Camrie Caruso arrived at Firebird Motorsports Park this weekend, hoping to repeat her 2023 NHRA Arizona Nationals Pro Stock victory Sunday and celebrate her dad Marc’s birthday Saturday. Everything fell into place for her last year as she entered as the newly honored NHRA rookie of the year and earned the first victory of her professional career.

This year, though, everything seemed to go wrong.

J.R. Todd clinched the Funny Car victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, outpacing John Force in the final round at Firebird Motorsports Park during the 39th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals.

Tony Schumacher and Erica Enders also secured victories in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

It’s finally finished. The NHRA Winternationals, run in late March in Pomona, CA., was completed in April in Phoenix, AZ. The winner’s circle would have made even the most seasoned Hollywood script pale in comparison. 

Funny Car legend John Force ended a two-year drought with a triumph at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, besting Matt Hagan at Firebird Motorsports Park on Saturday in front of a packed crowd.

Force, the NHRA’s winningest driver, clocked 4.033 seconds at 318.24 mph in his PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS, securing his 156th career victory and first since April 2022, marking his eighth Winternationals win.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. was the only new face atop the professional leaderboard at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix as qualifying closed on Saturday evening. 

Coughlin swiped the No. 1 spot from the six-time world champ during the final session, as the veteran went 6.517 at 210.64 in his Scag Power Equipment car. 

For Austin Prock (Funny Car) and Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), they remained the leaders throughout Saturday's two sessions. 

The momentous No. 1 marked Coughlin's 35th and his first since returning to full-time racing this season. He’ll race Phoenix-area native Matt Hartford in the first round.

Ever since the 2024 drag racing began, Austin Prock has been turning heads as the fill-in driver for the Funny Car driven by Robert Hight.

That continued Friday in Phoenix.

Prock, piloting a John Force Racing Camaro, clocked a 3.840-second time at 334.40 mph to take the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the Arizona Nationals on Friday.

NHRA national events are not won on Friday night, but it can definitely set the tone for the weekend.

With that in mind, Steve Torrence made a statement in his family owned Capco Top Fuel dragster at the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix. Torrence clocked a 3.678-second elapsed time at 336.23 mph to take provisional No. 1 spot at Firebird Motorsports Park.

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Derek Ward knows how to make an impact out of the gate. That's exactly what the Friendship, Md.-based Pro Boost driver did during qualifying for the PDRA East Coast Nationals at GALOT Motorsports Park. The event kicks off the 2024 Red Line Oil Drag Racing Series. 

Jim Halsey (Pro Nitrous) and J.R. Carr (Extreme Pro Stock) joined Ward on the various leaderboards.

Racing at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Chandler, Ariz., near Phoenix, was suspended for more than two hours Friday afternoon because of an unidentified problem with the Firebird Motorsports Park dragstrip surface.

That was followed by a brief blanket of rain sprinkles, but ultimately, Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Austin Prock (Funny Car) were provisional No. 1 qualifiers.

The truth is Justin Ashley isn’t the only one with a chance to win three races in one weekend. He’s just the only one to pull off the feat. 

Hoping to join Ashley from the exclusive club are Top Fuel’s winningest driver, Tony Schumacher, 16-time champion John Force,  multi-time champion Erica Enders, and past NHRA Rookie of the Year recipient Dallas Glenn. 

The aforementioned drivers will first compete in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as a reward for reaching the semi-finals in Pomona. Then, they will stage the final round battles on Saturday to conclude the rain-delayed NHRA Winternationals. On Sunday, they will battle for the championship of the NHRA Arizona Nationals. 

There’s no question the 2024 NHRA Pro Stock season was going to be a learning curve for Sienna Wildgust.

Well, the 17-year-old from Ontario, Canada, has proved to be a pretty quick study while behind the wheel of KB Titan Racing Camaro.

In her Pro Stock debut at the season-opening Gatornationals, March 8-10 in Gainesville, Fla., Wildgust was 20th on the qualifying ladder with her best run of 6.621 at 208.46 – failing to make the 16-car field.