Daily Driver

In this episode of The Daily Driver, I share advice I gave a young racer heading to his first big-money, multi-day event. The one word he needed to hear? Grace. Big events are long, expectations are high, and mistakes are part of the process. The difference isn’t whether you mess up, it’s how you respond when you do. This episode is about trusting the racer you know you are, letting go of the occa...

From time to time on The Daily Driver , I like to share the audio version of my column, The Science of Winning , which appears in NHRA’s National Dragster magazine. This week’s piece is titled “The Stuff of Legends.”

In this episode of The Daily Driver , we’re talking about how racers can make real gains during what we call separation season,  the offseason. While many step away or hit pause, this is actually the best opportunity to improve, refine habits, and build an edge that shows up when it matters most. 

In this episode of The Daily Driver , I’m talking about a familiar concern in racing, the rising cost of competition and what it means for the future of the sport. It’s something I’ve wrestled with lately, until I realized my own dad was saying the same thing more than 30 years ago. And since then, the sport hasn’t just survived, it’s thrived in ways none of us could have predicted.

Today we’re talking about what happens when you shift your focus to something new on the track. Maybe you’re rock-solid on the tree, but decide to prioritize the finish line next round. You execute perfectly there but suddenly you’re late on the tree. Sometimes the mental energy required to level up a new skill takes away from the things you normally do well. So what's the answer? 

In this episode of the Daily Driver, I’m unpacking something I recently said during a webinar: I’d rather be wrong than indecisive. In everyday life, I’m intentional, I take my time before reaching conclusions because I value learning and adaptability. But when it comes to racing, I will stand behind what I said in that webinar. 

As we do here from time to time on The Daily Driver , I like to share the audio version of my column The Science of Winning featured in NHRA’s National Dragster magazine. This week I am sharing The Trophy Case . 

This week's Daily Driver episode is dedicated to honoring the 2025 NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Champions. 

Wednesday afternoon, NHRA made an announcement that changes the game! Due to an awful forecast, the sportsman classes will run to completion Thursday... without a time trial! How does this wrinkle alter the championship chase? And what questions are still unanswered?

There is no driver coming into Pomona with more potential variance in outcome than Darian Boesch. And he's not even racing in Pomona. He's coming into the season finale leading both Top Dragster and Top Sportsman. Will he end the weekend as the 4th driver in NHRA history to win 2 world championship in the same season? Or will he leave empty handed? 

We're here, the final race on the NHRA Lucas Oil series schedule. What will happen in the Super Classes? Will Whitfield and Brock hold on? 

Continuing our deep dive into last weekend’s captivating race in Vegas, I mentioned in yesterday’s episode that today would be dedicated to Jeff Taylor. He’s a three-time NHRA World Champion and this past weekend he reminded everyone exactly why. 

This is what I love about November every year. This past weekend was absolutely captivating. Today’s episode of the Daily Driver is dedicated to Justin Lamb, who came into the event knowing he had to do one thing: win the race. Nothing less would do. And boy did he show out! 

On today’s episode of the Daily Driver, we’re talking about lane discrepancies and how you can use them to your advantage. 

Jimmy Hidalgo, Jr. is the favorite in Super Stock... but it's not over! Kris Whitfield is the favorite in SC... but it's not over! JJ Brock is the favorite in SG... but it's FAR from over! Luke does his best to break down all the scenarios (and even gives some odds) in today's Daily Driver!

As we come into the final two weeks of the season, only the Stock Eliminator and TAFC titles have been determined. Today, Luke breaks down the favorites and contenders in the "fast" classes: Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, and Competition Eliminator!

Only two events remain in the 2025 NHRA Lucas Oil season! In this episode of Daily Drive r , I’m recapping all the action from Las Vegas, a weekend that favored the points leaders. No lead changes this time, which is something you don’t see often this late in the year. 

In this episode of Daily Driver, we’re diving into the “nothing to lose” mindset. I’ve learned over the years that when I race with that mindset, I perform at my best. The real challenge? Figuring out how to tap into that mindset consistently. 

In this episode of The Nerd Out, fair warning, it’s going to run longer than 10 minutes, we’re diving into the incredible drama of Super Gas. Over the past three seasons, the chase has come down to Pomona, and it feels like destiny is leading us right back there again. As we head into this weekend, 11 drivers remain mathematically in the hunt for the world championship and all 11 are entered in th...

Today, we’re resetting the stage in the 8.90 Super Comp category as we head into the final three weeks of the season. It’s fair to say the 2025 season has been all about one man, Kris Whitfield. But there’s a twist... he waived two events that he actually went on to win. Because of that, the championship isn’t quite locked up just yet.

Short of Super Gas, the Super Stock title race may be the most compelling. Reigning champ Jimmy Hidalgo, Jr. is the leader in the clubhouse with what "should" be a fairly comfortable lead... But his two closest contenders have combined for NINE NHRA World Championships!

Over the next week I'm going to try my best to set the stage for the remaining 3 weeks of the season. Today I'm focusing on the Stock and Comp classes. 

Continuing on with the Nerd Out series and this week I'm turning the spotlight back on Top Dragster. 

The Nerd Out series is back, and it’s getting way too juicy to cram multiple classes into a single weekly episode. So, we’re switching gears. From now on, each episode will focus on just one class at a time, with multiple episodes dropping every week. This episode? It’s all about Stock Eliminator. Let’s nerd out!

It's that time of year again... time to Nerd Out! Today I wanted to take a bird's eye view on a few classes that I don't think will be too impacted by the trio of upcoming divisional races this coming weekend.