Race Weekend Central

Nitro Shots: Good Fortune From Bad?

Zmax Dragway Carolina Nationals Spencer Massey 2014 Mike Neff 084

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

A few weeks ago, Don Schumacher Racing parted ways with driver Spencer Massey. Massey had run in the top 10 in Top Fuel points all season, but his departure meant that his team would not be able to reap the reward and contend for a title in the Countdown for the Championship. Yesterday, Alan Johnson …

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NHRA Top Fuel Championship-Contending Team Ceases Operation

Zmax Dragway Carolina Nationals Shawn Langdon 2014 Mike Neff 125

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Alan Johnson Racing and driver Shawn Langdon, the sixth seed in Top Fuel in the 2015 NHRA Countdown to the Championship, will not make the trip to Charlotte this week to kick off the playoffs. The team announced it is suspending operations immediately until adequate sponsorship funding can be found. AJR unexpectedly lost its funding …

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Nitro Shots: Playoffs & Championships

2015 Nhra Indianapolis Us Nationals Crowd Shot Courtesy Nhra Media

Photo Credit: NHRA Media

The Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals marked the end of the “regular season” while the upcoming Carolina Nationals kick off the start of the “playoffs,” if you want to look at it in stick-and-ball terms. This is a topic that always inspires debate. Many purists find formats like the Countdown to be contrived, gimmicks created to manufacture …

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Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in the Books, Countdown Field Set

Nhra 2015 Indianapolis Winners Circle Savoie Enders Beckman Lucas Courtesy Nhra Media

(Photo Courtesy NHRA Media)

Racing action at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the biggest race of the NHRA season, wrapped up on Monday with elimination rounds. At the end of the long weekend, Morgan Lucas, Jack Beckman, Erica Enders-Stevens and Jerry Savoie ended up on the podium hoisting the Wally. Lucas is racing just a part-time schedule in Top Fuel …

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Nitro Shots: Economical All-Stars

Nhra 2015 Charlotte Tony Schumacher Chutes Credit Toni Montgomery

Photo Credit: Toni Montgomery, Frontstretch

This weekend is not only the biggest race of the NHRA season, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, but the weekend will also feature the Traxxas Nitro Shootout for the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. This is the all-star event for the Nitro-powered NHRA categories. The first seven winning drivers of the season qualify, or …

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Off the Wall With: Tony Schumacher

Zmax Dragway Carolina Nationals Tony Schumacher 2014 Mike Neff 090

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

In the hot seat this week: 8-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher What’s fun besides racing? Tony Schumacher: Harley riding. What’s the top item on your bucket list? Schumacher: I’d like to go skydiving with a squirrel suit, where they fly through the air. That’s totally different. Scary. Of course depending how that goes, …

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Spencer Massey, Don Schumacher Racing Part Ways

Nhra 2015 Spencer Massey Headshot Courtesy Nhra Media

Photo Credit: NHRA Media

Don Schumacher Racing announced tonight that Spencer Massey has been released as driver of the Red Fuel/Sandvik Coromant Top Fuel dragster effective immediately. No details other than the statement of team owner Don Schumacher were given and the team does not intend to make further comment on the matter. “Spencer is no longer with DSR,” said Schumacher. …

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Nitro Shots: The Safety Dance

Nhra 2015 Antron Brown Car Credit Toni Montgomery

Photo Credit: Toni Montgomery, Frontstretch

In the wake of the accident that took the life of Justin Wilson, this week’s Open Wheel Wednesday put forth the idea that something similar to the protection found on a Top Fuel dragster might work to at least partially enclose the cockpit on an Indy car. It’s sad that so often in motorsports safety, …

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Open-Wheel Wednesday: Let a Loss Not Be in Vain

Justin Wilson Poncon Chris Jones

(Photo: Chris Jones)

There’s a place in motorsports where tradition and progress sometimes clash, and more often than not it’s tradition that prevails. It’s understandable because so often fans, owners, and drivers lament that things just aren’t like they used to be and no one values tradition. No one wants to drive fans and competitors away so ideas …

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Pace Laps: Racers Rally Around Justin Wilson

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(Photo: Chris Jones/INDYCAR)

IndyCar: Racing Community Rallies in Support Following Wilson Injury – The racing community is as vast and all-encompassing as any organization in the world, but few groups are as close in times of controversy. Following Justin Wilson’s accident at Pocono Raceway, one that left him hospitalized in a coma, as announced by INDYCAR, racers worldwide …

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Nitro Shots: Short Tracks & Superspeedways?

Nhra 2015 Charlotte Pro Stock Staging Credit Toni Montgomery

(Photo: Toni Montgomery, Frontstretch)

Blogger Mike Mayer published an interesting post the other day titled Is 1320 Really the Magic Number. The gist of his post was a series of ideas about how NHRA could vary the racing at different venues as NASCAR does with an assortment of short tracks, intermediates and superspeedways. On the surface, one might think, …

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Son of Top Fuel Racer Killed in Motorcycle Accident

Nhra 2015 Clay Millican Car Courtesy Nhra Media

(Photo Courtesy NHRA Media)

Dalton Millican, the 22-year-old son of NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican, was killed in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident last night near the family’s hometown of Drummonds, Tennessee. Funereal arrangements are pending and will be announced once they have been finalized. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss to our family. We appreciate all of …

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