Chaos drag racing series has taken the Funny Car racing scene by storm since its inaugural event in September of 2017 in Texas. Twenty-one events later, with over 70 different teams participating from across the country, the series will head into its third Championship season in 2021 and has a lot to look forward to.  

The Chaos continues to gain steam with the signing of new title sponsor Spell Paving Services out of Texas which will propel the series to increased payouts across the eight-race tour potentially reaching a guaranteed $30,000 per event across eighteen spots. Red Line Shirt Club has returned as title sponsor of the Championship points fund which is a guaranteed $10,000 distributed to the top five points finishers at the end of the season.

SEMA, the trade association representing the $46.2 billion automotive specialty equipment industry, presented its top honors during a special SEMA Awards Celebration held Thursday night during the week of SEMA360.

Winners of the prestigious awards are:

    SEMA Person of the Year: Myles Kovacs, DUB Publishing Inc.
    SEMA Gen-III Innovator of the Year: Brendan McGrath, Dyme Performance Systems Inc.
    SEMA Manufacturer of the Year: Redline Detection

Second-generation Funny Car driver Courtney Force announced to the world the birth of her first child on Thursday.

Multi-time NHRA winner Jack Beckman invested in the past, and for him, it returned a once-in-a-lifetime memento, which will forever link him to a drag racing legend.

As the story goes, when NHRA required drivers to start wearing a Hans Device, Karamesines was prepared to walk away from racing before he’d buy one. This, according to social media for Karamesines.

Beckman then brought his personal HANS Device to Karamesines' trailer and insisted that Greek use it until he retired. The only stipulation was that Karamesines returned the device autographed.