NHRA Insider Podcast

Tony Pedregon joins Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider and the two talk about the biggest drag race in the world and the biggest event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing season. The Dodge SRT NHRA US Nationals conversation ranges from the racing surface itself to a class by class breakdown of who is coming into the end of the regular season with bells on and who is needing to dras...

Blake Alexander and Aaron Stanfield join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. Alexander, who races with Jim Head in the nitro funny car category has seen positive successes over the last several races with increasing numbers of round wins and even a semi-final appearance under his belt. He talks about the road to getting their race car back, the work they have put in, and...

NHRA Chief Starter Brad Hardy and multi-time funny car world champion Matt Hagan join Brian Lohnes on the NHRA Insider Podcast. The conversations are both very different. Starting with Hardy, he discusses his role in the epic staging battle waged between Bruno Massel and Mason McGaha last week in Topeka, Kansas. He talks about the process, the communication, the inside information about what was h...

Josh Hart and Tony Pedregon join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. Hart talks about the hurdles of getting back on track full time in 2021 and how he has been working hard to make sure his team is championship caliber when he returns. Hart is chasing Rookie of the Year honors and is relentless in his pursuit of building a team worthy of his own expectations. This is an...

Justin Ashley and JR Todd join the NHRA's Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. They talk about their personal experiences at what was a dramatic running of the NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona, California. Intense heat, a race track that was over 140-degrees, and the mental chess of late regular-season competition all added up to some of the wildest drag racing of the...

Ron Capps and Sonoma Super Comp Winner Marko Perivolaris join Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. Capps talks about having a fast and consistent nitro funny car, having racked up multiple semi-final finishes in a row on the Camping World Tour. He also talks about the adjustment of having a car that often qualifies atop the field and how his team continues to pour their hearts...

Joey Haas and Alex Miladonivch join host Brian Lohnes for this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. The two independent racers are competing with more guts than wallet and they talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both scenarios. Haas had an amazing weekend in Denver, landing in the final round and winning the hearts of drag racing fans across America. Alex has been building his own cars...

Alex Laughlin joins host Brian Lohnes to talk about the stunning news that he will be racing top fuel at Denver this weekend as part of the Dodge SRT Mile High Nationals. The move came in a pinch when sponsor requirements needed to be met and Laughlin was without his traditional pro modified car. Hooking up with Scott Palmer at the last minute and achieving his top fuel license at a small Kansas D...

Mike Neff and Travis Shumake join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. Two men who are at very different points of their drag racing career share stories of their lives, the way they approach the sport, and how their efforts are going to succeed in 2021. Mike Neff is currently leading the points as a crew chief in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series funny car divisi...

This episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast features interviews with Mark Ingersoll who serves as crew chief for Erica Enders' car in the NHRA Camping World pro stock category and ace sportsman racer Johnny Labbous Jr. who has been racking up national event wins and is chasing another world championship. Ingersoll talks of the challenges the team has been working through this season and the attack th...

Guests Mike McIntire Jr and National Dragster Senior Editor Kevin McKenna join host Brian Lohnes on the NHRA Insider podcast this week to talk all things on the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Norwalk, Ohio this weekend. McIntire is a local funny car hero having grown up in the sport with his dad racing alcohol cars and eventually graduating to nostalgia nitro funny car and then the Camp...

Terry Haddock and Scott Woodruff of Jegs join host Brian Lohnes on this wide-ranging episode of the NHRA Insider. Haddock tells the story of his incredible weekend at Epping where he appeared in a first career semi-final round. Haddock's story is one of grinding hard work and the relentless pursuit of drag racing success despite all the odds being stacked against him. He is truly a regular guy fun...

Tony Pedregon joins Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider to talk about what's happened five races into the season, who's succeeding, who's falling behind, and who needs to really turn their season around at Epping, New Hampshire. The TascaParts.com NHRA New England Nationals are on tap for the weekend and cool conditions indicate that this could really a race for the highest performing...

