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ation and the Bandimere family’ s Bandimere Speedway before he became one of the most visible faces of Red Line Oil in drag racing. As brand manager, Beatty helped expand Red Line’ s footprint through partnerships with individual racers and teams, racetracks, major events, and entire sanctioning bodies. That included Red Line becoming the title partner of the PDRA beginning in 2024, along with major involvement in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series and numerous other programs.
After retiring from Red Line earlier in 2026, Beatty didn’ t stay away from the sport for long. In July, he joined the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series leadership team, bringing a distinctly different skill set to a group led largely by lifelong racers. Series owner Tommy Franklin specifically pointed to Beatty’ s different perspective as a reason for bringing him aboard.
Beatty has described himself plainly in an interview with CompetitionPlus. com’ s Bobby Bennett:“ I’ m not [ a racer ]. I’ m a businessman. I’ m a visionary, so I naturally look at things differently.” His focus now is helping the PDRA reach new fans and corporate partners. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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DI
Christie Meyer Johnson
Christie Meyer Johnson grew up at one of drag racing’ s most iconic facilities. Nowadays, she’ s helping increase the potential for what racing events can become. Johnson was just two years old when her father, prominent Funny Car driver Billy Meyer, opened Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. Years later, she has taken on a leadership role as co-owner and general manager, carrying forward the legacy of the world’ s first purpose-built, fully concrete drag racing facility.
With Johnson at the helm of operations, Texas Motorplex continues to look beyond traditional racing event models. She helped develop the Stampede of Speed, which has transformed the NHRA
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Texas FallNationals into a multiday destination experience that combines championship drag racing, concerts, food, and fan- and family-friendly entertainment events with distinct Texas traditions. The unique approach has helped introduce the sport to new audiences while bolstering one of NHRA’ s longest-running events to new heights.
In 2026, the momentum is carried forward as the Motorplex hosts numerous national events during NHRA’ s 75th anniversary season. It was also recently announced that the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod will move to the Texas Motorplex in 2027, with Johnson and her team working alongside event promoters to grow one of Pro Mod’ s premier racing events.
When Meyer Johnson inherited an incredibly important motorsports legacy, she decided to not stand still, but to run with it. Now, she’ s continuing to find new ways to make drag racing better, the audience broader, and the entertainment more relevant for the upcoming generations. – MADELYN ZARON
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DI
John Sears
When fans show up to the dragstrip, there is an implied expectation that they will see close, sideby-side, fair racing. What many of those same fans don’ t see is the team behind the scenes that allows that to happen. And at many races throughout the country, the man leading that team is renowned Tech Director John Sears.
Sears has long been the Director of Competition at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, and previously at the DI Winter Series. He also oversees rules for the hugely popular Lil’ Gangstas class, the Radial Outlaws Racing Series( including Donald Long’ s Lights Out and No Mercy events), the Yellowbullet. com Nationals at Cecil County Dragway, Corey Stamper’ s King of the South Small-Tire Invitational, and Justin Swanstrom’ s SwanFest, along with a host of other events throughout the year.
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“ The mission I was given was to create the closest racing and tightest fields in drag racing on any level,” Sears says regarding the WSOPM.“ That was the stated goal from the onset, and that’ s exactly what we achieved: the tightest 32-car fields in the history of our sport.”
It’ s an approach Sears takes to every event he works at, spending countless hours meticulously analyzing rules from other events and series, working closely with racers and crew chiefs, and reviewing data from across the industry to achieve the most balanced racing possible.
“ We pore over incremental times, scale sheets, and feedback from racers, all with the goal of creating an environment where racers from all points of the globe, with a variety of combinations, can come believing they have a shot at winning.” – CRAIG COOK
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DI
Rollie Miller
Rollie Miller has spent much of his career making races happen from behind the scenes. Now, he’ s responsible for one of the most important racetracks in drag racing.
In November 2025, Miller was named general manager of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, putting him in charge of the dayto-day operation of the historic facility that hosts the NHRA U. S. Nationals, along with NASCAR, Formula Drift, and a packed schedule of additional events.
The position is the latest step in a career built around race operations. Miller worked with the NHRA Safety Safari before joining ProMedia in 2013, where he served as general manager and national event director for the NMRA and NMCA through 2024. In that role, he oversaw nearly every aspect of the organizations, from event planning, staffing, and contracts to competition committees and class rules for schedules that routinely included 12-15 national events per season.
When NMCA and NMRA ceased operations, Miller joined FM3 Performance Marketing as
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senior event manager, handling drag racing operations for events including the Holley Ford Festival, Roadkill Nights, and HOT ROD Power Tour.
That range of experience makes Miller particularly well suited for Indianapolis Raceway Park. He understands the sport from the track surface outward – competitors, officials, schedules, facilities, and fans – and now has the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of one of drag racing’ s most historic venues. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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Doug Cook
Doug Cook has turned Motion Raceworks from a garage startup into one of the most aggressive growth stories in the performance aftermarket. Founded in 2015 with roughly $ 3,000, a welder, and a handful of tools, Motion Raceworks has expanded into a substantial manufacturing operation producing fabricated and CNC-machined components for racers across numerous disciplines. Along the way, Cook has grown the company through acquisitions, bringing TBM Brakes, RIFE Sensors, and R & R Oil Pump Systems( now FluidWorks) under the Motion umbrella.
The biggest move came in 2025, when Motion acquired Mark Williams Enterprises, the legendary Colorado driveline manufacturer founded in 1964. Rather than absorb and erase the brand, Cook committed to keeping Mark Williams operating from its longtime Colorado facility while retaining its workforce and Made-in-USA manufacturing capabilities. The acquisition added axles, third members, driveshafts, brakes, and other driveline components to an already broad portfolio while giving Motion additional manufacturing capacity for future development.
Cook has also made racing support a major part of the company’ s identity. Motion Raceworks and its associated brands back racers and events throughout the sport, most notably Stevie“ Fast” Jackson
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