Jeff Taylor has seen a lot in his drag racing career. But there is one thing he never saw happening on Saturday evening at the NHRA Division 4 event at Thunder Valley Motorsports Park outside of Oklahoma City, OK. This event also served as the first race of the $750,000 Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus Fund series. 

Taylor didn't see any way he would get past the first round of Sunday's eliminations, much less win the event. 

It's not as if Taylor isn't capable of winning, considering he has won 50 NHRA national event titles and countless divisional events. But on this weekend, Taylor believed he was as far away from being the iconic drag racer he's proven to be. 

It would take more than a challenging, temperamental new combination to hold down 50-time NHRA national event winner Jeff Taylor and team owner/crew chief David Nickens at the second stop on the NHRA Division 4 schedule. 

Taylor stopped Rick Brown in the Competition Eliminator final round at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Oklahoma. This was also the first event in the Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus Fund Series. 

 
The PDRA Mid-Atlantic Nationals was billed as an event full of starpower. And when the last cars crossed the finish line they didn't dissapoint. 

When it comes to starpower, there's little that can top a Jim Halsey versus Tommy Franklin Pro Nitrous final. Halsey lived up to the hype, as the four-time PDRA champion beat Franklin on a holeshot.

Also scoring wins in the second stop on the Red Line Oil Drag Racing Series was Spencer Hyde (Pro Boost) and Johnny Pluchino (Extreme Pro Stock).

In drag racing, it matters most how you perform in two positions - the beginning and end. Last Fall, Competition Eliminator racer Don Thomas found his groove when it mattered the most, winning the Rooftec Comp Eliminator Cash Clash. 

Thomas pocketed the largest single-day payout in Competition Eliminator history, winning $30,000 from the Rooftec Cash Clash, a race within a race for those in the top 16 points earners in the Division 4 Competition Eliminator Bonus. 

Not even a rain-abbreviated qualifying schedule could cool down a red-hot Melanie Salemi. The multi-time No. 1 qualifier did what she does best at the Kaeser Compressors Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix to qualify No. 1 atop the quickest field in PDRA Pro Boost history. 

Two of the three sessions were in the books when an evening rain shower cut the day short. All professional classes completed two of three scheduled qualifying sessions to set the fields for Saturday eliminations.

Tony Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA Drag Racing history, will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America's (MSHFA) class of 2025. Schumacher is one of seven motorsports icons receiving this honor, reserved for game-changing performers in American motorsports.

Other inductees in the MSHFA Class of 2025 include Carl Haas, Dale Jarrett, Skip Barber, Miguel Duhamel, Ed Iskenderian, and Bill Stroppe. The induction ceremony is scheduled for March next year in Daytona, Florida.

The Southeast Gassers Association continued its second stage of existence Apr. 13 at historic Shadyside Dragway with the SEGA Shelby Nationals presented by Robbins Repairables. It also marked just the second race under new ownership after Leslie Horne took over from series founder Quain Stott last November.

"It's kind of nice to be here and be able to race without worrying about the event or dealing with everyone's complaints and anything that could go wrong," said Stott, who established SEGA a dozen years earlier, but will only be campaigning his "Executioner" '48 Anglia in A/Gas this season. 

"I'm looking forward to it," he added.

When Pro Stock Motorcycle riders compete at the NHRA’s 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, N.C., April 26-28, they must adapt to a rule change. 
  
Following the season-opening and lone event the PSM riders have competed in so far this season – the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 8-10 – a rule change was put into place by the NHRA tech department. 
  
After Gainesville, the NHRA tech department switched from Sunoco Cyclone 17 to Sunoco SR18. SR18 and Cyclone were allowed through the Gators, but now all PSM riders must only use Sunoco SR18. 

Blake Bowser is passionate about drag racing, particularly drag racing that recreates the straight-line sport's history. 

This passion is why, when Bowser, who runs Famoso Dragstrip in Bakersfield, watched interest waning in the California Hot Rod Reunion (CHRR), he knew he had to do something.

Bowser's "something" will come to fruition in October when he and his track personnel take over the CHRR operations.