On this episode of the NHRA Insider, No-Prep racer Joey Baroni and track operator Mike Natoli join host Brian Lohnes to discuss drag racing, winning the first no-prep Wally ever given, and operating an old school, community-based drag strip. Baroni is the first guest on the show and he talks about racing "Swamp Thing" a Nova station wagon designed to run down drag strips and any other surface with...

Ron Capps and Jeffrey Barker join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast to discuss their 2019 season, their take on driving, rules, and how the rest of the Camping World and E3 Spark Plugs seasons will shake out. The conversation with Capps is wide-ranging and rollicking as the season's successes and failures (thus far) are gone over, some of the finer points of nitro funny...

Steve Johnson and Dallas Glenn join Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast to talk about their respective wins at Charlotte and the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. For Steve Johnson it had been seven years since he last tasted victory on the NHRA championship trail and this one was sweet. Working as an independent with a new engine combination, he had been frustrated by early s...

Racers Krista Baldwin and Joey Gladstone join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast to talk about their seasons, their reasons for competing in NHRA Camping World Drag Racing, and their hard work and struggles to succeed. Baldwin, a third-generation top fuel racer talks about her first race, which was the 2021 Gatornationals, and what she took from the experience while prep...

Antron Brown and Bob Tasca III join Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast. The two Atlanta winners talk about their respective victories at the final NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. For Bob Tasca III, his second race win in a row stands as an affirmation that his team is not only championship caliber, but built for the long haul of the 2021 Camping World NHRA season....

David Grubnic and Eddie Krawiec join Brian Lohnes on the NHRA Insider podcast to talk about life, drag racing, and getting back into the sport that they love in 2021. Grubic, who serves as the crew chief on Brittany Force's top fuel dragster has come out of the gate swinging in 2021 and it's been fun to watch. He talks about being away and what it means to come back after being away for nearly a f...

Shawn Langdon and Tony Pedregon join the NHRA Insider podcast this week for a wide-ranging discussion about drag racing, the upcoming Denso Spark Plugs 4-Wide Nationals, and other storylines in the sport. The discussion with Langdon centers around the difficulties, attraction, and culture of big money bracket racing, an arena he competes infrequently outside of NHRA top fuel. This is an enlighteni...

Andrew Hines and Elon Werner join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast. Werner, the Vice-President of Sports Publicity for the Tony Fay Agency of Texas has long been a presence inside NHRA drag racing, garnering teams like John Force Racing headlines over the years. He talks about the modern world of PR, how things have changed over his 30 years in the sport, and what he i...

On this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast, Greg Anderson and Dean Antonelli, lovingly known as Guido join Brian Lohnes on the show to talk about their early-season successes and careers. Guido and Jon Medlen are the crew chiefs overseeing the Ron Capps-driven NAPA Dodge out of the Don Schumacher camp and Greg Anderson was the Gainesville winner with a crushing performance that put the class on n...

Gatornationals winning crew chief Todd Smith and Gatornationals winning pro stock motorcycle racer Matt Smith both join Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider. The discussion with Todd centers around the race weekend and the off-season preparation that went into getting the car ready for battle at Gainesville. Sharing the insight gleaned from a long and distinguished career, Todd Smith t...

Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals funny car winner JR Todd and top fuel winning crew chief Ron Douglas join Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider. Todd talks about the off-season and his road to victory in Gainesville, a welcome change from the frustrations of a 2020 season that saw no wins for his DHL Toyota Camry. Todd talks about the electricity of the crowd, the champagne bath at the e...

On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast, crew chief Rob Flynn and top fuel world champion Steve Torrence join Brian Lohnes. Flynn tells his story of how he got into drag racing, how he worked his way through the ranks of competition to become one of the most respected crew chiefs in the sport, and how Kalitta Motorsports plans on running for a top fuel championship in 2021. The second conversa...