NHRA Insider Podcast

Tony Pedregon joins Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider to set the scene and the storylines for the NHRA Springnationals in Houston this weekend. The event planned to be the last national event at this facility is sure to be a real barn burner. There's a killer weather forecast on tap and the fields are jammed with the best drag racers in the world. There's something special to be said about winning the last event at a facility, especially one with the legacy and history that Houston Raceway Park has. When we look across the spectrum of stories, a few jump to the fore. In top fuel can Brittany Force maintain the torrid pace she set at Las Vegas on the starting line and to the finish line? Can Leah keep up her starting line game? Can Mike Salinas rebound from his mistake? In pro stock can Erica Enders go-to for two after calling her shot in Las Vegas? This track has more meaning to her than perhaps anyone else, so all eyes will be on the red Camaro. How does Matt Smith run on his new Suzuki? Does Karen Stoffer continue her crushing performance from Gainesville? Finally, in a funny car which of the "Big Three" wins this week? Or does another driver interrupt the Hight/Hagan/Capps party? This show covers all and goes into depth. Listen up!

Jim Yates and Johnny West join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. The two highly decorated veteran racers have turned their considerable experience into the kind of working knowledge teams desperately need in modern drag racing. For Yates that is coaching and crew chiefing rookie pro stock racer Camrie Caruso and for West it is working with a myriad from the biggest to the smallest in the sport in order to help get their programs on track or down the track faster. Jim Yates talks about a wide range of topics from how his teaching methods have changed with age, how pro stock cars have evolved, and how he is working with this fresh team to turn on win lights during a pressure-packed rookie season. He recounts a famous story from 1994 where he took the legendary Darrell Alderman to the cleaners twice on the starting line perhaps to the dismay of Buster Couch. A great conversation. Johnny West talks about his development and engineering of parts on nitro cars, his history in drag racing, and his approach to working with smaller teams to sort their programs out. It is the basic bedrock knowledge of a veteran racer being used to better the cars and thereby the sport. West tells of his astonishment to get the call from the CAPCO Contractors team to work on Billy Torrence's car and how it has been a great experience thus far. Two guys who live and breathe drag racing telling their histories. What's better than that?!

NHRA Top Fuel crew chief David Grubnic and five-time sportsman world champion Justin Lamb join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. Grubnic is coming off a huge win with Brittany Force and team at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. Lamb won his 29th NHRA national event at Las Vegas and he's the second guest on this show.

In the conversation, Grubnic and Lohnes dive into everything from tuning philosophy to leadership practices, communication among the team, and more. It is a chat that goes far beyond the nuts and bolts of running a Top Fuel car. Grubnic is hugely insightful and brings listeners deeply into the world of top fuel drag racing.

Lamb has won 29 NHRA national events and five world titles. He is among the greatest Stock and Super Stock racers of his generation and after this conversation you will be blown away by the depth of his knowledge of the sport. Lamb talks about how hard it is to compete in win with the depth of competition in the NHRA and he's very open with his explanations of competing with two cars on most race weekends.

A pair of interesting guys and even more interesting conversations.

NHRA Editorial Director Phil Burgess and NHRAonFOX Analyst Tony Pedregon join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. The conversation ranges over the course of the episode but the crux of it is looking into those racers who are performing up to expectations, some who are exceeding, and a few others who are not making the cut at this early part of the season.

There's also a look into the Las Vegas 4-wide nationals which are coming up this weekend. It has been a hot minute since we have had any four wide competition in NHRA so it will be interesting to see who can deal with the extra confusion and tension that comes in this format.

Rumors are discussed, personnel is a large topic of conversation and while no guesses are made on who the latest crew chief shuffle involves, the anticipation of the news is pretty high. This is a fun episode with two guys who really know the inner workings of the sport and the personalities involved.

Matt Hagan and Shane Westerfield join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. The two men are both playing a hot hand with respect to their competition in the nitro funny car and top alcohol funny car ranks respectively. Hagan is coming off of a victory in Gainesville after making the final round in Phoenix as well. Westerfield, the 2017 Top Alcohol Funny Car world champion won the NHRA Winternationals and the ensuing Phoenix Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series regional event.

The conversation with Hagan centers around his energy in 2022, the signs of success he is seeing at Tony Stewart Racing, the different environment that he is racing in for this Camping World season, and what exactly it will take to run for a championship over the long stretch of the 2022 season. There's loads of great personal and racing insight here.

Shane Westerfield talks about racing with Rick Jackson, the stiffness of the TAFC competition he is facing, and why he thinks that his team is champion caliber. The conversation runs through the recent small car counts in TAFC and what can be done to fix them, along with Westerfield's passion for boat drag racing, which has become a full-time business for him.

Two champs, two recent winners, and two funny car phenoms.

