NHRA Phoenix Gone After 2023, Plus Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes in the Pits

NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series will say goodbye to racing in the Phoenix, Arizona area next year, likely in February, when it holds its final race at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. The track, once known as Firebird Raceway, contains more than a drag strip for straight-line contests; it has two road courses – Firebird East and West that have been the sites of testing for other forms of motorsport over the years and have held amateur events and hosted racing schools, notably Bob Bondurant’s eponymous classes.

While many had hoped the Arizona Department of Transportation’s plans to construct a new overpass and roadway for its I-10 extension might take a few more years, the department has notified the Wild Horse Pass Development Authority (WHPDA) that it plans to begin reconstruction shortly after the 40th national event at this historic track. “Arizona has been an incredible supporter of the NHRA and Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park for the past four decades, and we are very grateful for this tremendous fan support. We know this final race will be a celebration that NHRA fans are famous for,” said Elizabeth Antone, WHPDA general manager-interim.

The event that NHRA has long called its “Duel in the Desert” has become a fixture of each drag racing season. The track began hosting NHRA in 1985 and has been the site for several historic and record performances, including eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher’s initial 330-mph quarter-mile run in 1999 and his record-setting 2018 pass. In all, Schumacher owns five career victories at this facility, while 16-time Funny Car legend John Force’s eight victories at Phoenix top all drivers in any NHRA Camping World category.

In this year’s penultimate race at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park February 25-27, Matt Hagan reset the Funny Car track record in his Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, running 3.823-seconds at 333.41mph, while Brittany Force’s 2020 Top Fuel record is at 3.643-sec and 3378.92 mph.

“We want to thank Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park and the Gila River community for their dedicated commitment to drag racing,” noted Glen Cromwell, NHRA president. “The NHRA Arizona Nationals have provided NHRA fans countless memories for many years and our race teams, partners and NHRA officials look forward to celebrating the track in 2023, as we close out this chapter in NHRA history.”

NHRA will have other tracks for which is must find replacement circuits, such as the recently closed Atlanta drag strip and the Houston facility that will close its doors, reportedly at the close of the 2022 season. The sanctioning body is focusing on using venues that aren’t currently on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit to fill these three spots. The dates for the 2023 NHRA Arizona Nationals finale on the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park drag strip have not yet been determined.

The 2022 winner in Top Fuel at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, Mike Salinas, surprised many when he rolled to the line for the third race of the year in Gainesville, Fla. with Pep Boys Auto Service nomenclature on his normally black Scrappers rail. The sponsorship from Pep Boys – its first in more than 100 years of operation – will continue at several upcoming events on the tour, including the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway outside Reading, PA, a venue near the company’s Philadelphia headquarters. “We can’t wait to give this partner their first win,” current points leader Salinas said.

There will be personnel changes in the Funny Car ranks after NHRA alights on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week. Veteran Paul Lee, who’s had a difficult start to his 2022 campaign – after beating a “widow-maker” heart attack a few years ago – by failing to qualify at Pomona and being removed from eliminations in the first round in both Phoenix and Gainesville. Lee is sitting out the next race, the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas before going to Houston with a new crew chief working his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.

Lee finished 12th in last year’s points chase with Jim Oberhofer at the helm. He only won seven rounds against 15 failures to be first at the stripe. On his Facebook page, Lee said, “After a disappointing 2021 season and a horrible start to 2022, I felt it was time to make some changes to our team.” Announcing that he would stay back in Southern California, rather than travel the four hours to Vegas, “Starting in Houston, Dustin Heim will assume the crew chief and team leadership roles. We will also have another well-respected person joining the team after his obligations in Vegas.”

Dustin Heim most recently was assisting Rahn Tobler on Ron Capps’ team at Don Schumacher Racing until the 2021 season, when Tobler began a short-lived “retirement” before returning to action sporadically last season and making a full-time return as co-crew chief for Austin Prock at John Force Racing. Heim began his career as a crew man with Doug Herbert, (2003-4) then went to Cruz Pedregon Racing (2004-2009) before joining DSR and initially working with Jack Beckman. He was with DSR from 2009 through the 2020 campaign.

After the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause to two-time Top Fuel winner Terry McMillen’s 20-year relationship with Amalie Motor Oils, the popular driver took a few steps back and worked on his son Cameron’s Jr Dragster team, helping Cam learn about the sport. A budding business relationship with Canadian racer Dan Mercier is bringing McMillen, Mercier and Amalie back to the NHRA’s water boxes for six to eight 2022 races, beginning with the Virginia NHRA Nationals May 13-15. “I am tremendously proud to be associated with Amalie Motor Oil, “Mercier said. “My team and I feel that wearing Amalie’s colors in 2022 is a sign of confidence from the management of this great company.”