NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

We teased you, we told you, we reminded you, and still some of you refused to believe that the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Silly Season would live up to the hype. As we’re still reasonably early into it, it’s already brought some fireworks to the sport and the eggnog is barely cold. 

What we plan to do here is to explore, examine, and speculate on some of the larger rumors out there regarding drivers, teams, cars, crew chiefs, and more. Maybe we can present some options. Maybe we’ll miss by a mile. Maybe you think you know better. Let’s all dive into this together. 

In no particular order:

Dickie’s toolbox is rolling, but to where? 

The first truly significant team personnel announcement this offseason came from Tony Stewart Racing. In it, Mike Knudsen was named the 2025 season crew chief for the Dodge Funny Car of Matt Hagan. Also, the team hired Phil Shuler to work with Knudsen in his elevated role. Our understanding is that Schuler was the guy both Knudsen and his longtime right-hand man Alex Conaway wanted to add to their fold. 

So, the next question is, where is Dickie Venables going? The man with the championships, all those race wins, and a lifetime of experience already has a landing strip in our understanding, and there are some potential options out there. A social media post by Todd Smith, apparently announcing his departure from the DHL GR Supra team, may be the one piece of circumstantial evidence we need here. Is there a brightly colored crew shirt in his future?

Let’s stay with Funny Car a hot second. 

An odd time to part? 

Jim Head and Blake Alexander have been a strong, contending, race-winning duo for several seasons now, and while it was never officially announced by either party, the two have gone their separate ways. Like a band who worked hard to come up with a hit album, their car put on the strongest numbers of their tenure together from Brainerd (where they won) through the end of the season. The car lived in the 3.80s like never before, and Alexander had career-best driving numbers and Head tuned his hardest running elapsed times as well. But times change, people change, and there’s a driver change. But who?

We know there’s a lot of young talent out there chomping at the bit to go nitro Funny Car racing. Like Alexander, though, they will need to bring some skin to the game to drive Head’s car. Racers like Julie Naatas come to mind. She has Funny Car experience and has been working on securing funding for her future relentlessly. But there are other places to look. Plenty of Pro Mod drivers want a Funny Car seat, and many of them have the business acumen to arrive funded. 

Our guess? A name you know, but not the name you expect. 

Hey, what about Blake?

Ah, we didn’t forget about Alexander, who is one of just a small cadre of drivers who have ever won in both the Funny Car and Top Fuel categories. He has won two races over the last two years and been to the late rounds many times. There’s another element of this game that Alexander shines in, and that’s the boardroom. 

Rumor has it that Alexander has teamed up with another Top 10 car owner and is working with a crew he has assembled to bring a second car to this operation. Having secured his own funding for years with the likes of Jim Head and other teams, he has retained that and is supposedly actively expanding it. 

The car he is bringing out will add another full-time entry into the class … even if Alexander is not the one driving it every race. 

If this one pans out, and we’re about 99% sure it pans out, this class will be even more interesting in 2025, especially with the crew chief that’s coming out with them. 

Have you driven TWO Fords, lately?

The wind blows cold, and it blows hard off the Atlantic waters and over the rocky shores of Rhode Island in the winter. That’s where we caught whispers of this rumor out of the Ocean State. We have heard that Bob Tasca III is working to bring a second car into the fold of his Funny Car team. 

While we do not know how far along, how serious, or how involved Tasca has gotten in this process, we do know that the conversations have at least been had at some level. Who’d drive it? Remember, there is a current Top Fuel pilot who had been in talks at about this time last year on a second potential car. This isn’t a fresh idea, we just hope it is one that can be seen to fruition. 

The category’s largest mystery soon to be solved?

Who’s driving John Force’s car in 2025? Still in the midst of his long-term recovery, we’re all wondering if Force’s seat will continue to be occupied by Jack Beckman? Is Robert Hight planning a return? Is Jordan Vandergriff, who tested in the car earlier this year, in the discussion? Would a highly marketable Nataas be considered? 

It’s a car that can and will contend for a title with the right driver. Beckman was executing in virtually flawless fashion during the 2024 Countdown to the Championship, and his medical anomaly was perhaps the only thing that kept the title chase from being more dramatic in Pomona. 

Did Beckman race his way back into a job?

Is Camrie swapping sides?

Dipping our toe into Pro Stock …There’s a rumor swirling around that Camrie Caruso may be moving herself from the KB Titan Racing organization to the Elite Motorsports camp in 2025. That team has swelled with the addition of Greg Stanfield and Steven Bell (part time) in 2025, they continue to grow their Mountain Motor Pro Stock program, and they have proven that no matter how many cars run their power, they can keep a competitive level of performance on the dragstrip. 

What’s up for Ida and Tony?

With the move of Phil Shuler from the JCM Racing team to Tony Stewart Racing and rumors persisting in the greater Brownsburg, Ind., area, we’re all interested to understand what the outlook is for Ida Zetterström and Tony Schumacher.  

We have heard that Zetterström’s season will be contingent on securing funding before the car is brought out of the shop. We have heard of some personnel reduction at the operation, which may simply be preparing for the winter months as well. As far as Tony Schumacher goes, we have not heard of any changes with that team or program in regard to their 2025 campaign. 

With Shuler leaving, does that mean Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer would once again be the two guys leading the charge for Tony Schumacher’s operation? 

Mike Salinas has cars and options in 2025

So, the last blind alley to stumble down here in Top Fuel regards Mike Salinas. Understanding that his health has allowed him to get back in the car (he ran some 3.70s in Las Vegas in testing) means that he now gets to compete again, but where? He has been on record saying that he has ordered a Pro Mod, he has designs on making runs in the Pro Stock Motorcycle world, and then there’s the whole Top Fuel Thing. 

There is no indication that daughter Jasmine’s program will be changed by Salinas' recovery to full health, but if you were paying attention, something interesting happened at the end of 2024. Travis Shumake’s car was tuned by the Scrappers crew, and it made strong, career-best numbers for Shumake. That same car then carried Gary Pritchett to a first-ever Top Fuel round-win at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona. 

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. If what we think we know is correct, the Scrappers team will be or is in the process of acquiring Shumake’s equipment and will have that car available for Shumake (for more than a half-dozen races in 2025, rumors say), likely Salinas, and perhaps other hopefuls like Pritchett to field when funding allows. Maybe Salinas picks his spots in Top Fuel with forays into Pro Stock Motorcycle and Pro Mod as well? Only time will tell. 

So, that’s what we have right now. After the PRI Show in Indianapolis, this whole nest of hornets will really be flying. There’s still plenty of time for speculation, innuendo, and rumors to germinate. Got any of your own?