Funny car racer Blake Alexander as well as crew chiefs Jamie Miller and Dickie Venables join host Brian Lohnes on this post-Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. Off the top of the show, Lohnes recounts the race, his experiences during it, and the near-mythical quality it took on as what was a seemingly lost weekend turned into one of the quickest pound-for-pound two day stretches in NHRA drag racing history.

Blake Alexander was the runner-up in nitro funny car and nearly completed what would have been a storybook return to the sport after a disastrous ending to the 2021 campaign. His team suffered the tragic loss of crewman Dylan Cromwell in a transporter crash. That crash also destroyed a truck, a race trailer, and many of the contents inside. With a new crew, a mostly completed trailer, and the memory of Cromwell on their mind, his team put forth an effort for the history books.

Jamie Miller is one of the most diversified, sought after, and successful crew chiefs in door slammer drag racing but NHRA victory has long eluded him. That all changed at Gainesville when he tuned Kris Thorne's ProCharger equipped Camaro to a solid victory after making not a single qualifying lap. Miller talks about tuning pro mods, racing on different surfaces, and how he and his guys were able to lock up a win in the hotly contested pro mod series.

Dickie Venables is one of the greatest nitro crew chiefs in the history of the sport and one of the most experienced. Even his voluminous experience didn't prepare him fully for the conditions facing racers on Sunday. Using his guile and the skills of his team and driver Matt Hagan, he was able to tune the car to the first drag racing victory of Tony Stewart Racing. He recounts the race, the challenges, and why his team is championship caliber already, just three races in.

A big show from a big race filled with big stories!

On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast, 2017 NHRA Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force joins host Brian Lohnes to talk about the often hidden hard work of racing at a championship level in the class. Lohnes leads off the show with a Gatornationals preview monologue running through the latest news in the sport leading up to the race, looking at the pro stock motorcycle category, and talking about what's in store for racers and fans as part of the Pep Boys All-Star Top Fuel Callout.

All of the professional categories have full fields and the top fuel and pro stock classes both sport some 21 entries, which means that qualifying will be filled with the kind of suspense and intrigue that fans love to see.

The conversation with Brittany Force takes us inside the workings of a top fuel team with discussions on leadership, team chemistry, and how the balance of an insane workload gets offset by the familial relationship that teams develop over the course of a relentless season. It's interesting, informative, and introspective.

NHRAonFOX analyst Tony Pedregon and NHRAonFOX pit producer Todd Veney join host Brian Lohnes for this episode of the NHRA Insider. This wide-ranging show surveys the scene after the second race of the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing season. The action has been amazing across each of the professional categories and Phoenix was no exception.

Lohnes and guests talk about early-season surprises, who is performing above expectations, and who is performing below them. They talk driver performance, psychology, and who is already in mid-season form. The sense of urgency to deliver this year is off the charts and it seems that some are more prepared than others to do just that.

An insightful and fun look into the world of NHRA drag racing!

Justin Ashley and Bo Butner join Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. Ashley talks about his highly impressive start at the Lucas Oil Winternationals where he took home a national event victory over Austin Prock in the final round. The race may be a harbinger of things to come in top fuel where the competition is off the charts and will only get more difficult as the season goes on. Ashley talks about the race, the competition, his internal drive, and the need to stay up on the wheel for the whole season. Bo Butner is back into the world of NHRA pro stock full time and he's having a blast. With a sponsor who is one of the world's wildest car guys, the 2022 season is looking like it will be a great one for the former class champion. Bo talks about Pomona, Phoenix, the difference between bracket racing and pro stock, what his outlook is for the year, and the state of modern pro stock drag racing. Add in a monologue about Pomona off the top of the show and that's this episode of the Insider!

National Dragster's Phil Burgess and NHRA on Fox analyst Tony Pedregon join host Brian Lohnes on this final episode of the off-season before the 2022 NHRA Winternationals. The triumvirate talk about the major stories of the winter, one of which is how many major stories there have been this winter! From the wild performance of John Force at the pre-season test to the emergence of new team owners, the emergence of new teams, the notable drivers coming back, and a whole lot more, there's so much to talk about it's hard to keep all the storylines straight.

Pedregon digs in from the owner and driver perspectives to talk about the level of competition that the biggest names in the sport will have to confront. In top fuel, it is nearly unrivaled in modern drag racing history and early stumbles will not bode well for long-term season success. In funny car it is more of the same and TPed breaks down all of it for the audience.

Phil Burgess brings his years of NHRA experience to bear in this conversation and takes an in-depth look at the major headlines leading to Pomona. From the looks of the pro stock rank and file to the large contingent of funny car racers, top fuel insanity, and more, Burgess has the stories. There is also a chat about the state of media in drag racing and how teams are amping up their efforts to create interesting and cool content that fans both new and old love.

A HUGE episode before a HUGE race!