Mike Janis is a race car driver from Lancaster, New York. Janis began drag racing in 1978. He won the 2001 and 2004 IHRA Pro Mod World Championships. In 2018, he won the NHRA Pro Mod World Championship. [1]
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world.
John Harold Force is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 155 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR.
Pro stock is a class of drag racing featuring "factory hot rods". The class is often described as "all motor", due to the cars not using any form of forced induction such as turbocharging or supercharging, or other enhancements, like nitrous oxide, along with regulations governing the modifications allowed to the engines and the types of bodies used.
Brainerd International Raceway is a road course, and dragstrip racing complex northwest of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota. The complex has a 0.25 mi (0.40 km) dragstrip, and overlapping 2.500 mi (4.023 km) and 3.100 mi (4.989 km) road courses. The complex also includes a kart track. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Association's Lucas Oil Nationals. It is a popular racetrack for the Trans Am Series. The spectator seating capacity of the circuit is 20,000.
Erica Lee Enders is an American drag racing driver. Enders has won five championships in the Pro Stock class of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and she continues to drive full-time in that class.
Pro Modified, also known as Pro Mod, is a class or division in the sport of drag racing used in the NHRA and FIA (quarter-mile) and the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) (eighth-mile). It is similar to the Top Doorslammer class as defined by the ANDRA.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is an American motorsports driver, competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Division. He is a six-time world champion, winning the Pro Stock title five times and the Super Gas championship. He currently drives the Magneti Marelli offered by Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Dart for Elite Motorsports as a teammate to three-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders. He is the son of Jeg Coughlin Sr., the founder of Jegs High Performance.
Warren Johnson is a retired American NHRA drag racing driver. He is the driver with the 2nd most wins in pro stock with 97 career wins, six world championships and earned himself the nickname "The Professor of Pro Stock."
Lee Alan Shepherd was an American drag racing driver from Arlington, Texas.
Scotty Cannon is an innovator of drag racing in the Pro Modified class in the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA). He has won 28 International Hot Rod Association Pro Modified finals, competing in 45. Cannon has the most pro-modified victories as the Bristol Motor Speedway, with four.
William Tyler Jenkins, nicknamed "Grumpy" or "The Grump", was an engine builder and drag racer. Between 1965 and 1975, he won a total of thirteen NHRA events. Most of these wins were won with a four-speed manual transmission. In 1972 he recorded 250 straight passes without missing a shift.
Maple Grove Raceway (MGR) is a quarter-mile dragstrip located near Mohnton, Pennsylvania, just outside Reading. It opened in 1962 as a 1/5-mile dragstrip. It was eventually lengthened to its current quarter-mile length in 1964. The track has been sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association for most of its existence. It has hosted an NHRA national event since 1985. Uni-Select Auto Plus came aboard as the Nationals sponsor in 2011. Other key events include the American Drag Racing League, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the Geezers Reunion at The Grove, the Super Chevy Show, Mopar Action, Fun Ford Weekend and the NHRA Pennsylvania Dutch Classic.
ESPN SpeedWorld is a former television series broadcast on ESPN from 1979–2006. The program that was based primarily based around NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Formula One, NHRA, and IHRA. The theme music is based on the piano interlude from "18th Avenue " by Cat Stevens.
JEGS High Performance is the second largest mail order company of automotive equipment in the United States. It sells performance auto parts, aftermarket accessories, tools, and race apparel. JEGS was founded by Jeg Coughlin Sr. in 1960 as a small speed shop. Since its inception, the business has remained family owned and operated. Over 55 years, JEGS has expanded to include a 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m2) warehouse, two mail order locations, retail store & Team JEGS Race Team. The company has approximately 350 employees.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). It is the top competition series of the NHRA, comprising competition in four classes, including Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Leah Christine Pruett is an American drag racer, currently driving an NHRA Top Fuel dragster for Tony Stewart Racing.
Tanner Shane Gray is an American professional racing driver who has competed in drag racing and stock car racing. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 15 Toyota Tundra for TRICON Garage. Gray is the youngest professional driver to win a national event in NHRA history, and the youngest driver to win an NHRA season championship.
Melanie Troxel is a drag racer who has raced in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Modified. She is the only woman to have won races in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. She was named Individual Sportswoman of the Year 2006 by the Women's Sports Foundation after becoming the first drive to appear in five consecutive championship finals that year.