On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast powered by Speedmaster, Tony Pedregon and Kevin McKenna join host Brian Lohnes to talk all things off season. The trio get into the day to day shop routine of the teams, the leadership aspects necessary to succeed in this vital part of the year, and how the good teams can make themselves great.   Following that they talk about some of the larger stories of the late 2024 and early 2025 time frame, which teams can come out swinging, who is thrashing just to make the first event, and how the drivers can let us more into their particular off-season habits as well.    It's a cool and informative discussion about the ways that drag racers thwart Old Man Winter, chase horsepower, and fill their war wagons before the season kicks off in a few short weeks for many.    Beat the cold with some good old hot stove drag racing chat!

On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast powered by Speedmaster, host Brian Lohnes takes a deep dive into a myriad of news, headlines, topics, rumors, and speculation for the 2025 season.    After a holiday break, this show is designed to get you back into the right frame of mind to stay on top of all the stuff that is happening and is yet to come for the 2025 NHRA season. A breakdown of many news announcements that flooded the airwaves at the end of 2024 is followed by updates to the side of insider team news you won't hear anywhere else. Teams moving, personnel moving, cars coming, cars going. Who's racing a full season? Who's season may be in jeopardy, and a whole lot more.    This one sets the table for the true start of 2025 with the drivers, tuners, personalities, and newsmakers that will be a part of the NHRA Insider universe!

It's the final NHRA Insider Podcast powered by Speedmaster of 2024 and your favorite insiders, Tony Pedregon and Brian Lohnes are taking you out in style. After a short monologue the two hit some of the high points of 2024 including the people and the races that really impacted the series. They begin to peek forward into 2025 and talk about who can be contending for championships, who needs to rebound from a hard season, and if the chances are good for back to back titlists in any of the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series categories.    A quick one to end the year but a good one to end the year on as well. 

On this episode of the NHRA Insider powered by Speedmaster, host Brian Lohnes is joined by Spencer Hyde and Jack Beckman. He also breaks down an incredible week of news announcements made by teams and racers during the annual PRI show.    Spencer Hyde was one of the newsmakers at the show. Named the new driver of Jim Head's nitro funny car,  the pro mod stand out talks about how this all came together, how earnest he is in his racing endeavors the work that lies ahead for him in a nitro funny car and how much he is looking forward to the entire experience.   Jack Beckman was named the driver of the John Force Peak Chevrolet Camaro for the 2025 season at PRI. Following up on a highly successful eight race stint in the car which ended with a win at the In-N-Out Burger Finals, he talks about the nature of the team, the success they had, and how much it means to become a permanent fixture on the NHRA Mission Foods drag racing series tour again. He may still be fixing elevators today, but looking forward that doesn't seem to be the case!   This one's a thrill a minute! 

A pair of champions join host Brian Lohnes on this week's episode of the NHRA Insider powered by Speedmaster. For Brian Corradi it was the grind of a top fuel season being rewarded with an epic and hard fought finish at the In-N-Out Burger Finals in Pomona and for Jordan Lazic it was the realization of a lifelong drag racing dream to hoist a Congruity HR NHRA Pro Mod championship trophy in Las Vegas.    These two conversations are interesting. Lots of talk about team, about dedication, about how communication and quality of work has to match in order to rise to this level of success. Two fascinating chats with guys who not only can wrench, but who can drive as well. 

Thomas Prock and Gaige Herrera join host Brian Lohnes on this episode of the NHRA Insider powered by Speedmaster. The two who garnered championship honors in their respective roles and categories bring us inside their evolution in the sport, the work it took to earn their titles, and how 2025 is already shaping up before them.   For Thomas Prock, the Assistant Crew Chief on the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro at John Force Racing, 2024 was the culmination of years of work in professional racing. Prock takes us through his time at NASCAR, how he applies his learnings there to drag racing, the team environment, working and learning with his father Jimmy Prock, and the approach his team took to dominate Funny Car in 2024. It's a great conversation.    Gaige Herrera grabbed his second consecutive championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle and by doing so, firmly cemented himself in the history books of the 2024 season. Herrera talks about the season, the win streak he ran to 11 races, the challenge of competition, and how the category is poised to get even more difficult in 2025.    The inside stories you get nowhere else, here, on the Insider!

