From the moment Phillips Connect rolled out their sponsorship on Justin Ashley’s Top Fuel dragster, he proved to them he was a winner. In fact, nine times since inking his initial deal, Ashley has taken the smart trailer technology company to the winner’s circle. 

Though Ashley will drive a dragster primarily sponsored by Scag Power Equipment and Toyota, Phillips Connect revealed they’d return this season as a major associate on the team. 

While nitromethane might be crucial to racing Top Fuel, it’s barely a drop in the bucket compared to the importance of a team’s marketing partnerships. 

Today, super part-timer Top Fuel TJ Zizzo revealed his Rust-Oleum dragster will roll into the 2024 Mission Food Drag Racing Series with continued support from major associate sponsor Button Transportation. 
It’s a relationship that goes back to Zizzo’s Top Alcohol Dragster days when he and company owner Bob Button met at a divisional race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway many years ago. 
 

In this five-part series, CompetitionPlus.com will explore ten races that were really great at one time, and some were famous, while others were obscure. The bottom line is they were fun and epitomized the spirit of drag racing. 

We will undoubtedly miss a few, but save your judgment until the series ends. Special thanks to Bret Kepner, Dave Wallace, Steve Earwood, and others who helped ensure this series came to fruition with their knowledge of the sport and willingness to contribute. 

Bob Tasca III will drive a Ford Motorsports-themed Dark Horse Funny Car in 2024, but the reality is that the NHRA frontrunner will be anything but a dark horse.

When a driver wins three races in four final rounds and qualifies No. 1 seven times in a season, their ability to sneak up on anyone quickly disappears.

"That's for sure," Tasca admitted. "You love to be in that position versus coming from the unknown where we were last year. We're not cocky; we have a lot of work to do, and heck, anything can happen out there, as you saw this past season. But we've got a great team; we got a great car. I got a lot of seat time in these things, and we are going into another extremely competitive, unbelievably competitive class in Funny Car.

From the moment Dylan Wynefsky climbed behind the wheel of his Junior Dragster, his mission was evident. He wanted to race nitro like his father, Robert, a Fuel Altered racer.

The second-generation Wynefsky accomplished this as he succeeded his dad behind the wheel of the altered. Now, he's poised to go to the next level.

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Bobby Bode confirmed to CompetitionPlus.com his team will be racing a nine-race schedule in 2024 in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car class.

“We will do Pomona (Calif.) and Phoenix and then a lot of the Midwestern tracks (Chicago, Norwalk, St. Louis) and then we will do Bristol, (Tenn.) and Brainerd (Minn.), Indy, and we will finish the season out by going to Dallas, where in the past we usually did Vegas and Pomona,” Bode said. “That (Dallas) will be a little switch up and I’m looking forward to that.”

Austin Prock has been around wild and unpredictable race cars for much of his life. Fortunately, he's been around John Force Racing long enough to understand sometimes the experience can be one in the same.

In a surprising move, JFR announced on Tuesday that Robert Hight would be stepping away from the seat of his Funny Car for undisclosed medical reasons, and Prock would drive until Hight returned. The timetable for the return was not defined in the team's statement.

Prock was going to be on the sidelines for 2024 after his primary sponsor, Montana Brand, revealed they wouldn't return to drag racing for 2024.

In a bold move, three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey stepped out of her comfort zone, racing on two wheels and into the world of 270-mph Top Alcohol Dragsters. She quickly adapted to the challenge and quickly established herself as a bona fide front-runner.

Today, her inspiration for the move, Antron Brown, and his AB Motorsports solidified their commitment to Sampey through their ABM Accelerate program in collaboration with Michalek Brothers Racing. 

Midwest Drag Racing Series regular and Pro Modified veteran has a new Larry Jeffers-built Pro Modified for 2024. This season marks his 24th in the volatile doorslammer division, and has been a player in MWDRS since its formation.

Martin, also co-owner of Tulsa Raceway Park, comes to doorslammers following a long history of drag racing motorcycles, which he stepped away from in 2000. The new car arrives just in time as his previous Mustang was sold to a group of owners from Finland, who plan to race the car in Europe this season.

The PRO Superstar Shootout, a combined high-stakes drag race and test session, announced a couple of key sponsorships to throw more money into the expansive sponsorship pot. 

Capco Contractors and Lucas Oil have recently signed on as sponsors for the event. 

Capco will be one of the event’s major sponsors, while Lucas Oil will become a top qualifier bonus provider.