Team Press Releases

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 9) -- There will be plenty new for veteran So Cal drag racer Jay Payne and his FireIce Top Alcohol Funny Car team as they kick off the season at this weekend's 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

For one thing, Payne will be piloting a brand new racecar, and it will feature an all-new FireIce paint scheme in honor of a renewed partnership with the esteemed company. His experienced crew, based in nearby Ontario, Calif., will...

 

Sugar Hill, Ga., February 10, 2010 – This weekend, the National Hot Rod Association will celebrate the 50th running of one of its most prestigious races, the Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals in Pomona, CA. There have been numerous changes and advancements since that inaugural event in 1961, from the sport ascending to national prominence to the establishment of four professional classes. However for almost 30 years, there has been one constant at the traditional NHRA season-opener, namely...

 

Sugar Hill, Ga., February 10, 2010 – On the outside, things will seem very different for Pro Stock stalwart Kurt Johnson at this weekend’s O’Reilly Kragen NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, CA. The familiar blue, red and white livery he has carried for over 20 years has been replaced by a mostly white design. His two-man crew is completely new, having joined the Sugar Hill-based organization during the winter.

However, a closer inspection will show that many of this perennial...

 

[coverattach=1](2-10-09) DOHA, Qatar – After an intense three-race stretch that saw the stars and cars of the Arabian Drag Racing League doing battle on the Qatar Race Club’s eighth-mile drag strip for three weekends straight, Sheikh Khalid Al Thani and his entire Al-Anabi Racing operation greatly deserved a break from competition. Anxious to build on their success in Round 5, where Al Thani earned a second career Pro Extreme victory in the world’s first ever 3.6-second drag race, Al-Anabi Racing’s team...

 

POMONA, Prerace: The newest member of NHRA’s Pro Stock ranks is ready to begin a new chapter in his young career. Shane Gray will make his professional racing debut at the upcoming 50th annual NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

The 38-year old son of well known racer, Johnny Gray has stepped up from the Competition Eliminator class where he earned a win in Division Four in the Lucas Oil Series and finished 15 in the national point standings last...

 

POMONA, Prerace: The off-season is a very busy time for all the teams. There are cars to prep, parts to be stocked, items to be certified, uniforms to be designed and the list goes on. For Pro stock racer and team owner, Johnny Gray, this usual routine was the easiest part of his off time.

With his oldest son and newly licensed Pro Stock driver, Shane, by his side the New Mexico businessman took on a massive task. Gray expanded to a two-car team, moved his Gray Motorsports race...

 

Johnson will begin his 15th season on the Pro Stock circuit in a brand-new ride

Auburn Hills, Mich. — The 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season will see Team Mopar® driver Allen Johnson take the wheel of a fresh yet also familiar ride. The NHRA Pro Stock veteran began his career in 1996 driving a Dodge Avenger and he will happily return to the car that started it all when he pilots his new 2010 Pro Stock Mopar Dodge Avenger in its competition debut at the 50th Annual...

 

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 9) -- Melanie Troxel may be the quickest female in motorsports and the only woman with victories in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, but even she admits to feeling a little nervous when she began testing her In-N-Out Burger Dodge Charger R/T in anticipation of the 2010 NHRA season.

"There were definitely some nerves before that first run," Troxel said as her team completed preseason testing in Las Vegas. "It had been almost a year and a half since I'd been in a Funny Car...

 

[coverattach=1] ‘This format is the best I have ever seen’ raves sportsman competitors

NORWALK, Ohio (February 9, 2010) – As it turns out fans weren’t the only ones raving about the new-look Nitro Jam series at last month’s Palm Beach Nitro Jam at Palm Beach International Raceway.

With the first national event of 2010 in the books IHRA sportsman competitors have been talking nonstop about the format changes to the Nitro Jam series, going as far as calling it the best format they have ever...