Less than a day after pulling into the spectacular Yas Drag Centre at Yas Marina Circuit, the two Yas Top Fuel dragsters roared to life at NHRA’s first worldwide member track. Both Tommy Johnson, Jr. and Rod Fuller made test runs in their teal and white Top Fuelers before the inaugural Yas Drag Festival, March 19-20, begins on Friday.
 
With temperatures in the low 90s, the two Yas Marina teams made two shakedown runs before Johnson and Fuller raced the full 1,000-foot course. On his final test lap, Johnson, a nine-time NHRA winner, clocked the quickest pass at 3.911 seconds at 490.26 kph (304.98 mph), while Fuller, who earned seven NHRA Top Fuel trophies, also ran in the three-second range at 3.966 at 466 kph.

One of Canada’s top drag racers is to be inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in April.
 
Noted racer and car builder F.J. (Fred) Smith, of Cayuga, Ontario will be honored by his peers in the racing community during the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Induction Gala April 17 at the Sheraton Center in Toronto, Ontario.
 
Smith is the main proponent behind the Can-Am Stock/Super Stock Series, which races during many weekend events that the Pro Modified Racing Association and Quick 32 Sportsman Series compete.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, has compiled a list of the Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.

Starting on Friday, January 8, 2010, the electronic magazine began revealing those names on the list, and will announce two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 20, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 2 on the list.

Heading into the second race of the 2010 Nitro Jam season earlier this month at State Capitol Raceway no driver was on more of a roll than Pro Fuel star
Bill Evans.

Having dominated the field at the season opening Palm Beach Nitro Jam, winning both events and setting a new world record for speed and elapsed time, Evans traveled to Louisiana as the clear favorite to continue his
ownership of the class.

Cue Buddy Domingue.

The most prolific driver in U.S. Nationals history Bob Glidden has been named Grand Marshall for the upcoming NHRA Lucas Oil Spring Spectacle of Speed featuring stars of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, April 23-25.

The Whiteland, Ind. native who ranks third on NHRA’s all-time win list behind John Force and Warren Johnson is also the winningest driver ever at the Lucas Oil Spring Spectacle of Speed.  Glidden won the inaugural 1968 Indy divisional event in Stock eliminator, his career first NHRA point race victory.  He then won the Super Stock eliminator in 1971 and a total of 6 event Pro Stock victories from 1973 to 1980.

The general manager of Houston Raceway Park, Seth Angel, is hearing a clear message from his customers -- "Give us back the quarter mile!"

"The quarter-mile distance is a big part of the sport of drag racing," Angel said. "We're gearing up for the 23rd annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals and I've been jumping in and helping our staff with ticket sales over the phone and I can say without question that our fans want the NHRA to return to the quarter-mile. They tell us this over and over again.

"It's our sincere hope that by this time next year NHRA will be racing the quarter mile again."

With NASCAR fans in Bristol setting up their campers for this weekend's NASCAR Food City 500, about 75 people turned out for a unique memorial service for Funny Car legend Shirl Greer at Bristol Dragway.
 
Shirl Greer died March 12 after a brief illness.
   
Following a graveside service at the Mountain Home Veterans Affairs Cemetery in Johnson City, Greer's three sons Van, Rusty and Brian led a caravan to Thunder Valley, where they fired up the 1974 NHRA World Champion's vintage "Chain Lightning" Funny Car.

There are times when John Force gets choked up watching the nostalgia Funny Cars.

“The old Funny Car days were a piece of my life, that’s where I came from,” said the 14-time champion from Yorba Linda, Ca. “I used to look back there in the truck and I’d see Laurie and Adria holding little Ashley …”

Then he choked up, and apologized.

Force was the Grand Marshal at the 52nd Bakersfield March Meet two weekends ago.

NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip and Scott Speed spent a rare off weekend not relaxing on Lake Norman, but experiencing the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL.

Busch spent six days in Gainesville as a competitor in the Super Gas class (9.90 index) of the NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series where the former Cup champion received little, if any, special treatment while at the racetrack.

Busch and his 1970 Dodge Challenger enclosed in a Featherlite tag along trailer arrived at the track last Tuesday after a nearly 500-mile drive from Mooresville, NC. With rain on Thursday and Friday, Busch and his fellow Sportsman competitors had their time trials and early rounds postponed. Mud in the Sportsman pits then precluded Saturday's scheduled Sportsman competition.