I can remember the first time that I ever met John Force. It was 2009 I believe at Joliet for the NHRA event. It was the first NHRA I attended in person, along with my mom who is a huge John Force fan. Now that both John and Brittany have retired, what comes next?

Something that seems to be seriously overlooked in todays world is looking back at where some drivers come from. Over the weekend this really struck me as something to highlight.

As someone who has made it his career to capture the things that happen and the drag strip as well as cover the news and happenings of drag racing, I am starting to see a disturbing trend that needs to change.

Another day has come and gone in the drag racing world and yet I continue to notice this about drag racers, crew, fans, and media. So let’s talk about it.

Maybe it’s time to start looking at what is actually working and what isn’t working anymore. Maybe, just maybe, the time has come for some sort of overhaul in drag racing.

If you follow my personal social media you will see that I made a vague post about this a couple of days ago and was asked what exactly I meant when I said it, or what triggered what I said.

Time after time we in the industry talk about trends and what we would like to see, what we are seeing, and what we believe we will see down the road. So let’s take a dive into what we think drag racing will look like a decade from now, at least in my opinion.

For more than a decade I have been a full-time motorsports photographer, with 99% of that being done within the drag racing world. A couple weeks ago I did my second Sick Week, which is also my first of event of the year. This event stands head and shoulders above everything else when it comes to how grueling it is.

As with any sport there comes a time when your legends hang up their shoes and move on from the sport. When that time comes, we expect another start to rise and bring the product to the masses and carry the torch.

There are a lot of times within our industry that change is inevitable. Whether that change be things like going from quarter mile racing to eighth mile racing, getting your news from a magazine to getting it from the internet, and more. The one constant through time has been still imagery though, but has their time and relevance started to fade into obscurity?

Lately I've been seen a lot of opinions regarding Kyle Larson and Max Verstappen.
Apparently Kyle stated that with the exception of open wheel racing, he is a better all around driver than Max Verstappen is. This has created a little bit of a fire storm in the motorsports community, with people taking sides if you will.

There seem to be a lot of things in our everyday life, especially when it comes to entertainment, that we just need to let go of and find something fresh and new. The drag racing community is no different in that aspect.

The last 10 days in the drag racing community has been a true mental test for a lot of us. Whether it be John Force’s crash at VMP, the passing of photography legend Roger Richards, or the untimely passing of superstar Lizzy Musi.

Entire too much in life, we hear Icon, Legend, GOAT, etc. when describing people and their importance to an industry, sport, business, etc. When we speak of John Force though, there is no way that we can overstate how huge his legacy and importance to the motorsports industry is.

Over the last month or so I’ve seen a lot of internet chatter and banter back and forth about records, and it got me to start asking myself a simple question…WHO CARES?

Not sure that I ever thought I would be saying this, especially in a public forum, but what the hell have I been missing when it comes to no prep racing?

Well folks it has happened again, yet another iconic track has closed its doors and from what we have heard, it has been sold for purposes other than motorsports. Last night it was all over social media that Atco Dragway, an iconic drag strip on the east coast has closed its doors for good, effective immediately.

Years and years ago drag racing a Pro Mod was about as far away from being “mainstream” drag racing as you could get. What happens when the class that was founded by a bunch of wild child non-conformists goes mainstream though?

There are certain things that keep me up at night and I ponder upon. First and foremost, on my mind is where we are at within the motorsports industry, and where we are going for years to come.

For years now I have heard that the radial scene has one foot in the coffin if you will when it comes to it’s popularity and the want for people to build radial cars…guess what, it’s all bullshit along with smoke and mirrors.

Drag racing has and always will be a form of entertainment for the fans, but what happens when supply chain issues start causing chaos within the industry? It appears that we are on the verge of finding out.

After a tumultuous last couple of seasons on the NHRA front, whether from a pandemic, sponsor changes, etc. we received some interesting phone calls this week regarding Pro Mod and the Gatornationals.

We are all a couple of days removed from one of the biggest drag racing events of the year and it’s time to reflect on something that we saw and why it matters.

I am only a few days away from heading to South Georgia Motorsports Park for Lights Out XIII and was thinking to myself about all the radial racing I have seen over the years. So here’s a chance to look back.

I would love to say that this is just a recent trend that I am seeing, but that certainly isn’t the case. It has started to make me wonder how many racers actually care about their own safety.

So, I woke up this fine Monday with something on my mind, that being our world of custom cars and whether or not we are the last of a dying breed.

Well, 2022 is upon us and I think it’s time to look forward and think about what we may see this up coming season.