A free NHRA driver autograph session and fanfest, Thursday, April 4, at the New York New York Hotel & Casino will kick off the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The autograph session will take place from 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. in the Staten Island Room, near the Sporting House Bar & Grill. The first 200 fans in line will receive a free Summit Racing hat. The event also will include driver question-and-answer sessions, music and door prizes. NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series drivers scheduled to participate include defending Top Fuel champion and points leader Antron Brown, 2012 Funny Car titleholder Jack Beckman, Tony Schumacher, Funny Car points leader Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, 2012 SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals Top Fuel winner Spencer Massey, Johnny Gray, Khalid alBalooshi, Shawn Langdon, Alexis DeJoria, Todd Lesenko, Terry McMillen, Tony Pedregon, David Grubnic, Del Worsham, Greg Anderson, Jason Line, Shane Gray, Terry Haddock, Jeff Arend, and Allen Johnson, who swept both 2012 Las Vegas national events in the Pro Stock category.

On January 4, 2013, after a year when there was no NASCAR Home Track racing at Irwindale Speedway, the new on-site management team announced that short-track stock-car racing would return to Southern California, and to the track that has the reputation for producing some of the most competitive, three-wide plus oval track racing on the planet.

Last Sunday at the 61st Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida, Team Falken Tire raced from a 12th-place starting position to be a top contender for a majority of the race before earning the final step on the victory podium.

BROWN, GRAY, JOHNSON, ARANA TAKE GATORNATIONALS WINS: Antron Brown raced to the Top Fuel victory at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals last Sunday at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, giving Don Schumacher Racing its 200th team win. Johnny Gray (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event. One month after walking away from a spectacular high-speed crash at the season-opening race in Pomona, Brown powered his Matco Tools dragster to a 3.761-second run at 318.77 mph to finish in front of Clay Millican, who posted a 3.813 at 319.67 in his Parts-Plus dragster. It was defending world champion Brown’s 38th career victory and his first of the season.

ProMedia Events has announced that the Chevrolet Performance LSX Challenge Series is back for 2013. The racing series is for street-based vehicles powered by Chevrolet’s LS and LSX engines and it takes place at four select events around the United States.

DRIVERS READY FOR SPECTACULAR RACING AT AUTO-PLUS RACEWAY AT GAINESVILLE: NHRA superstars are preparing for race three of 24 on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit as they head to Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville March 14–17. Morgan Lucas (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the defending winners at the event, which will be televised on ESPN2HD. Track records were reset in all four categories last season. The competition should be just as tough this year at the traditional East Coast opener, which also marks the first race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycles. Defending world champion Krawiec is ready to challenge for his fourth consecutive win at the event.

They all won championships at Irwindale in 2011 and ended up with nothing to show for it when the former track operators signed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy February 10, 2012.

While much hype has been given to a certain female stock car racer for posting a top 10 finish at the Daytona 500, it has been business as usual in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Two female drag racers—Courtney Force and Erica Enders-Stevens—have posted back-to-back victories to open the 2013 season. It is the first time in NHRA history that two women have opened a season with consecutive victories. Force, 24, powered her 8,000-hp Funny Car to break all of her male competitor’s hearts—including Matt Hagan, Bob Tasca and Ron Capps—and win at the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, California, on Valentine’s Day weekend. Last weekend in Phoenix, Enders-Stevens, 29, rallied to take the Pro Stock victory over Mike Edwards in the final round. Enders-Stevens used a reaction time advantage to beat event top qualifier Edwards in the 200 mph factory hot-rod category.

Loan Mart—a provider of speciality lending services—will be a partner with Team Lucas for the second straight season in 2013 with a sponsorship package that includes the Lucas Oil Modifed Series presented by Loan Mart, with Shelby Stroebel in the No. 24 car carrying the Loan Mart banner, plus a substantial presence in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri.

AMALIE OIL NHRA GATORNATIONALS SET FOR EXCITEMENT: The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville March 14–17 for the 44th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals, the third of 24 races in the 2013 season. The history and rich traditions at the annual East Coast opener have long made this race a strong draw for fans across the country, and for many, the Gators is a spring-break destination. Kids 12 and younger are admitted free with a paid adult. The Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals, which will be telecast on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD, will also feature the season-debut of the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. Riders will be looking to knock defending series champion Eddie Krawiec off his title perch. Last year, Krawiec and his Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle teammate Andrew Hines dominated the two-wheel category by winning 15 of the 16 events contested during the season.