Drag Illustrated’s flagship program broadcasts three hours live from the Indy midway Friday, simulcast on DI and NHRA digital platforms, with NHRA President Glen Cromwell, Matt Hagan, Erica Enders, Clay Millican, Ron Capps, Ida Zetterström and Street Outlaws stars Shawn Ellington and Ryan Martin
Drag Illustrated will bring its flagship program, The Wes Buck Show, to the biggest drag race in the world with a live edition from Nitro Alley at the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. The show broadcasts Friday, Sept. 4, from noon to 3 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and it will stream simultaneously across both Drag Illustrated’s and NHRA’s digital platforms.
The guest list is stacked. NHRA President Glen Cromwell opens the show. Funny Car regular season points leader Matt Hagan follows. Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield come on together. Street Outlaws headliners Shawn Ellington and Ryan Martin bring the no-prep crossover. Top Fuel’s Clay Millican sits down live while parked squarely on the Countdown bubble, 91 points outside the cut with one race to go. Ida Zetterström, Ron Capps and Maddi Gordon fill out the back half, closing with a live edition of DI’s “Who Ya Got?” Ten guests in three hours, all of it in front of the fans walking the midway.
“We’re excited to welcome a live edition of Drag Illustrated’s Wes Buck Show to the U.S. Nationals,” NHRA Vice President of Marketing and Communication Jeffrey Young said. “It’s a tremendous show that does a terrific job showcasing the personalities of our sport. Partnering with them for a live show on Friday at the world’s biggest drag race provides a unique opportunity for fans to enjoy Indy and kick off the weekend in a great way.”
The timing is not incidental. The U.S. Nationals is the 14th and final event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season, contested under Indy’s point-and-a-half system with 195 points available to a single driver in each professional category. Round wins pay 30 instead of 20. Every Countdown to the Championship field gets set here. More than 850 drivers are entered across the professional ranks, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports and the NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown. All of it lands inside NHRA’s historic 75th anniversary season.
“Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is hallowed ground,” said Wes Buck, founder and editorial director of Drag Illustrated. “There is no bigger stage in this sport and there may never be a better time to stand on it than right now. We want to bring some fresh energy to the front end of this weekend, shine a light on some of the biggest personalities in our space, have some fun and get face to face with the fans who make this thing go. This is a magical time for drag racing. We’re going to have a blast.”
The simulcast is the biggest distribution the show has ever had. Carried across Drag Illustrated’s and NHRA’s channels at the same time, Friday’s broadcast will be available to a combined social media audience of more than 1.8 million, on the Friday of the most watched weekend on the drag racing calendar.
The Wes Buck Show is Drag Illustrated’s flagship program, hosted by Buck alongside DI COO Mike Carpenter and VP of Business Development JT Hudson. The unscripted, opinion-driven broadcast runs 48 episodes a year and has built its reputation on candid conversation with the people who actually move the sport, from NHRA world champions and nitro crew chiefs to no-prep promoters, Pro Mod owners and Street Outlaws stars. It is a direct extension of the mission Drag Illustrated has carried for two decades: to grow and build the sport.
Every fan on the property Friday is invited to come find it. The set sits in Nitro Alley, open to anyone walking the midway, and the audience is part of the broadcast. Pull up a chair, heckle, ask a question, get on camera. For everybody who cannot be at Indy, the show streams live on both DI’s and NHRA’s platforms, with clips and full replays available at DragIllustrated.com and across DI’s social channels.
The show wraps at 3 p.m., leaving fans plenty of runway before JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod qualifying at 5:20 p.m. and the only NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying session of the day at 6:15 p.m.
“Indy is the one race everybody circles,” Buck said. “We want to help set the tone for it.”
Tickets for the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals are available at NHRA.com/tickets.
About Drag Illustrated: Drag Illustrated is the independent voice of drag racing, reaching more than 4.2 million annual web visitors, 855,000 social media followers and 150,000 daily email subscribers. Founded in 2005, DI publishes a bi-monthly print magazine, produces original video programming including The Wes Buck Show, and promotes marquee events such as the World Series of Pro Mod and the DI Winter Series. Learn more at DragIllustrated.com.
This story was originally published on September 1, 2026. 
The post The Wes Buck Show Goes Live From Nitro Alley at the NHRA U.S. Nationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
