Negativity. Unfortunately, it’s always been something that seems to spread far more quickly than positivity. And with the rise of social media, the old adage “Bad news travels fast” is more prevalent than ever. Drag racing is not immune to this trend – if anything negative happens within our sport, you can rest assured the internet will constantly provide updates. From the outside looking in, one might get the feeling that our sport is dying.
To be clear, this isn’t just a drag racing issue. Nearly every major sport in America deals with the exact same phenomenon. NASCAR spent the better part of a decade being told it was dead while quietly rebuilding its entire product and audience. Boxing seemingly receives a funeral every few years, and then Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford fight in front of 70,000 people at Allegiant Stadium, bring in $47 million at the gate, and draw 41 million viewers on Netflix.
There’s a reason for this: studies have shown that people are nearly twice as likely to share negative content on social media as they are positive. The algorithms are practically designed to amplify bad experiences over good ones. Pick any random day or time and try scrolling through social media without finding someone who supposedly loves drag racing posting negatively about the sport. Tracks are closing. The stands are empty. Sanctioning bodies don’t care about racers or fans. Promoters are only in it for the money. Payouts are a joke.
That’s the version of reality that lives inside your phone and laptop. But if we logout of our devices, take a step back, and truly study drag racing as a whole, that’s thankfully not the case in most instances. Are there a few bad apples? Sure. But let’s shift our perspective for just a moment and dive into what’s already going on in 2026.
From an admittedly biased point of view, the Drag Illustrated Winter Series kicked off the season with a bang. Grizzled veterans – Snowbird Outlaw Nationals winner Jason Harris and U.S. Street Nationals champion “Stevie Fast” Jackson – finally cemented their place in Winter Series history after years of close calls, while rising stars and fresh faces – World Series of Pro Mod winner Aaron Stanfield and DIWS points champion Peter Norton – proved they’re ready to step onto the biggest stage.
Capacity crowds. 80 Pro Mods attempting to get into a 32-car field. True 10.5 and Lil Gangstas stealing the spotlight. Cole Pesz wrecking and subsequently winning $40,000 all within a few days. These are just a few of the countless amazing stories that occurred at Bradenton Motorsports Park over the course of three months this winter.
As March rolled around, the NHRA began their 75th anniversary season in historic fashion with a sellout at Gainesville. According to longtime Drag Illustrated statistician and drag racing historian Bret Kepner, the 2026 Gatornationals was the highest-attended event in drag racing history. The sanctioning body followed that up last weekend with another massive crowd in Phoenix, despite record-high temperatures that reached triple digits. Bright young stars are blossoming before our very eyes – Maddi Gordon has taken Top Fuel by storm, and 2025 Rookie of the Year Spencer Hyde is sitting No. 2 in Funny Car points.
NHRA wasn’t the only game in town last weekend either. The newly revitalized IHRA hosted their season-opener at Darana (formerly Galot) Motorsports Park–Benson with an incredible 20 different classes competing, from Top Fuel to Stock Eliminator. Peter Norton continued his momentum from the Winter Series, taking home the Pro Mod Ironman, while Top Fuel pilot Gary Pritchett wasted no time getting to the winner’s circle after taking over driving duties for veteran driver and car owner Doug Foley Sr.
Independent events continue to thrive as well, with TX2K 26 thrilling fans with record-setting runs and superstar appearances. Brett LaSala and Eric LaFerriere traded body blows throughout the weekend in the 2JZ vs. the World class. LaFerriere struck first in his “White Rice” Nissan 240SX, running a 5.905 at 242.73 mph to become the quickest and fastest radial import in the world. But it was LaSala who had the knockout blow, winning the event with a blistering 5.879 at 242.76 mph in his infamous “Snot Rocket” Mustang. Meanwhile, YouTube stars Cleetus McFarland (Street Car Champ) and Jimmy Dale (Street Car Sport) both took home TX2K wins, pleasing their massive fanbases.
Looking ahead to this coming weekend, there’s an absolute embarrassment of riches for every type of drag racing fan. The PDRA opens their season at Darlington Dragway, with top stars from Pro Boost, Pro Nitrous, Pro Street, Super Street, Pro 632, Top Sportsman & Dragster, and a host of bracket racing categories.
For fans of floppers, Funny Car Chaos – led by Chris Graves – begins its season at Tulsa Raceway Park, with more than 32 funny cars already pre-entered.
Street Car Takeover is, well, taking over EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), turning the NASCAR track into a pit road party, with incredible small-tire action happening down on pit road.
The small-tire fun doesn’t stop there. Ryan Martin and Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington’s brand new Outlaw Syndicate Small Tire Series will debut at North Florida Motorplex, paying $20k to the Small Tire winner; Matt Plotkin and the Project X Promotions team will celebrate a decade of no-prep events with Bounty Hunters 10 at Penwell Knights Raceway in Odessa, Texas; Shadyside Dragway will host Carolina Gold, where the top eight Lil Gangstas competitors will earn invites to the $30k-to-win event at King of the South over Memorial Day weekend; and Xtreme Raceway Park in Ferris, Texas will feature Xtreme 275 Bad Boys Mayhem, with big money up for grabs in both radial and slick classes.
For fans that can’t attend every event in person (and let’s be realistic – who can?), watching drag racing from home has never been easier. NHRA not only broadcasts their professional classes on FOX and FS1, diehard fans can watch every minute of the action on NHRA.tv. IHRA has partnered with Speed Sport to livestream all of their national events for free. FloRacing subscribers can watch major independent events such as the DI Winter Series, Lights Out, No Mercy, and TX2K, as well as every PDRA event this year. Individual media outlets such as Straight Line Media and Upshift360 – as well as countless others – travel all over the country to allow fans to see incredible action encompassing the entire drag racing spectrum.
Outside of racing, other positive steps are being made to help preserve our beloved tracks. Just this week, The Kansas Motorsports Venue Protection Act passed with a vote of 120-0 and sent to Governor Laura Kelly to sign. It will become law immediately upon inclusion in the State Register. The bill allows the 20 current tracks in the State of Kansas – both drag and circle – to have civil immunity against nuisance and property complaints by any property owner who has built a home or business within a five-mile radius after any track that has consecutively operated with no lapse in operations greater than four years.
This is a huge decision that will hopefully help pave the way for other states to do the same. As a native Missourian, I frequently like to give grief to my neighbors to the west. But in this instance, I am celebrating right there along with them.
Are there issues in drag racing that still need to be figured out, hurdles still to be jumped? Of course. The sport will never be perfect – nothing is. But constantly focusing on the negatives instead of praising the positives is exactly what our sport doesn’t need. Go out and support your local tracks and help keep them open. Attend government hearings and let our representatives know how important the sport is to our communities. Watch as many livestreams as you can. Buy merchandise from your favorite drivers.
This isn’t a call to stick our collective heads in the sand and ignore potential issues, but it is a call to spend just as much time – and preferably much more – proclaiming the positives happening around us as we do the negatives. There are so many great things currently going on in drag racing, and the season is just getting warmed up – let’s celebrate that.
This story was originally published on March 25, 2026. 
The post Op-Ed: There’s So Many Awesome Things Happening in Drag Racing Right Now – Let’s Celebrate It first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
