With incredible atmospheric conditions, a solid racing surface, and monetary incentives to run fast, it didn’t take much for the superstars of the NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series to throw down solid performances during the first day of the NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex outside of Dallas. 

Nobody threw down more than one of the Lone Star state’s finest Top Fuel drivers, as four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence emerged at the top of the qualifying list in posting the fifth-quickest run in drag racing history. 

The stellar performances were not limited to Torrence, as Bob Tasca (Funny Car), Deric Kramer (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all set the first-day pace in their respective categories with track records. 

Dale Creasy Jr. was as down as he'd ever been at the drag strip. The veteran independent has been on fire, suffered explosions, and once had a crash so bad that he was nearly crippled for life. 

But, for Creasy, Friday's incident during the first qualifying session at the NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex had him wondering if the time had come for him to hang up the firesuit. 

Creasy's TekPak-sponsored Funny Car made an abrupt turn left towards the centerline, and even though he was completely out of the throttle, the racecar's momentum drove him into the path of fellow Funny Car driver Dave Richards. As Creasy drifted into the path of Richards, their Funny Cars collided and bounced off of the guardwalls en route to sliding to a stop in the shutdown area. 

Steve Torrence knows plenty about winning NHRA Top Fuel World Championships.

The Kilgore, Texas, driver won fifth world titles from 2018-2021 and is aiming to reclaim the throne in 2023.

Torrence will arrive at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Dallas this weekend 51 points behind class leader Doug Kalitta. 

By the time Competition Eliminator is completed during Sunday's final eliminations at the NHRA FallNatioonals, one driver will put $100,000 in his pocket, courtesy of the Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus Fund. Another will put $25,000 just for finishing runner-up in the series. 

The Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus Fund will pay out $300,000 to its top ten points earners, who all are still eligible to win an NHRA world championship and divisional title. 

The Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus Fund is precisely as its name says - it's bonus money. The Bonus money has been enough to attract full 32-car fields at five of seven NHRA Division 4 events and 63 cars at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, where Rooftec also sponsored a $50,000 shootout for those top 16 points earners following the double-divisional at the Texas Motorplex back in May.

The Discovery Channel has its weekly Shark Week, and it's not for the weak at heart. Starting this year in the second week of October, Donald Long's Duck X Productions presents its Duck Week. Instead of a television screen, it's in your face, relentless drag radial doorslammer competition. 

The first phase of Duck Week ended on Tuesday evening, with an early-in-the-week drag race featuring the best of the best in five key drag radial divisions - Radial vs. The World, Pro 275, X275, Ultra Street, and Limited Drag Radial. 

The Battle of Thrones, the specialty event formerly known as The Sweet 16, came to an end with Brian Markiewicz (Radial vs The World), Jason Collins (Pro 275), Shane Moses (x275), Dave Fiscus (Ultra Street) and Jamie Hancock(Limited Drag Radial).

After months of preparation, the weekend has finally arrived for Angelle Sampey to expand her racing endeavors from two-wheels to four. The 46-time NHRA national event winner will make her highly-anticipated Top Alcohol Dragster racing debut at the NHRA Fall Nationals. 

She comes into the Texas Motorplex after another successful A/Fuel Dragster test, this time behind the wheel of the Michalek Brothers' entry at Indianapolis Raceway Park. She will drive the same dragster this weekend. 

"I feel very confident going into this weekend," said Sampey. "What a night and day difference between where I'm at now and those first few licensing runs at Brainerd (Minn.) back in August. I will admit, when I first got into the car last Wednesday, I was nervous again because I hadn't driven in three weeks, so I just had to get that first run down and shake the nerves off, but I was good after that."

Each year, Ron Capps has won an NHRA nitro Funny Car world championship in 2016, 2021, and 2022 – there has been one constant.

Capps always performed well at the fall race in Dallas. The star driver had a runner-up finish in 2016 at the Texas Motorplex, and then he won race in 2021 and 2022.

Capps enters the Texas NHRA FallNationals this weekend fourth in the points standings but a mere 33 points behind leader Bob Tasca III. 

Bakersfield is a nitro town, and word comes today that the popular Nitro Chaos series, a spin-off of the Chris and Tera Graves-inspired Funny Car Chaos, has landed a date at Famoso Raceway in September, 2024. 

The California Chaos event, slated for September 27-28, 2024,  will offer 32 qualified spots for nitro burners with guaranteed payouts of $55,000-plus. It will mark the first time the unique format and run whatcha’ brung formula has ventured outside the south-central and mid-western United States. The event is open to all nitro-burning machines with the motor in the front and contested on the eighth-mile ‘outlaw’ style. There are no rules regarding engine combination, body style, etc. The series includes front engine dragsters, fuel altereds, funny cars, and pro mods. The Nitro Chaos series will enforce all safety guidelines. The only other ‘rule’ is each entry must have a minimum of 80% nitromethane in the fuel tank.  

The kids shouldn’t be the only ones allowed to have all the fun. 

That’s why this weekend, Billy Torrence, the 65-year-old father of multi-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence, plans to make his debut at the 38th annual NHRA FallNationals hosted by the Texas Motorplex, located in Ennis, Texas.