“ The sport of drag racing is my whole life . I ’ ve got all my memories from drag racing .” - TOMMY JOHNSON JR .

DAVE VS . GOLIATH : Dave Gallegos , driver of the “ Nitro Clown ” Fuel Altered , prepares for eliminations at Nitro Chaos after qualifying No . 2 behind Scott Palmer ’ s “ big show ” NHRA Top Fuel dragster . Gallegos also runs the car in Funny Car trim in the Funny Car Chaos series .

BRACKET ACE : Booneville , Indiana ’ s Josh Luedke had a great outing at Dragway 42 in late July while competing in the Ace Ohio Events Summit Summer Slam triple $ 20K . It took 10 rounds of eliminations before Luedke put his 2019 Danny Nelson-built dragster in the winner ’ s circle at the conclusion of Saturday ’ s main event .

THE CHAMP IS BACK : Melanie Salemi , who won the 2018 Rumble Wars championship at Summit Motorsports Park , signs hero cards for fans at Night Under Fire before racing her supercharged “ Purple Reign ” ‘ 68 Firebird Pro Mod .

CHEESIN ’: NHRA Funny Car superstars Ron Capps and John Force flash a smile for the camera at Night Under Fire , a match racing event where Force has been booked in for decades . Force and Capps are the two winningest Funny Car drivers in NHRA history , with over 200 combined victories .

NITRO ADDICT : Missouri ’ s Dusty Hunt prepares for the next Nitro Chaos qualifying session with his “ Fuelish Addiction ” nitro Funny Car . Hunt also owns and races a Top Fuel Hydro drag boat also known as Fuelish Addiction .

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOE MCHUGH , KRISTA ZIVCIC AND VAN ABERNETHY

48 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 171