Caruso As Second Female Pro Stock Winner Highlights NHRA Arizona event, while Lee and Hancock Headline the Bama Outlaws Radial Outlaw Racing Series in Alabama
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) completed its second national event of the 2023 season, the Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park this past weekend.
The big news of the weekend was Camrie Caruso picking up her first victory in Pro Stock in her second season in the class.
The 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year, Caruso becomes the second female driver to win the class since its inception behind five-time champion Erica Enders, who carded the first victory for a female driver in the class back in 2012.
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Caruso was joined in the winner’s circle in Arizona by Top Fuel winner Justin Ashley and Funny Car Robert Hight. For Ashley, who picked up a trio of national event wins and a top five points finish in 2022, his sixth class win came with victories over three class champions and the season-opening Gatornationals winner Mike Salinas in the final round.
Funny Car winner Hight, who entered the 2023 season with 62 career wins and a trio of world championships, got to the final round by knocking off John Force, Bob Tasca III, and Chad Green to stage up with 2022 season champion Ron Capps.
Hight, who finished second in points to Capps in 2022, turned the tables and got the win when Capps smoked the tires early in the run.
The Arizona Nationals would be the second-straight national event with a sell-out Saturday crowd for the NHRA in 2023, and sadly this could mark the final NHRA event for the track.
On the Eastern side of the US, the third stop on the 2023 Radial Outlaw Racing Series was made at the Bama Outlaws event at Alabama International Dragway.
The headlining Radial Versus The World finals pitted Bryan Markiewicz against Jason Lee, and a great side-by-side battle ensued with Lee getting to the finish line first with a 3.56 at 206.89 mph to the competitive 3.60 at 199.82 mph from Markiewicz.
The Limited Drag Radial class would be an all-nitrous final with DJ McCain versus Jamie Hancock, and McCain’s bid for a second-straight win ended with a red-light start, giving Hancock the win.
McCain would rebound for the win in the popular X275 class, Jason Collins picked up the win in the Pro 275 class, and Kyla Hubbard grabbed her first win in the Ultra Street class.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Caruso Family Racing and the Radial Outlaw Racing Series.