On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast Powered by Speedmaster, Greg Anderson and Terry Vance join host Brian Lohnes to talk all things NHRA.    For Greg Anderson,his 6th championship may be the most satisfying and meaningful yet. Winning on the last run of the season under the lights at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Drag Strip, beating a young talent that had gotten the better of him earlier in the year, and doing what many thought impossible hasn't totally sunk in yet. Anderson takes us through his magical weekend to close the season.    Terry Vance is an NHRA legend, a Drag Racing Hall of Famer to be, one of the Top 50 competitors in NHRA history, and someone who lives and breathes the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. In this candid conversation, he talks about where the class is, what is needed to make it grow, his opinions on motorcycle drag racing, its future, and how the table is being set for future growth.    Two great chats with two drag racing legends. Enjoy!

On this monologue-style episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast powered by Speedmaster, host Brian Lohnes takes you inside the incredible In-N-Out Burger Finals and all of the stories that helped to make it one of the greatest events in the history of drag racing. From the championship stories, the rookie debuts, the upsets, the insane emergency disruption, and a whole lot more.    This is not just a cut and dried look at the event, it's insider stories and knowledge that you won't find anywhere else. Every one of the top line stories was the culmination of many factors, most that started weeks before any of the teams actually rolled into the gates in Pomona.    A race nearly without compare on performance, drama, excitement, heartbreak, and elation, the Finals were epic. Enjoy this in-depth breakdown of the madness. 

On this final pre-race episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast Powered by Speedmaster season, host Brian Lohnes is joined by Tony Pedregon of the NHRAonFOX and Kevin McKenna of NHRA's National Dragster to talk about the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals coming up this weekend.    The three compare notes on the championship leaders, their path to potential glory, the pitfalls they need to avoid, and any of the concerns they have about the way this final race of the season will be shaping up for them. Lohnes talks about a raft of news broken at the SEMA show, excitement for 2025, and the overall picture of the season leading into this much hyped finals.    Press play and get pumped up for the final race of the year and an event where champions will be crowned, likely in dramatic fashion. 

On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast powered by Speedmaster, Rookie of the Year Candidate Richard Gadson and NHRAonFOX Analyst Tony Pedregon join host Brian Lohnes to talk about the last two races of the season, this weekend's upcoming battle in Las Vegas, and Gadson's rookie season in the NHRA.   Richard Gadson takes us inside some really interesting elements of his first full NHRA drag racing season, the highs and the lows. He talks about his approach, the team dynamic at Vance and Hines, the challenges of the evolving rules of Pro Stock Motorcycle, and why he'd be a good representative of the NHRA as Rookie of the Year. An impressive conversation with an impressive racer.    Tony Pedregon's fired up for what's to come at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. Incredible conditions await huge fields of nitro cars and large numbers of pro stockers and motorcycles. There are potential records on the line and certainly huge implications for the championships so many racers are trying to lock up tight.    Tune in and enjoy this pre-Ford Performance Nationals episode!

On this episode of the NHRA Insider Podcast powered by Speedmaster, Funny Car points leader Austin Prock and NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate Ida Zetterstrom join host Brian Lohnes to talk about their respective seasons at drag racing's pinnacle. The two youthful stars have different goals this year but they are both chasing the dreams they have held since childhood.    For Austin Prock, the odds-on favorite for the 2024 NHRA Funny Car championship, it's been a season of incredible highs and some abrupt lows like the one that stopped his Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro in Dallas. Prock talks about the year, about the mistake that ended his race day, some interesting stories about his very early career, and how the team plans to attack over the next two events of 2024. A fascinating chat about goals, attitude, performance, and how it all ties together.    Rookie NHRA Top Fuel racer Ida Zetterstrom burst onto the scene with an upset holeshot win against Steve Torrence in Brainerd and has been making waves ever since. A tireless spokeswoman for the NHRA, her career, and the sport of drag racing globally, she walks us through her breakneck schedule that has carried her back and forth to Europe all season long. The ups and downs of her rookie experience are front and center as well.    All this and more on this episode of the NHRA Insider powered by Speedmaster!