With the National Hot Rod Association currently on a hiatus due to the growing COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, leading online drag racing magazine Competition Plus is filling the gap with a fun, new online drag racing league.

The Virtual Reality Hot Rod Association (VHRA) was launched this week on CompetitionPlus.com with an online, fan-vote style competition complete with multiple rounds of qualifying and eliminations. The VHRA will pit real NHRA racers in the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle and Pro Modified classes against one another in an interactive “race” similar to past fan-vote competitions on CompetitionPlus.com.

The 8-car fields, based on the fan votes, is set for the first race at Orange County International Raceway, a well-known facility in the drag racing community until its closure in 1983. This is race one of 4.

The top vote-getters were Terry McMillen (Top Fuel); legend John Force (Funny Car); Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock); Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Stevie “Fast” Jackson (Pro Mod).

“This is a neat deal,” Smith said. “It makes me feel good anyway because I feel like I have a lot of fans out there who pay attention. It kind of sucks that I have to run my wife first round. That’s typical. I feel like I’m really racing.”

The elimination ladders for the classes are below. Voting begins ........to advance the drivers.

Top Fuel

No. 1 Terry McMillen (24 percent of the vote) vs. No. 8 Leah Pruett (5 percent)
No. 2 Brittany Force (14 percent) vs. Clay Millican (6 percent)
No. 3 Doug Kalitta (12 percent) vs. No. 6 Arthur Allen (6 percent)
No. 4 Steve Torrence (9 percent) vs. No. 5 Scott Palmer (8 percent)

Funny Car

No. 1 John Force (22 percent) vs. No. 8 Jack Beckman (6 percent)
No. 2 Ron Capps (10 percent) vs. No. 7 Tim Wilkerson (7 percent)
No. 3 Alexis DeJoria (8 percent) vs. No. 6 J.R. Todd (7 percent)
No. 4 Robert Hight (8 percent) vs. No. 5 Blake Alexander (7 percent)

Pro Stock

No. 1 Aaron Stanfield (23 percent) vs. No. 8 Greg Anderson (4 percent)
No. 2 Erica Enders (19 percent) vs. Jason Line (4 percent)
No. 3 Jeg Coughlin (16 percent) vs. No. 6 Kyle Koretsky (4 percent)
No. 4 Matthew Hartford (10 percent) vs. No. 5 Bo Butner (6 percent)

Pro Stock Motorcycle

​No. 1 Matt Smith (22 percent) vs. No. 8 Angie Smith (5 percent)
No. 2 Angelle Sampey (17 percent) vs. No. 7 Eddie Krawiec (7 percent)
No. 3 Steve Johnson (10 percent) vs. No. 6 Andrew Hines (8 percent)
No. 4 Gerald Savoie (10 percent) vs. No. 5 Karen Stoffer (9 percent)

Pro Modified

No, 1 Stevie Jackson (25 percent) vs. No. 8 Jason Scruggs (3 percent)
No. 2 Rickie Smith (16 percent) vs. No. 7 Todd Tutterow (5 percent)
No. 3 Alex Laughlin (10 percent) vs. No. 6 Mike Janis (5 percent)
No. 4 Steve Matusek (9 percent) vs. No. 5 Bob Rahaim (7 percent)