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ney Corp. opened its doors, the Lafayette, Indiana, shop remains both relevant and accessible to teams across different series. Recent projects include new or updated chassis for the teams of Daniel Wilkerson, Chad Green, Buddy Hull, and Lex Joon. McKinney Corp. recently built a custom Top Alcohol Funny Car, piloted by Shane Westerfield for Take 2 Motorsports, that made its debut at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona earlier this year.
At 73 years old, McKinney has seen many brands come and go in drag racing, but seeing the sport continue to grow only strengthens his company’ s position in the industry. While technology and performance are everchanging, McKinney will continue to do what he does best, which is building race cars that racers trust when both performance and safety matter the most. – MADELYN ZARON
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DI
The Salemi Family
Drag racing is so often a family business, and a shining example of that is the Salemi family. Brothers Jon and Jim, Jon’ s wife Melanie, and son Evan Salemi, along with Jim’ s son Lucas, work together to field one of the most consistently solid programs in PDRA Pro Boost history while also providing the equipment and knowledge for other racers to excel as well.
Jon, through Resolution Racing Services, has become one of the sport’ s most accomplished independent tuners and consultants. His résumé includes major wins and records with a wide range of customers, including back-to-back World Series of Pro Mod victories with Derek Ward in 2024 and Steve King in 2025.
Jim, owner of G-Force Race Cars, supplies the other half of that equation. His shop has built some of the most successful doorslammers in recent history, including Ward’ s WSOPM-winning’ 68 Firebird, Gene Pilot’ s“ Savage” Corvette driven by King, and Paolo Giust’ s
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“ Black Betty” Camaro, which became one of the quickest radial cars in the world.
Melanie ties the operation together both on and off the track. She handles the front office at G-Force while remaining a perennial threat in PDRA Pro Boost and independent Pro Mod competition. She became the first woman to win in PDRA Pro Boost in 2015 and has since accumulated victories, No. 1 qualifiers, and record-setting performances.
Now another generation is taking on larger roles. Evan, Jon’ s son, grew up working on the family car and has developed into a respected young tuner with his own customer base while continuing to work alongside Jon and Jim. Jim’ s son, Lucas, is also a key member of the family race team.
Individually, each fills a different role. Collectively, the Salemis have created a brain trust capable of designing, building, preparing, tuning and racing some of the quickest Pro Mods in the world. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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DI
Justin Elkes
For Justin Elkes, his introduction to drag racing came through the form of bracket racing outings in South Florida alongside his stepfather. After high school, Elkes went on to study automotive technology and mechanical engineering at Florida Atlantic University, where a college professor connected him to Wilson Manifolds. There, he progressed from machining and porting intake manifolds to cocrew chief of the company’ s IHRA Pro Stock operation with Matt Hartford behind the wheel.
The program went on to capture three ADRL Extreme Pro Stock championships, and soon after, Elkes’ career expanded to some of drag racing’ s highest levels. He worked with KB Racing, joined Al-Anabi Racing’ s Pro Extreme team that produced the class’ s first-ever 3.50-second run and two championships, and then later became the youngest crew chief in NHRA Pro Stock while leading Gray Motorsports’ multi-car effort.
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Elkes’ expertise in electronics and data acquisition eventually turned into the foundation for Modern Racing, which he has successfully developed into a full-service motorsports operation offering wiring, fabrication, electronics, tuning, and more out of Mooresville, North Carolina. His trajectory continues to move upward as Elkes and Modern Racing are now involved in a high-level Pro Modified partnership alongside Elite Motorsports, with Aaron Stanfield behind the wheel for the rest of the 2026 season.
While race cars become more and more technologically advanced, Elkes’ ability to understand and navigate those complexities makes him an extremely valuable asset in the drag racing industry. – MADELYN ZARON
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Jason Terrell
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Jason Terrell has built his place in drag racing through equal parts craftsmanship, competition, and conviction. More than a decade ago, Terrell and Brad Schnieders founded Tin Soldier Race Cars out of a small Northern Kentucky garage. Today, the company has evolved into a full-service chassis and components operation responsible for record-setting race cars, advanced suspension products, and some of the sport’ s most recognizable builds. In 2025, Tin Soldier took another major step forward with its acquisition of longtime fabrication and components manufacturer Racecraft Inc.
Terrell remains a racer at heart. Behind the wheel of the unmistakable 1979 Chevrolet Malibu known as“ Charlie Brown,” he has won major no-prep races and captured the 2024 Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
But Terrell’ s impact increasingly extends beyond race cars. His Christian faith has become an important part of his leadership within motorsports. He was a featured speaker at the 2025 PRI Show Prayer Breakfast and organized the inaugural World Series of Pro Mod Prayer Breakfast in 2026, creating another
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opportunity for racers to come together around faith and fellowship.
With Tin Soldier expanding, his racing program evolving, and his platform for faith growing, Terrell is building something bigger than race wins. Instead, he’ s using his influence to strengthen the community around the sport. – MADELYN ZARON
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Steve Morris
The first five-second pass in HOT ROD Drag Week history came out of a machine shop in Muskegon, Michigan. When Tom Bailey ran 5.998 at more than 250 mph on the final day of Drag Week 2019, sealing his fourth title, the power came from a 526-cubic-inch all-billet V8 Steve Morris had just introduced as the SMX – finished roughly two weeks before the event started. Morris rode along as Bailey’ s co-pilot all week, watching his own engine survive the street miles it was built for.
That is the case for Morris in a sentence: he builds engines that make Pro Mod power and then drive home. Steve Morris Engines produces fewer than 100 full-custom turbocharged and supercharged combinations a year, and its flagships are pieces Morris designed and machines in house. The SMX is an all-billet, fully water-jacketed big-block-based V8 rated beyond 4,500 horsepower.
He races what he sells, and he races it well. Morris’ twin-turbocharged“ Boostmaster” wagon sat second quickest after the opening day of Sick Week 2025 with a 6.678, won the Unlimited class at Drop the Hammer Midwest in 2025, and in 2026 took the Heavy Metal win at Sick Summer with a 6.7150-second, 203.890-mph five-day average – second quickest of the entire event, behind only Dave Schroeder’ s record-setting nitrous Corvette.
It is a family operation on the road, too. Val Morris won Modified at Sick Week 2026 with a 7.1510 average at 199.568 mph, and son Kyle, a 2024 DI 30 Under 30 honoree, had built and tuned more than 150 engines by age 23.
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER, RICK BELDEN, LUKE NIEUWHOF |