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path gave him experience across nearly every part of the sanctioning body before he took its top leadership position.
His tenure has included some of NHRA’ s most complicated challenges. When longtime title sponsor Coca-Cola and its Mello Yello brand departed in the pandemic-disrupted 2020 season, NHRA secured Camping World as an immediate replacement. Four years later, Mission Foods became the next title sponsor of the professional series.
COVID itself forced NHRA to dramatically restructure the 2020 season, creating operational and financial challenges throughout the sport. More recently, Cromwell faced another unprecedented situation when persistent rain and unsafe track conditions forced NHRA to completely cancel the 2025 season-ending NHRA Finals at Pomona, leaving three professional championships to be decided by the existing points standings.
Through those disruptions, NHRA has continued to expand its FOX television presence, maintain major corporate partnerships, and enter its 75th anniversary season with Cromwell still at the helm. Between those challenges and the collapse of numerous other racing series in recent years, NHRA’ s stability should not be taken for granted. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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Brian Bohlander
Officially, Brian Bohlander is the Director of Marketing, Sports & Partnerships for Old World Industries( OWI), the parent company of PEAK and BlueDEF, but his involvement in drag racing and the automotive aftermarket industry in general is much bigger than that.
Bohlander joined OWI 26 years ago, and since then, he’ s run programs in every motorsports discipline from auto enthusiasts events to Formula 1, but drag racing has been at the top of the list since the beginning.
“ Over the last two and a half decades, the landscape has changed dramatically,” Bohlander says,
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“ but the responsibility to do the right thing for the brands and for the sport has only become more important.”
He learned the business of drag racing with independent Top Fuel racer TJ Zizzo early on and more recently put PEAK and BlueDEF branding on the iconic John Force Racing entries. More than just writing a check and receiving logo placement, Bohlander fostered a meaningful relationship between OWI and JFR, one that helped keep Force on track for the last decade of his driving career. That partnership also led to some tough decisions following Force’ s devastating crash at Virginia in 2024. Tasked with deciding who would fill Force’ s driver’ s seat, Bohlander worked with then-JFR President Robert Hight to name Jack Beckman as the new driver of the PEAK Camaro.
Bohlander also worked directly with NHRA to reopen Route 66 Raceway, the home track for both Bohlander and OWI, after it laid dormant during the pandemic. The track just outside Chicago held an NHRA Division 3 race in 2022, and with presenting sponsorship from PEAK, the NHRA Route 66 Nationals returned in 2023. With all OWI employees’ names riding on board the PEAK Funny Car, Beckman won the 25th anniversary event in 2025.
Bohlander is also the Chair of SEMA’ s Motorsports Products & Media Council( MPMC), which will host its 30th annual Media Trade Conference in Orlando in 2027. The MPMC advocates for the industry through its Right to Race and Right to Modify initiatives and hosts the MPMC Hall of Fame at the PRI Show. Bohlander also works closely with SEMA board member Bill Bader Jr. and PRI in advocating for the racing industry in general. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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Keith Haney
Oklahoma businessman Keith Haney is a builder. He’ s a builder of businesses, brands, and fan bases. His work building successful car dealerships led to
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his ability to pursue his passion: drag racing. His racing roster started with humble beginnings but now includes a multi-car team, a touring racing series, a racetrack, and an ownership stake in one of the largest teams in professional drag racing.
Noticing a void in the Midwest, Haney launched what is now the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Drag Racing Series presented by J & A Service at San Antonio Raceway in 2017. Eight cars showed up for the $ 10,000-to-win Pro Mod race. In 2026, the MWDRS celebrated its 10th season, paying $ 40,000 an event in Pro Mod on a $ 450 entry – $ 20,000 to win, and $ 750 just to qualify. The class lineup also includes Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and Jr. Dragster, while Top Alcohol Funny Car, Radial vs. the World, and other classes have found a place to race at MWDRS in past seasons. The series also recently announced a two-race Pro Extreme exhibition to test the class’ s viability as a championship category in 2027.
Haney is also a competitor in the MWDRS with his own series of nicknamed nitrous Pro Mods, a centrifugally supercharged Pro Mod driven by Street Outlaws star Shawn“ Murder Nova” Ellington, and a Pro 4.20 entry driven by Bobby Savedra III that will eventually move up to Pro Mod.
Haney’ s business interests in the sport also include co-ownership of Osage Casino Resort Tulsa Raceway Park with Todd Martin, and as of November 2025, a stake in the KB Titan Racing team with fellow partners like Jim Whiteley, Eric Latino, and Greg Anderson, where he’ s specifically focusing on developing its new Pro Mod branch.
But it’ s his work with MWDRS – providing a place for racers to compete, a show for tracks to sell, and an outlet for sponsors to showcase their wares – that Haney considers his crowning contribution to the sport.
“ I think that my greatest accomplishment is that I created a series. And I believe I’ ve always under-promised and over-delivered on everything I’ ve ever done,” Haney says. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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The Pro Line Racing Brain Trust
Pro Line Racing’ s influence on modern doorslammer racing isn’ t the product of
Miller one tuner, engine combination, or dominant customer. It’ s the result of a brain trust that
Petty co-owners Eric Dillard and Doug Patton have deliberately assembled over more than two decades.
Stroud
Dillard, himself a U. S. Nationals Pro Mod winner, handles the business and customer-facing side, while Patton has anchored the engine program since the pair took control of the Georgia-based operation in 2005. Their model has allowed Pro Line to grow from regional engine shop into an international performance operation whose engines and tuners have won across Pro Mod, radial racing, no prep, and numerous other categories. The group has also worked with numerous manufacturers, like ProCharger and Harts Charger, to R & D products in both testing and competitive environments. Then there’ s the tuning roster. Steve Petty helped define turbocharged doorslammer racing alongside Tim Lynch, including the first six-second quarter-mile pass on 10.5W tires, before becoming the cornerstone of Pro Line’ s tuning program. Jamie Miller has won at the highest levels of NHRA Pro Mod and radial racing and tuned Ryan Martin to the first three-second run on a true 28x10.5 tire in 2026. Brandon Stroud tuned three different champions in three different disciplines in 2024: Jason Harris in PDRA Pro Boost, Shawn Ellington in No Prep Kings and Chris Daniel in Radial vs. the World.
Brad Personett brought the perspective of a two-time NHRA Pro Mod winner and former championship contender before becoming a successful tuner. Mikey Rees has guided winning Pro Boost programs, Chase Driskell has become a fixture in Pro Line’ s small-tire cus-
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK BELDEN, LUKE NIEUWHOF, KAITLYN WARD, AUTO IMAGERY |