NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

As the Performance Racing Industry Show looms this week in Indianapolis with its annual promise of new deals being announced, the sport is bracing for another round of big news.

The annual Silly Season, where teams and drivers and sponsors and crew routinely find new homes or announce new deals, started early this season, long before the year was over, and continues unabated into December, with more news expected over the next month.

Here's a recap of what's happened so far:

Sept. 9: It was announced that Leah Pruett, who sat out the 2024 and 2025 seasons to start a family with Tony Stewart, would return to driving for Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) in 2026, piloting the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster [story].

Sept. 12: Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Brittany Force then did a reverse Pruett, announcing that she would step away from full-time competition at the conclusion of the season to focus on starting a family [story].

Sept. 18: After voluntarily vacating his seat in the TSR dragster to his wife, it didn't take Stewart long to announce his 2025 plans to drive the new Elite Motorsports Top Fueler [story].

Oct. 15: Having already announced that he had sold his Top Fuel operation to Elite, one of the worst-kept secrets of the Silly Season was made official when Josh Hart was named to replace Brittany Force in the John Force Racing (JFR) Top Fueler for 2026 [story].

Oct. 17: In a surprising move, crew chief Mike Green was released from the championship-contending Justin Ashley/Scag Racing Top Fuel team when it came to light he had agreed to tune the Elite Top Fueler in 2026, and Scag elevated Tommy DeLago to main tuner status [story]. Elite quickly countered by making the Green news official [story].

Oct. 21: It was announced that R+L Carriers, which had been backing Hart's team, would transfer its sponsorship to the new Elite/Stewart operation after Hart's season completed and he joined JFR [story].

Oct. 23: The Scag team quickly bolstered its tuning tandem by adding respected veteran Jason McCulloch, who had been with Hart's team [story].

Nov. 19: Rob Flynn, who was hired earlier this season to tune the Tony Schumacher-driven Rick Ware Racing, was announced as the crew chief for Maddi Gordon's rookie season on the Ron Capps Motorsports/Carylyle Tools Top Fueler [story]. Not officially announced but confirmed is that Troy Fasching will serve as assistant crew chief.

Nov. 24: Ten days after team owner John Force announced his official retirement from driving [story] and just eight days after Austin Prock won a second Funny Car world championship for the organization, John Force Racing announced that Prock and his entire team — including his crew-chiefing family, Jimmy and Thomas Prock — had separated itself from JFR [story]. No replacement driver has yet been announced, but JFR has scheduled an undetermined announcement during the upcoming PRI Show that should answer that question. The Procks' new home will be announced Jan. 15.

Dec. 2: John Force Racing announced that Alexis DeJoria had joined its organization with her Bandero Cafe team as a fourth racing operation [story]. DeJoria left the JCM Racing operation, and the fate of JCM's other driver, Top Fuel racer Ida Zetterström, is still unknown, though she's not expected to continue with the team.

Dec. 3: Cruz Pedregon Racing announced that crew chief Jason Bunker has left the team [story]. External speculation is that Bunker was heading to JFR. Five days later. Pedregon announced that “Rip” Reynolds and Chris "Warrior" Kullberg would tune his car in 2026 [story].

Dec. 8: After the best season of his career, Paul Lee confirmed his regrettable return to a part-time schedule in 2026 due to import tariffs affecting his businesses. Crew chief Jonnie Lindberg has left the team to pursue a full-time role elsewhere. John Medlen remains with Paul Lee Racing in hopes of the team landing sponsorship before the season begins.

Dec. 9: Buddy Hull announced his plans for 2026, leaving the Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car team to return to team ownership while remaining in Funny Car [story].

That all being said, there is still A TON of other shoes still to drop. Here's a quick look at some of the pending questions:

• Who is going to pick up Lindberg's considerable talents? There should be many takers.
• Who will take over the wheel of the Jim Dunn Racing car?
• Although there is no official confirmation from the team, word is that nitro-racing tuning veteran Jon Oberhofer has been released from the Kalitta Motorsports/DHL Funny Car and will be replaced by returning Todd Smith. So, where will Jon O. land?
• Where will tuners Aaron Brooks and Todd Okuhara be next year after being released from Tasca Racing? And who takes their places?
• Who will be Mike Green's right-hand person on the new Elite Top Fueler?
• With Josh Hart now at JFR, where will his former crew chief, Ron Douglas, land?
• Jasmine Salinas is reportedly ready to return to Top Fuel; who will tune her car?
• Will JCM field a Top Fueler?  If so, with what driving/tuning tandem? Where does Zetterström land?
• What’s Julie Naatas’ plan after getting her feet wet this season in Funny Car with Del Worsham?