91°µÍø

After a thrilling and successful 2024 season, 91°µÍø President Glen Cromwell sat down to discuss highlights of the year, including a new series sponsorship from Mission Foods, incredible performance on the racetrack, and new initiatives that are helping shape the future of the sport. 

It has been a fantastic season for the NHRA. Between thrilling competition, record-setting runs, and increased fan engagement, what stands out to you most about 2024?

2024 truly was an epic season. It all starts with our incredible fans — the backbone of NHRA Drag Racing. We saw sellouts at several events, including Phoenix, Epping, Reading, and even a packed house in St. Louis on Saturday. Their unwavering support for the sport, the racers, and the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is a testament to the passion surrounding NHRA.

On track, the competition was electric. We had remarkable performances across the board, led by Austin Prock, who delivered a dominating year with record runs, including an incredible 341-mph pass to cap off the season. The Pro Stock championship was another nail-biter, coming down to the last round in Pomona. In Top Fuel, Antron Brown's late-season charge to claim the championship was phenomenal. Pro Stock Motorcycle had Gaige Herrera and Matt Smith duking it out all season, delivering one of the most competitive rivalries in recent years.

The Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty program also deserves a special mention. Bringing back previous semifinalists to face off on Saturdays helped grow rivalries and gave fans extra excitement during the weekend. It’s a great example of NHRA’s ability to innovate and engage.

With such incredible on-track action and fan involvement, would you say the sport has fully rebounded from the challenges of the pandemic years?

Absolutely, we’ve made great strides, and the signs are clear that NHRA is in a very healthy place. Racer participation is up across all categories, which is a critical measure of the sport's vitality. Beyond the Professional classes, we’re seeing growth in the Lucas Oil Series and Jr. Drag Racing events. For example, the Eastern Conference Finals in Bristol experienced double-digit growth. That’s a reflection of the strong foundation and interest in NHRA Drag Racing at all levels.

We’ve also introduced new classes like Holley EFI Factory X, Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle, and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock, which show our commitment to expanding the sport. Larger fields of nitro cars are another positive indicator. Every aspect of our sport — from participation to fan engagement — feels like it’s firing on all cylinders heading into 2025.

Speaking of fan engagement, tell us about the launch of PlayNHRA and how it has been received.

PlayNHRA has been a fantastic addition to our portfolio. Launched in June in Bristol, this fantasy gaming platform mirrors what other major sports leagues are doing to engage with fans. It caters to a younger audience and brings an added layer of excitement to race weekends. Fans are now invested not just in watching but in predicting outcomes and competing with friends. Early metrics show strong participation, and we’ll have more detailed reports soon to help guide future improvements.

Mission Foods had a major role this year as the series sponsor. How did their partnership impact the season?

Mission Foods has been an incredible partner. This was their first year as the title sponsor, building on the success of their #2Fast2Tasty program in 2023, and Mr. Gonzalez [CEO of Mission Foods] and his team felt they could step up all the way to the series sponsorship level. Their activation efforts have been outstanding, whether through branding at events, in-store promotions featuring our superstars, or fan engagement at the midway. 

They’ve raised the bar for what a title sponsor can bring to NHRA, and their household name recognition opens doors for other non-endemic sponsors to see the value in supporting our sport.

The NHRA has been lauded for its policy for female racers regarding pregancy. Can you discuss its development and significance?

Our new policy is a groundbreaking initiative developed in collaboration with racers like Leah Pruett and other female drivers. It allows drivers to step away from competition without jeopardizing their sponsorships or team commitments, ensuring continuity for their teams and providing flexibility for their families. It’s a testament to NHRA’s commitment to diversity and innovation, aligning with our legacy as a pioneer in motorsports inclusivity.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and other motorsports organizations are now looking at our model as a blueprint. It reflects NHRA’s willingness to listen to our stakeholders and make meaningful changes that benefit everyone.

John Force’s accident in Richmond led to Jack Beckman stepping in as a replacement driver. What did that say about NHRA’s driver replacement policy?

The driver replacement policy worked as intended, showcasing its value. After John’s unfortunate accident, Jack Beckman stepped into the seat and did an outstanding job, both on and off the track. While no one can truly fill John Force’s shoes, Jack brought tremendous professionalism and skill, creating compelling storylines and maintaining JFR’s competitiveness.

It also highlighted NHRA’s ability to adapt and deliver compelling narratives, which contributed to our strong TV ratings. Fans tuned in not only for the competition but to see if Jack could pull off a championship for JFR. It’s moments like these that make NHRA so unique.

How is NHRA continuing to foster new talent and diversity in the sport?

