NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Teams are busy gearing up for 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season with no shortage of motivation. Be it the up-and-coming teams or the most successful of the established stars, the term “good enough” is not in the vocabulary of the teams vying for a coveted Wally at each of the 24 stops.

Similar to teams in other organized sports, drag racing teams will use themes and motivational tactics to inspire the work ahead at their shops in preparation for the new season. In a highly competitive endeavor at which one is only as good as his or her first race, each team feels as though it has something to prove no matter how much success it has had in recent years or throughout a career. It is what prompts teams to raise their games to the next proverbial level, whether it is a driver who spends those extra minutes working on the practice Tree each day to knock a hundredth off his or her average reaction time, a tuner transfixed to the squiggly lines that tell the story of the run data from the glow of the computer monitor in search of that nonexistent “perfect run,” or crewmembers finding ways to rebuild their powerful hot rods with increased speed, precision, and consistency.

We look at what may be motivating some of the top stars of the dragstrip as they encounter another season of breathtaking action.

Building a dynasty

What does a driver want after capturing an NHRA Mello Yello world championship? The answer is another championship the following season and more after that. In his postseason interview following his second Top Fuel title in the past four years, Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driver Antron Brown said, "We’re here to build the next dynasty that our sport has ever had.”

While winning a single championship would seemingly fulfill any racer’s dream, the accomplishment leads to an even larger goal of creating a winning dynasty like there have been in sports with the New York Yankees, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, or Detroit Red Wings teams that have won several championships in a row. The equivalent of such dynasties in the drag racing world belong to John Force, Tony Schumacher, Bob Glidden, and others.

Despite the Top Fuel class becoming increasingly competitive, Brown had his most dominant season ever in 2015 with seven event wins plus an NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout victory. The Brian Corradi- and Mark Oswald-led team that has been together for eight seasons has managed to maintain continuity in most of its key positions.

Erica Enders had an incredible 2015 season, for which she was recently given the Driver of the Year award by Autoweek magazine.

Her back-to-back Pro Stock world championships included a thriller in 2014 that was decided in the final race of the season and a nine-win campaign in 2015. The Elite Motorsports team faces several challenges this winter to hang a third banner in its Oklahoma shop. The entire class is entering a new era with electronic fuel injection becoming mandatory along with other changes. The team is also undergoing changes in the engine department with a move to the Mopar stable. However, it has a loaded roster of talent in that shop, and Enders’ starting-line performance has been outstanding.

In the case of reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Andrew Hines, the Vance & Hines organization has firmly established itself as a dynasty with eight championships in the past 12 years between Hines and Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec, not to mention the three straight titles by Matt Hines aboard the juggernaut team’s Suzuki to close out the 1990s. To keep building on that dynasty, the Harley riders will have to keep fending off the riders in the Suzuki, Buell, and Victory contingents.

Becoming a megapower

With the Don Schumacher Racing organization fielding top-tier outfits in both nitro categories and John Force Racing having the winningest faction in Funny Car history, the four Kalitta Motorsports teams spread across the two categories want to build off of Del Worsham’s 2015 Funny Car triumph that gave the organization its first season title since the late Scott Kalitta’s back-to-back Top Fuel championships in 1994 and 1995.

Worsham fended off the four DSR drivers in the rest of the top-five positions in the Mello Yello standings to become the third driver in NHRA history to win championships in both nitro categories. While he tries to repeat, Funny Car teammate Alexis DeJoria and Top Fuel teammates Doug Kalitta and J.R. Todd are working toward reaching championship status. The team as a whole has built up its infrastructure, with owner Connie Kalitta investing heavily in his in-house chassis and machining programs, and Todd’s team is boosted with a full-time sponsorship and the addition of Rob Flynn.

Speaking of Doug …

Reaching for the crown

Winning a Mello Yello world championship is a monkey on the back of any Professional driver who has yet to do so, and that monkey is an 800-pound gorilla for veterans who have had successful careers in all other aspects.

In Funny Car, the best driver without a title is Ron Capps, who is second only to John Force in career victories in class history. Capps and the NAPA Auto Parts team are perennial contenders and look at each season as the one where they might finally get it done. The talent is certainly there. Much of it has been a matter of timing and being able to get on a roll when the Countdown to the Championship gets under way.

Doug Kalitta was a champion in the USAC National Sprint Car Series (beating out Tony Stewart for that honor) before switching his focus to Top Fuel, where he has come agonizingly close to the top of the mountain on several occasions but had no such luck despite 38 career wins.

Back in full Force

2015 was a year of transition for the John Force Racing team, and the four-car armada is looking to return to greatness this year. It showed flashes throughout the past season with Robert Hight and John Force each reaching the winner’s circle and Brittany Force having her best season yet in Top Fuel, though the team is accustomed to winning being the norm.

The Force camp does not lack motivation. Talented tuner Mike Neff leads the Funny Car contingent that includes young crew chiefs Jon Schaffer and Dan Hood. Big changes will be announced shortly with the Monster Energy Top Fuel team that wants to win now.

First win around the corner

Several capable drivers enter the new year vying for their first victory.

Bob Vandergriff Jr. scored three wins as a driver before he hung up his firesuit, and he is waiting for his first win as a team owner after his cars reached nine final rounds in 2015. Pro Stock standout Dave Connolly accounted for three of those runner-ups, and he will be going for his first victory since switching to Top Fuel last season. Jason McCulloch, who joined the team during the 2015 season, will take the reins with Ron Douglas, who has been brought in to assist. Leah Pritchett, who is also a national event winner in a different category (Pro Mod), will be driving the other C&J Energy Services/Quaker State dragster and looking for her first Pro win in her first full season on tour.

Clay Millican is eager to deliver team owner Doug Stringer his first win in the Parts Plus/Great Clips team’s second season. The David Grubnic-tuned team showed flashes of strong performances and quick early numbers in its first full season. The winningest driver in IHRA history has yet to reel in his first NHRA Wally despite eight final-round appearances.

Chad Head, Brittany Force, Bo Butner, Terry McMillen, Scotty Pollacheck, John Hale, and Jim Underdahl also are trying to take home hardware for the first time in 2016.