Ready for the 2018 season and a defense of his championship, Robert Hight puts the No. 1 decal on his Camaro Funny Car. The two-time Funny Car champion designed his two-time champion No. 1 with a red, white and blue patriotic feel reminiscent of motorsports icon Evel Knievel.

Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown led the pack at the NHRA Nitro Spring Training on Thursday, Feb. 1, at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park located outside of Phoenix. Brown piloted his Matco Dragster to a pass of 3.714 seconds at 328.46 mph to send him to the top of leader board. He was followed by teammate Tony Schumacher in his U.S. Army dragster with his pass of 3.717 at 330.15.

Matt Hagan lead the Funny Car class with a pass of 3.879 at 330.72 in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T. Current Funny Car world champion Robert Hight is right behind Hagan with a run of 3.880 at 324.05 in his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car.

In Pro Stock, Erica Enders drove her Melling Performance / Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to a 6.555 run at 210.28 and teammate Alex Laughlin tested his Gas Monkey Energy Chevrolet Camaro to a pass of 6.580 at 209.10.

Testing continues through Saturday. The 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series begins at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com on Feb. 8-11 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.   [02/02/18]

Entering its sixth season of NMRA competition, the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout will be a part of the NMRA Spring Break Shootout. Coming March 1-4 at Bradenton Motorsports Park, the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout celebrates the Quick 8 and rewards the first 25 stick-shift equipped QA1 True Street entries through tech with a cash bonus. In addition to the Stick Shift Shootout, TREMEC will once again host the Racer Appreciation Party.

For the first time, TREMEC will pay $100 CASH to the first 25 stick-shift competitors to go through NMRA Tech inspection. On Saturday, the Top 8 stick-shift racers that complete QA1 True Street will be entered in Sunday’s Stick Shift Shootout. Each entry in the shootout will receive a custom TREMEC jacket and award before embarking on a new format for eliminations. As the eight cars get whittled down to two, the winner will walk away with a McLeod Racing RXT Twin-Disc clutch with flywheel (approximately $1,300 value), while the runner-up will receive a $500 McLeod Racing product certificate. The Quick 8 cars will be entered in a special Chicago-style elimination lader while their final True Street average will be used to determine a staggered start.

For the Stick Shift Shootout cars must have street-type manual transmissions only and the transmission can include race-oriented modifications such as ‘face-plated’ or ‘pro-shifted’ gears. It must be hand operated via a single shift handle. Transmissions with multiple levers or air/electronic/hydraulic actuation not permitted.

The regular NMRA classes of Street Outlaw, Renegade and Coyote Modified will be in competition along with Outlaw True Street, Cobra/GT500, Turbo Coyote, Cobra Jet Showdown, and the Stick Shift Shootout.   [02/02/18]