Developing new stars is crucial, and we’re proud of the young talent making waves. Tony Stewart, Richard Gadson, and Jasmine Salinas had great rookie seasons. Austin Prock is now a household name in Top Fuel, and drivers like Maddi Gordon and Julie Nataas represent the future of the sport.

Diversity remains a cornerstone of NHRA’s identity. Our female drivers continue to break barriers, and we’re investing in third-party agencies to amplify their visibility and secure sponsorship opportunities. This isn’t just about representation — it’s about creating role models who inspire the next generation.

We also tried something new this year at the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield.

The reunion was a great success this year, using a different model with Blake Bowser and his staff at Famoso [Dragstrip] taking over the responsibilities. He did a wonderful job and had a great crowd and great participation. I’m excited for Blake in the future, and obviously, his success is the success to the NHRA museum, and we want to continue that.

We also just had a tremendous PRI Show in Indianapolis with lots of great announcements for 2025 and beyond.

We'll be kicking off a lot of the initiatives in 2025, and the PRI Show was able to showcase a lot of the excitement we have building. Obviously one of the biggest announcements for us was laying out some of the plans for our 75th anniversary celebration in 2026, which we will start kicking off in 2025.

One of the really great ideas is for a replica ring that we will give away as a premium in 2025 to people who are buying tickets for the 75h anniversary year in 2026. They’re really great-looking rings and are replicas of the rings that we award to our season champions. We’ll also be offering the chance for ticket buyers to purchase commemorative tickets that are presented inside a nice box with a photo of our founder, Wally Parks. I think they’ll become valuable keepsakes and remembrances for people about our 2026 season.

I also was very excited, for two reasons, that we announced that NAPA Auto Parts has become our Official Auto Parts Store. One, it's great to have an Official Auto Parts Store and, second, the potential activation abilities in the market are similar to what Mission has done for us, specifically doing promotions to drive ticket sales.

We also announced a new concept, a showcase event, that will bring our stars to some new markets, starting with South Georgia Motorsports Park next October.

We’re calling it the Peach State NHRA Showcase of Champions, which will provide what you could call a sample-size national event for our member tracks that do not or cannot host a national event. It will bring our superstars to new markets and provide our member tracks with a special event. A lot of people have asked if we’ll expand this beyond 2025 into more new tracks, and the answer is I think we'll take a crawl, walk, run approach with it, but we're excited about the concept.

The other part that people forget is in addition to being able to host the event in new markets, it also gives us a chance to promote the existing national event in that region, so this October, we can be promoting the 2026 Gainesville event.

There was a lot of buzz about the decision to turn the fall Charlotte event into a four-wide event, an historic moment for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

There were a number of reasons that we’ve decided to experiment with that, and I’m a big believer that what best showcases a championship team is the ability to win under different disciplines, much like other sanctioning bodies run on ovals and road courses that challenge the teams.

Because drag racing is a straight-line sport, we challenge them with all-concrete tracks, others that are a mix of surfaces, different elevations, different weather, and now, in the Countdown, a different format in four-wide. Everything we do is to try to move the sport forward, and this is one of them, and if it doesn't work and we don't see a boost, then we’ll look at changing things.

Another exciting announcement for us was moving the GETTRX Pro Stock Callout to Norwalk. The Bader family does a tremendous job promoting that event, and it’s annually one of the biggest showcases for our sport, so it’s fitting that we have the Pro Stock Callout there. We’ve had great success with the Top Fuel Callout in Gainesville, the Funny Car Callout in Indy, and the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Callout in Sonoma, and those will remain at those events in 2026.

The other great announcement we made was Red Line Oil sponsoring our Crew of the Year award, which is a wonderful acknowledgment of the hard work that the individual crews do all year. A lot of the time, the driver and the crew chiefs get the headlines, and this is a way for us to salute an entire crew or crews for their great work over the season.

I was also very excited that a number of our teams made major announcements during the PRI Show. Josh Hart announced his new alliance with Snap-on, and Old World announced that they’re going to continue to back John Force Racing with Jack Beckman. It was also exciting to hear that Chad Green is stepping up and adding a second Funny Car next year with his son, Hunter, and Blake Alexander and that Jim Head has a new driver in Spencer Hyde, who is moving over from the Pro Mod ranks to join the Mission Foods Series.

What does the future look like for NHRA?

The future is bright. We’re heading back to key markets like Phoenix and Richmond with renewed energy and innovation. We’re also committed to exploring fan-friendly initiatives. Our diversity, fan access, and willingness to experiment — whether through programs like #2Fast2Tasty or new class formats — ensure that NHRA remains relevant and exciting.

As we approach 2026 and the 75th anniversary of NHRA, we’re poised for even greater achievements. The sport is in a strong position, and I couldn’t be more optimistic about what lies ahead.