Racing
John Oreovicz, Autos, Open-Wheel 8y

New-look NHRA getting primed for season-opening Winternationals

Change traditionally comes slowly in the NHRA, but almost every aspect of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is getting a makeover for 2016.

From details like a new series logo to major technical changes in the Pro Stock category, this year's NHRA mantra is "new and improved."

The 2016 season starts this weekend, with the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.

The basic drag racing formula is still high-powered cars and motorcycles, racing two-wide (or occasionally four-wide) down a 1,000-foot straight. But since being named NHRA president on July 1, Peter Clifford has orchestrated a remarkably thorough overhaul of the way a classic form of motorsports will be marketed and broadcast.

"You can view it as a challenge, but we have an opportunity to grow the sport," Clifford said. "Everyone I have spoken to shares the goal of introducing the NHRA and all that comes with it to more people and new audiences.

"We all want to continue to grow the sport and move it forward, and I think we have a good plan in place to do that."

The key element in Clifford's six-point plan is to improve drag racing's television reach through a new partnership with Fox Sports. The NHRA has taken its video production in-house, and for the first time in its history the majority of Mello Yello Series races will be broadcast live. Eighteen of 24 events will be shown live, including four on the Fox network, with the remainder on Fox Sports 1.

With the most diverse driver lineup in the world, the NHRA certainly has no shortage of stars to promote, including more race-winning female drivers than any form of motorsport.

Topping the list is two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders, whose Elite Motorsports team changes allegiance from Chevrolet to Dodge this year.

The Pro Stock category features the most substantial modifications this year, with the cars losing the distinctive huge hood scoops but gaining fuel injection for the first time in the history of the class.

"There have been a lot of rule changes for the class as a whole, so everybody is kind of starting from scratch and there's a huge learning curve involved," said Enders, who owns 21 career event wins, second among females in NHRA competition to Angelle Sampey's 41 Pro Stock Motorcycle wins.

"It's definitely a season for change, and it should be an exciting one, especially if you're a new fan," she added. "Hopefully we breathe a breath of fresh air into our class with tuning these cars with computers now instead of screwdrivers."

The NHRA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Funny Car class this year, with Del Worsham returning to defend his crown for Kalitta Motorsports.

With star-studded multicar efforts from Kalitta, Don Schumacher Racing and John Force Racing, Funny Car is arguably the most competitive category in the Mello Yello Series. The group trying to dethrone Worsham includes DSR's Jack Beckman, Ron Capps and Matt Hagan, and JFR's John and Courtney Force and Robert Hight.

Courtney Force is looking to rebound from a disappointing 2015 season in which she failed to claim an event victory after notching four wins and a career-best fourth place in the championship a year earlier.

"Last season was a rough one for us," Force admitted. "We had many hurdles that we couldn't seem to overcome, but we took it as a learning experience and have a positive attitude going into the 2016 season. We are motivated to get back on track."

Force's sister Brittany is still searching for her first win in the Top Fuel category, and she'll get a boost in 2016 with the addition of champion tuner Alan Johnson as her new crew chief. Force will still have to overcome the might of DSR, which fields a trio of rail dragsters for defending category champion Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Shawn Langdon.

Brown won a series-best seven events in 2015, including the first three of the six-race Countdown to the Championship. In that stretch, he won 14 consecutive rounds.

"The formula hasn't changed, but to repeat, we have to evolve and get even better," Brown said. "Everybody else in the class has made adjustments to improve and that's what we're striving to do. We have to be just as efficient but even quicker. We just have to keep on pushing to try and make more history."

Brittany Force was fastest in preseason testing at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, clocking a 3.721-second pass at 319.07 mph.

"There have definitely been some big changes for the entire Monster Energy team," Force said. "It feels good to get back in the car. Things are a little different, a whole new system. I'm learning that.

"We had some great runs and we're ready to get to Pomona."

Tommy Johnson Jr. ran a 3.874-second pass at 318.47 mph in his DSR Funny Car that unofficially undercut teammate Beckman's national record of 3.884 by 0.01 second.

In one final change for 2016, a driver who sets an elapsed time or speed record during the course of an official eventĀ  no longer will need to post a backup run within 1 percent.

"The 1 percent policy was adopted during the early development stages of the timing system and wasn't as reliable as the technology that we are fortunate to have in race control today," said Graham Light, NHRA senior vice president of racing operations.

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