- Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car Team Announces 2025 Crew Chief Lineup
- Past PDRA Top Sportsman Champ Nick Meloni Adds Top Dragster World Championship
- This Week at MBE
- Brunson Grothus Earns Long-Awaited First PDRA Pro Extreme Motorcycle World Championship
- Antron Brown to Make Pro Mod Debut with Team Buginga at DI Winter Series at Bradenton Motorsports Park
- Drag Illustrated Winter Series Introduces Points Championship for Pro Mod Racers
- PRO Superstar Shootout Adds Callies as Premier Sponsor in 2025
IHRA Listens to Racers and Track Partners to Revamp Division Realignments
HOUSE SPRINGS, MO — Racers and track partners, you have spoken and the International Hot Rod Association has listened. 
#IHRAReturnToGlory is more than a hashtag. It’s a commitment to work together with track partners, marketing partners and racers to make the IHRA the best drag racing organization in the world. Your input is always welcomed on the ways you see to improve the IHRA.
We’ve heard your concerns, taken your suggestions and have worked with each of our track partners to come up with the best lineups for each IHRA division. It’s created stronger divisions and better travel for the racers.
“Shortly after we announced plans to realign and consolidate some of our divisions for 2025, I received several e-mails, messages and phone calls from racers and track partners alike. As President of the IHRA, I will always strive to do what’s best for our racers, track partners and marketing partners regardless of the outside noise. We were able to make changes to have a solid division lineup and a solid schedule for our Team Finals and World Finals for 2025,” said IHRA President Kenny Nowling.
The biggest changes occur in Division 1 which now includes neighboring tracks from Division 9. In fact, the IHRA Division 1 Team Finals are scheduled at Darlington Dragway from Oct. 2-4, 2025. Continue reading
PDRA Pro Nitrous Wheelman Marcus Butner Ready To Take on DI Winter Series
BRADENTON, FL – After making his Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod debut earlier this year, Marcus Butner is upping the ante by 
accepting his invitation to compete in the inaugural Drag Illustrated Winter Series at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Though he’ll miss the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals in two weeks, the North Carolina native will join the action at the U.S. Street Nationals in January and the World Series of Pro Mod in March. Plus, the family business, Butner Construction signed on as an associate sponsor of the Winter Series.
Butner recently finished his first full eight-race PDRA Pro Nitrous season with a fourth-place finish in the championship points standings. He previously ran three partial seasons, including a 2023 campaign that saw him reach his first final round before earning his first career win. He’s proven himself as a driver, and tuner Jay Cox has a strong reputation of his own in the nitrous Pro Mod world. Together, the Butner Motorsports team is ready for the challenge of competing against the toughest teams in Pro Modified at the Winter Series.
“I’m expecting the baddest Pro Mod racing there is,” Butner said. “Our confidence is high. We have high hopes, obviously, but it’s the toughest thing you can ever show up to.” Continue reading
Jason McCulloch Joins Josh Hart Racing in Pursuit of Championship
OCALA, FL – The team announced today the addition of Jason McCulloch as co-crew chief joining veteran crew chief Ron Douglas moving 
into the 2025 NHRA season. McCulloch will be in the Brownsburg, Indiana-area shop starting immediately to work with Douglas on a plan of attack for the 2025 season.
“We have stretched Ron too thin; he’s been asking for help and now we have been able to secure it. We were just outnumbered for a good portion of the season. You look at the teams that are at the top of the standing and they had two top-tier crew chiefs all year,” said Hart. “Jason brings championship experience and a wealth of Top Fuel knowledge to this team. I think he and Ron can be a great combination to get this R+L Carriers Top Fuel team back on track. This whole year we were behind everyone on the performance curve, and I don’t want to do that for another season.”
The team finished its third full season on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing series in 12th place after finishing 10th in 2023 and 7th in 2022. Hart has raced to five final rounds with two wins in his career, including the 2021 Gatornationals in his professional debut. The team won the prestigious Pep Boys All-Star Callout to start the 2023 season. Continue reading
Converge Technology Solutions Announces Partnership with Tony Stewart Racing
Converge Technology Solutions to Serve as Associate Sponsor of Tony Stewart Racing in a Multi-Year Agreement
BROWNSBURG, IN – Converge Technology Solutions, a services-led, software-enabled, IT & Cloud Solutions provider focused on delivering 
industry-leading solutions, has joined Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) to serve as associate sponsor of TSR in a multi-year agreement in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. This will be Converge’s first partnership in the arena of motorsports partnership and marketing.
As part of this agreement, Converge will assist both Tony Stewart’s Top Fuel and Matt Hagan’s championship-winning Funny Car teams with data analytics and visualization, as well as cloud storage. Converge and TSR’s partnership will commence immediately, with the alliance at the forefront of the start of the 2025 racing season, beginning March 6-9 for the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida. Converge and TSR have previously worked together during a Converge and IBM Watson data analytics case study from 2023-2024.
“Converge is thrilled to be partnering with Tony Stewart Racing to provide their organization with solutions that leverage data science for analytics to accelerate their racing program,” stated Greg Berard, Chief Executive Officer of Converge. “We’re proud to be TSR’s only technology partner and to enter into the arena of motorsports marketing. We look forward to a strong partnership with the TSR organization and to ongoing success together – both on and off the track.” Continue reading
Pro Jr. Dragster World Champion Ashley Franklin Joins Sister Amber on PDRA Championship Stage
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Competing in her final season in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, 
Ashley Franklin clinched her first world championship in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series. She joined her older sister, Amber Denton, who won the 2024 Pro 632 world championship to go along with her 2022 Pro 632 title and her 2017 Pro Jr. Dragster championship. The sisters’ father, Tommy Franklin, is also a three-time Pro Nitrous world champion, and Ashley’s brother-in-law, Blake Denton, won the Super Street world championship in 2023. Franklin secured the title with one win in two final-round appearances.
