One year after setting the top speed of eliminations at 330.88 mph in his Fry\u2019s Food Stores Top Fuel Dragster, Phoenix native Travis Shumake will return to Firebird Motorsports Park in a completely different, but far more personal machine. For the first time in his professional career, the NHRA Top Fuel driver will compete behind the wheel of a Funny Car during the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark plugs, March 20-22, 2026. The second-generation professional drag racer will be driving Dave Benjamin\u2019s Nostalgia Funny Car in a special hometown appearance backed by longtime partner Fry\u2019s Food Stores.
\u00a0
Shumake, who is licensed in several NHRA categories, will make the debut just weeks before the NHRA is set to honor his late father, Tripp Shumake, during the 1,000th Funny Car race at the upcoming NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, an event Shumake has not ruled out attending.<\/p>\n
The elder Shumake\u2019s 1981 Southern Nationals victory behind the wheel of Johnny Loper\u2019s Phoenix-based \u201cLittle Hoss\u201d Funny Car marked the 100th Funny Car win in NHRA history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually started out trying to follow my dad tire tracks into a Funny Car when I began my racing career,\u201d explained Shumake. \u201cThe twists and turns of this off-season put me in a position where I can get back to my roots and celebrate my dad\u2019s milestone in a very direct way. I am excited to get back into competition and back to literally the roots of the Funny Car class.\u201d
\u00a0
Shumake\u2019s Fry\u2019s Food Stores Top Fuel Dragster will also be on display at Firebird Motorsports Park as part of an interactive activation with Kroger Health\u2019s Team Tune Up program, a partnership that will continue beyond the Phoenix race weekend.
\u00a0
The opportunity to drive a Funny Car at his home track follows a breakout performance at the 2025 NHRA Arizona Nationals, where Shumake captured the top speed of the event with a 330.88-mph run during eliminations against reigning 2-time Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta.<\/p>\n
\u201cFry\u2019s Food Stores is committed to uplifting our local communities and the athletes who inspire them,\u201d said Christina Groth, Fry\u2019s Food Stores Vice President of Merchandising. \u201cTravis embodies determination and hometown pride, and we\u2019re thrilled to support his first Funny Car appearance as he honors a remarkable family milestone in NHRA history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The appearance is made possible through the continued support of Fry\u2019s Food Stores, which has partnered with Shumake for multiple seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cFry\u2019s has always believed in the hometown story,\u201d Shumake said. \u201cThey understand how special Phoenix is to me and why honoring my dad here matters so much. They have been an amazing supporter of my drag racing career and the sport in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Legends Nitro Series kicks off qualifying Friday at 2:30 p.m. Fans can watch coverage on FS1 throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n
The post Travis Shumake Returns to Arizona Nationals in Nostalgia Funny Car<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One year after setting the top speed of eliminations at 330.88 mph in his Fry\u2019s Food Stores Top Fuel Dragster, Phoenix native Travis Shumake will return to Firebird Motorsports Park in a completely different, but far more personal machine. For the first time in his professional career, the NHRA Top Fuel driver will compete behind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}