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Harris), 2025 King of the South Small-Tire Invitational( Larry Larson), and Pro 275 at No Mercy 16( Lyle Barnett), just to list a few of the highlights.
Despite the success, Hart knows the work isn’ t finished yet.
“ We’ ve still got more to learn and more to improve,” says Hart.“ That’ s what keeps it exciting. The racers are going to keep pushing, and we’ re going to keep making the stuff they need to win.” – CRAIG COOK
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Raul Torres
When Raul Torres and his wife, Jennifer, purchased South Georgia Motorsports Park in 2023, they took on the responsibility of pushing one of the Southeast’ s most recognizable drag racing facilities into its next era.
A longtime racer himself, Torres arrived at SGMP with an understanding of the sport from both sides. Under his leadership, the Adel, Georgia, facility has maintained its reputation as the home of marquee events like Lights Out and No Mercy while expanding its schedule, strengthening local programs, and investing heavily in facility improvements. Torres also stepped up when racers needed a home, creating the Spring Break Ford Nationals following the conclusion of the NMRA series and later Muscle Car Mayhem for former NMCA competitors.
Torres’ biggest accomplishment came earlier this year when SGMP hosted the return of the NHRA Southern Nationals. Years of relationship building, successful divisional events, and continued investment earned SGMP a spot on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule. The result spoke for itself as SGMP’ s first NHRA national event earned rave reviews and delivered back-toback sold-out crowds on both Saturday and Sunday. In three years, Raul Torres transformed an already beloved racetrack into an NHRA national event destination, proving what passionate, racer-focused track ownership can accomplish.
– MADELYN ZARON
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Rickie Jones
Rickie Jones has built one of the most versatile résumés in modern doorslammer racing. The son of RJ Race Cars and Quarter-Max founder Rick Jones, Rickie grew up immersed in chassis design, fabrication, and race car development. He also proved himself behind the wheel, including an NHRA Pro Stock victory at Pomona in 2013, before increasingly shifting his focus toward tuning and crew chief duties.
That move produced major results. Jones played an integral role in Erica Enders’ back-to-back NHRA Pro Stock world championships in 2014 and 2015, helping guide her to 15 victories during those two seasons.
More recently, Jones has successfully transferred that knowledge to Pro Mod. He tuned rookie Peter Norton’ s centrifugally supercharged Hurricane Motorsports’ 69 Camaro through the 2025-26 Drag Illustrated Winter Series, where Norton won the Pro Mod championship and Rookie of the Year honors before advancing to the final round of the $ 150,000 World Series of Pro Mod.
That success came as Jones entered another chapter of his career. In January 2026, Pro Line Racing added him to its already deep roster of tuners, citing his combination of championship-level tuning experience and chassis expertise.
Jones understands a race car from more angles than most – as a driver, chassis builder, and tuner. That breadth of experience has allowed him to remain relevant across multiple eras and categories, from naturally aspirated Pro Stock to today’ s 3.50-second Pro Mod world. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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Frank Hawley
Frank Hawley first got his start behind the wheel of a race car. However, his greatest legacy has been built through the thousands of racers who followed him and also found their place in the driver’ s seat.
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Hawley is most notably known for driving the legendary“ Chi- Town Hustler,” teaming up with tuner Austin Coil to capture back-to-back NHRA Funny Car championships in 1982 and 1983. Throughout his career, he earned nine NHRA national event victories in Funny Car and Top Fuel, was named one of NHRA’ s 50 greatest drivers, and earned a seat in both the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.
In 1985, he founded what became the world’ s first dedicated drag racing school. More than four decades later, Frank Hawley’ s Drag Racing School has trained over 25,000 students, ranging from newcomers to professional racers and eventual champions like Robert Hight and Erica Enders. Frank Hawley’ s Drag Racing School still remains active and as busy as ever.
While Hawley may have hopped out of the driver’ s seat for some time now, every racer he has taught and continues to teach creates a ripple effect in the sport of drag racing, only pushing it further to new heights. – MADELYN ZARON
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Royce Miller
Royce Miller’ s influence on drag racing is best measured by what Maryland International Raceway has become under his leadership. The Miller family took over the Budds Creek, Maryland, facility in 1989, and Royce has spent more than three decades developing MIR from what he once described as looking like a“ deserted airport” into one of the country’ s premier independently operated dragstrips.
Along the way, MIR became home to major events spanning virtually every corner of the sport, from IHRA national events and motorcycle racing to the World Cup Finals: Import vs. Domestic, one of drag racing’ s largest and most internationally significant independent races. Miller briefly sold the facility to IRG in 2015, remained as general manager, then reacquired it in 2021.
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The ultimate validation arrived in 2026, when MIR hosted the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals – the first NHRA national event ever contested in Maryland. The debut included a Saturday sellout and national television coverage on FOX.
“ The NHRA national event is the pinnacle of our sport,” Miller told
Drag IllustrateD before the race.“ To be able to have navigated over the 38 years that I’ ve been here to get to this point, personally, it’ s very satisfying.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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Jason Johnson
Jason Johnson has become one of drag racing’ s most enthusiastic modern-day benefactors, using Johnson’ s Horsepowered Garage to support teams, drivers, and events across professional drag racing.
JHG’ s relationship with Elite Motorsports began in 2022 and quickly expanded into primary sponsorship roles with champions like Erica Enders and Bo Butner, then Aaron Stanfield. That support has continued to grow, with JHG maintaining a prominent presence across Elite’ s Pro Stock operation and, in 2026, appearing on Tony Stewart’ s new Elite Motorsports Top Fuel entry.
Johnson has also invested heavily in Tony Stewart Racing Nitro. JHG first backed Matt Hagan’ s Funny Car in 2023, then expanded to a multi-year program with multiple primary races. The relationship has since extended to TSR’ s Top Fuel dragster with Leah Pruett.
Johnson’ s support has gone beyond individual teams. JHG signed on as presenting sponsor of the inaugural 2024 PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park, helping launch the independent Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock event with more than $ 1.3 million in purse money.
For Johnson, the common thread is a genuine enthusiasm for cars and racing. JHG itself was created around his extensive collection of classic cars, hot rods,
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