O’Reilly Raceway Park is a great facility, and the NHRA’s US Nationals is a fantastic event. One of my favorite parts of the event is the night qualifying. The cars of the high-powered nitromethane classes turn into fire-breathing dragons that assault your senses (in a good way!) as they rocket down the strip. I like how this photo captures the packed grandstands, the very well-lit track, a little of the midway and the smoke that hangs in the air near the starting line. And I love how it’s all surrounded by the blackness of the night and the sparsely populated area around the track.   read more »

The NHRA Mac Tools US Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park is quickly becoming my second most favorite event on the Indiana motorsports calendar. There is simply no other sport that can match the raw power and intensity of NHRA drag racing, and every one of the competitors speak about the event with the same kind of reverence the open-wheel ranks show to the Indianapolis 500. These photos were taken on the qualifying days of August 31 and September 1, 2007.   read more »

The NHRA brought some of the flavor of the greatest show in drag racing to downtown Indianapolis on Wednesday, August 29, 2007. Big Daddy Don Garlits led a good old fashioned cacklefest, NHRA and O’Reilly Raceway Park officials made announcements, and several top NHRA drivers were on hand to kick off the start of the 53rd NHRA Mac Tools US Nationals.   read more »

The King of the Dragsters, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits is back in Indianapolis for the 53rd running of the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals to be held at O’Reilly Raceway Park August 29 - September 3. While Garlits himself will not be racing in the event, the 8-time U.S. Nationals Champion and his 1964 Swamp Rat VIII took part in the “cacklefest” portion of the NHRA Fan Fest held on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis.   read more »

Eric Medlen poses with a fan
at the 2006 NHRA US Nationals

Eric Medlen, NHRA Funny Car driver and one of its rising stars, passed away on March 23, 2007 as a result of injuries suffered during a crash in testing at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway. Being fairly new to drag racing, I’ll admit that I wasn’t terribly familiar with Eric’s career. But it’s certainly clear that he was very much loved and respected in the drag racing community, and his passing will leave a void that will be difficult to fill.   read more »