“It’s definitely very rewarding,” Franklin said. “My whole team and family – everybody has worked so hard for this championship. It’s definitely been a stressful year, but we finally got it done.”
Franklin in her ’21 Half Scale dragster kicked off the season with a runner-up finish at the East Coast Nationals at GALOT Motorsports Park. She followed that up with a win at one of her home races, the Mid-Atlantic Showdown at Virginia Motorsports Park. Franklin also reached the final round at the Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars all-star race at Virginia, though it wasn’t a points-earning event. Continue reading
2024 NHRA MISSION FOODS DRAG RACING SERIES CHAMPIONS HONORED AT ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY
TEMECULA, CA – First-time world champion Austin Prock was honored Monday evening, along with multi-time world champs Antron 
Brown, Greg Anderson and Gaige Herrera during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series awards ceremony at the Pechanga Resort Casino in scenic Southern California Wine Country.
The four standout competitors were crowned for their incredible achievements over the course of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and awarded their trophies for their championship runs during a memorable Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
After a record-breaking year in his rookie Funny Car season, Prock secured his first world championship on Saturday following qualifying at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at the historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Prock entered Pomona with a 188-point lead over his John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman, who was racing for 16-time champion John Force. With the completion of qualifying at Pomona, Prock’s first world championship was a lock for his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team. Throughout the season, Prock was nearly unstoppable and collected eight event wins, including three in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, as well as 15 No. 1 qualifier positions, the most in Funny Car history. He then powered to NHRA’s fastest-ever pass on Sunday in Pomona when he clocked a 341.68 mph run, giving Prock the status of fastest driver in NHRA history. Continue reading
TONY STEWART NAMED 2024 NHRA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
TEMECULA, CA – In one of the closest races in recent history, Top Fuel driver and motorsports legend Tony Stewart was named the 2024 
NHRA Rookie of the Year in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Stewart was awarded Rookie of the Year honors Monday at the NHRA awards ceremony at the Pechanga Resort Casino. He was part of a standout field and a hotly-contested race that included Brandon Foster, Richard Gadson, Derrick Reese, Jasmine Salinas, Sienna Wildgust, Daniel Wilkerson and Ida Zetterstrom.
“It’s a big honor to win this award this season,” Stewart said. “There are some great drivers in the NHRA and it’s one of the most diverse forms of motorsports I’ve been a part of. I’ve had a really good time working with the series this season to promote and continue to grow the sport.”
Making his Top Fuel debut in 2024, Stewart advanced to a pair of final rounds, four semifinals, a berth in the Countdown to the Championship and a ninth-place finish in Top Fuel points. Stewart took over driving duties for his wife, Top Fuel standout Leah Pruett, this year as the couple focused on starting a family. Continue reading
Chris Powers Earns Second PDRA Extreme Pro Stock World Championship
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Pennsylvania’s Chris Powers is now a two-time world champion in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series 
after securing the 2024 Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition world championship. Representing the late Sonny Leonard and Sonny’s Racing Engines, Powers won two events in three final-round appearances to add another title to his 2021 world championship.
Powers in his Chuck Samuel-tuned Sonny’s Racing Engines ’21 Camaro went rounds at the first two races of the season, then he charged to the final round at the American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park. Two races later, he won the Northern Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. He notched a semifinal finish at the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown, then he won again at DragWars at GALOT Motorsports Park to carry a significant points lead into the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park. Powers clinched the championship when he won his first-round match at the World Finals.
“This means a lot to us,” said Powers, who finished second in 2023. “We’ve been working really hard. Last year didn’t work out. This year, we just knew we had to do a better job. We’re happy with this year. We did a good job. We went rounds. We got a fresh bullet. Sonny’s worked really hard on the power and it showed. We had a really good car here at the World Finals. It didn’t work out in the [second] round. I couldn’t see the tree, so we kind of just threw it away, but we’re happy. We came and did what we wanted to do.” Continue reading
This Week and MBE
“New Dad” Stewart, Hagan Advance to Semifinals at NHRA Finals in TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Nitro Machines
Auburn Hills, MI – Racing legend Tony Stewart had a memorable day Sunday with the birth of his first child and advanced to the semifinals 
in his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster at the In-N-Out NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., while his TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT teammate Matt Hagan also scored a semifinal finish in the Funny Car division.
Stewart, a Top Fuel rookie, qualified seventh in the 16-car field on Saturday and then flew to Phoenix to support his wife, Leah Pruett, for the birth of their son, Dominic James, at 4:43 a.m. Sunday morning, before returning to the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip at 8 a.m. for the final eliminations of the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series finale.
After replacing his wife as the driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster in March when the Stewarts decided to start a family in 2024, the man known as “Smoke” proved to be consistent and quick off the starting line during the season. On Sunday, he scored victories over Billy Torrence and Gary Pritchett in the opening two rounds of Top Fuel action.
With little or no sleep, Stewart advanced to the semifinals to take on defending World Champion Doug Kalitta and held a slight advantage early in the matchup. However, Kalitta’s nitro-burning dragster won the race with a 3.678 to Stewart’s 3.738. Continue reading
