PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLES RETURN TO FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS: When the NHRA returns to zMAX Dragway for the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals fueled by Full Throttle, April 19–21, fans will be treated to a four-wide assault from all four of the sport’s top categories, including Pro Stock Motorcycles, which haven’t raced four-wide since 2010. Pro Stock Motorcycles, which in recent years have only raced at "the Bellagio of dragstrips’ " traditional two-wide fall event, will take to the track with Pro Stock, Funny Car and Top Fuel dragsters. Matt Smith, who won the Four-Wide event in 2010, called it a great accomplishment for his team, which is based in nearby Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The 2013 season of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) will kick off April 13, at Northern California’s Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California. Round two will be in June at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park, where the USTCC teams will race at the same weekend with the Lucas Oil Off Road series. In July, the teams next will head out to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California’s Monterey Peninsula. This is a special invitational event hosted by the National Auto Sport Association. The double-header weekend at Sonoma Raceway in September will be headlined by the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The teams then head to Southern California’s Buttonwillow Raceway in October before finishing off with another major challenge in Sonoma with a two-hour endurance season finale.

This weekend's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will provide two opportunities to celebrate in the winner's circle for outstanding performers in the factory hot-rod crowd. Summit Racing driver Greg Anderson expects great things for his Chevy Camaro on the double-down weekend and rightfully so. The main event is his sponsor's title race, and the facility where it takes place is nestled in the hometown of his team owner, Ken Black. Anderson, a four-time Pro Stock national champion in NHRA's Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, has made a habit of rising to the challenge of such pressure at the Las Vegas racetrack and has accumulated seven victories there, more than any other professional driver on the circuit. However, it was not by chance that the KB Racing team found a successful combination for the desert racetrack that sits some 2,100 ft. above sea level. They were deeply motivated by the outcome of their first showing at "The Strip."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

LANGDON, C. FORCE, NOBILE TAKE SEASON-OPENING WINS: Courtney Force raced to victory in Funny Car last Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) also were winners at the first of 24 events in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Force, 24, powered her Traxxas Ford Mustang past NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger driver Ron Capps with a pass of 4.025 seconds at 317.12 mph to earn her second career victory. In Top Fuel, Langdon, 30, drove his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to the win with his pass of 3.721 at 322.27, defeating seven-time champion Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team. In front of a hometown crowd, Langdon said his second victory is so much sweeter than the first. Nobile, 21, rounded out the youngest trio to ever share the podium at an NHRA national event by taking the Pro Stock title over Jeg Coughlin Jr. Visit www.nhra.com for more on this story.

NEWS NUGGETS

SCHUMACHER COMMITS TO THIRD TOP FUELER WITH FULL SPONSORSHIP FROM SCHUMACHER ELECTRIC CORP.: Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), with financial backing from Don Schumacher's Schumacher Electric Corp., will start the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series with the same number of teams it ended with last year, including the third-ranked Top Fuel team. In addition to reigning world champion Antron Brown and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team and Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team, which finished seven points behind Brown last season, DSR will field a third team with crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler and driver Spencer Massey when the season begins February 14–17, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona. The dragster that finished last season ranked third in points with four event titles will carry the banner of Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher. The status of DSR’s third-ranked team from last year was left in limbo for 2013 when longtime NHRA and DSR sponsor FRAM/Prestone opted last summer to not continue motorsports sponsorships upon the conclusion of the 2012 season. For more on this story, visit www.nhra.com.