NHRA President Glen Cromwell Has Reasons to Be Excited About Series' Future

• NHRA president Glen Cromwell says that he can't remember being more excited at the start of a season than he is right now.

• Cromwell hopes that the best is yet to come for the drag racing series, and TV might be the game changer.

• The hope inside the NHRA offices is that the next TV deal will help teams and their partner race tracks.

Glen Cromwell, who has been with the NHRA for 25 years and has served as the sanctioning body's fifth president since 2018, likes to use the word "excited" to talk about where the series is in 2023.

"I think things are in a really good place," Cromwell said. "I've been here for 25 years, and this is probably the most excited I've been at the start of a season. I give credit to the NHRA racing community.

"Coming out of COVID in 2021, like everybody, we worked together from the race teams and the racetracks, our partners, our fans, our employees—we all kind of came together as a stronger racing community. By that happening, it's really put the sport in position of strength. We had a good year in 2022, and the momentum continues to keep moving upward in 2023."

One reason for that optimism comes from what would have been considered a truly unlikely source just a few short years ago. Three-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart came into the series as a team owner last year, and this year he's doubling down by running for the season championship in the Top Alcohol Dragster class.

Stewart is clearly lending more than just his name to the series. He's walking the walk.

"Tony has been great," Cromwell said. "He's been a great ambassador in this sport. You know, I think he's still learning. But what makes him so special is his intensity to learn something new. He wants to make sure he's the best, whether it's on the track, whether it's as a businessman, whether it's a race team owner—he is a perfectionist, and you can't ask for anything better to have someone like that involved in your sport."

Then there's new partners at Endeavor Streaming and Mission Foods, who are adding to the mix. Endeavor has added its expertise to upgrading the NHRA.tv livestreaming experience. Mission Foods is sponsoring a Saturday of race weekend #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge where semifinalists from the previous race weekend will race against each other in a rematch for all professional categories with some more money and championship points at stake for the teams.

"It's designed to put the best of the best face to face, week in and week out," Cromwell says of the Challenge. "If you look at our sport, sometimes our top athletes, our top stars may race head to head on a Sunday and not race that person again for weeks or months, or maybe never. It's a redemption-style race on Saturday, and it lets them have a second chance