{"id":103059,"date":"2025-10-23T17:48:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=103059"},"modified":"2025-10-23T17:48:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:48:57","slug":"mcculloch-to-ashleys-tf-team-pro-mod-races-at-norwalk-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/mcculloch-to-ashleys-tf-team-pro-mod-races-at-norwalk-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"McCulloch to Ashley\u2019s TF team; Pro Mod races at Norwalk in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jason McCulloch has joined Justin Ashley\u2019s team – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a couple of weeks between NHRA’s Texas FallNationals and next weekend\u2019s Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals, the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series landscape is taking time to change. Over the past week we\u2019ve seen Mike Green leave SCAG Racing to go to Elite Motorsport\u2019s new team, leaving 2011 championship Funny Car crew chief Tommy DeLago in charge of Justin Ashley\u2019s entry. Ashley, of course, currently holds second place in the standings with this upcoming event that begins on Halloween and the season-closer two weekends later on the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.<\/p>\n

Whle Ashley\u2019s team was reconnecting following Green\u2019s departure and DeLago\u2019s ascension, other changes were being made. Today, Thursday, October 23 we learned that Jason McCulloch, the second generation crew chief who had been working with Ron Douglas at Josh Hart Racing, has received his boss\u2019 okay to go to Ashley\u2019s team as co-crew chief with DeLago. McCulloch\u2019s departure is immediate and he\u2019s joining the championship contenders as they attempt to halt Doug Kalitta\u2019s opportunity to secure a second Top Fuel title in the space of two seasons.<\/p>\n

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Justin Ashley is currently second in the standings – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ashley has worked hard to get to this point, and having Tommy DeLago and Jason McCulloch working together to help him attain a first Top Fuel championship certainly makes sense. \u201cThis is a great move for Jason, who I have the utmost respect for,\u201d Josh Hart said. \u201cJason is a major talent, and this is a great opportunity for him to win another championship with Justin Ashley and the SCAG Top Fuel team.\u201d As is typical with Hart, \u201cI have been working on a variety of fronts to make sure all my people are taken care of, with all the changes that have happened with my operation,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n

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Tommy DeLago now has Jason McCulloch to help make Justin Ashley a Top Fuel champion – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The change is a definite value-adder for Ashley and his SCAG Racing team. \u201cHe brings another valuable layer of knowledge, expertise and championship winning experience to our program,\u201d Ashley reminded. \u201cWe are grateful to Josh for his blessing and look forward to watching Tommy and Jason work closely together.\u201d With McCulloch\u2019s departure, that leaves Ron Douglas as sole crew chief for these remaining two races before Hart becomes part of the John Force Racing Top Fuel squad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McCulloch joined Hart\u2019s team at the start of this season to give Douglas, a team part-owner, a second set of ears and eyes. He\u2019s been part of race- and championship-winning drag racing teams throughout his career, working alongside such stellar crew chiefs as Alan Johnson and powerhouse teams like John Force Racing, Kalitta Motorsports and Capco Racing. McCulloch has also been crew chief for several independent teams during his NHRA tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cJason was a positive addition\u201d to Josh Hart Racing, Hart said. This move has my full blessing and I want to see Jason get another championship. He is one of the brightest guys out here and I appreciate everything he has done for our team this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Revised, 11-race Pro Mod 2026 schedule<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s news on the Pro Mod front as well, as NHRA has taken the opportunity to increase that category\u2019s number of race meetings to 11 from the customary 10 events. For NHRA\u2019s 75th anniversary 2026 season, the Pro Mod class will include a stop at Summit Motorsports Park for the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, and will see this event kick off the class\u2019 \u201cRoad to the Championship\u201d playoffs. After six regular-season races, the five-race playoffs kick off at Summit Motorsports Park the final weekend of June (June 25-28) next year.<\/p>\n

The Ohio track is a favorite for competitors and fans, so marking the start of Pro Mod playoffs at this facility is a natural. Summit Motorsports Park has long been a regular and traditional stop for Pro Mod racing and making this visit the start of the class\u2019 playoffs chase is a natural. \u201cOur fans are more than excited to have Pro Mod back in Norwalk (Ohio) for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals,\u201d said Bill Bader Jr., track owner. \u201cOur NHRA National event is a premier stop on the tour and our fans deserve to see all the star of the NHRA galaxy. I\u2019m pretty excited, too!\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n

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Bill Bader Jr. welcomes Pro Mod back to the Norwalk track – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next week\u2019s race on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the close of the current 2025 Pro Mod campaign. It promises to be an epic contest in this class, with Billy Banaka attempting to secure his first Pro Mod world championship; he is chased by Michael Stavrinos and Derek Menholt, who are 11 and 18 points in arrears, respectively; J.R. Geray is 24 points back in fourth place.<\/p>\n

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2026 NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Season Schedule<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

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March 5-8:<\/b> 57th annual NHRA Gatornationals, Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla.<\/p>\n

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March 20-22:<\/b> 41st annual NHRA Arizona Nationals, Firebird Motorsports Park, Phoenix<\/p>\n

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April 24-26:<\/b> 16th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, zMAX Dragway, Charlotte<\/p>\n

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May 1-May 3:<\/b> NHRA Southern Nationals, South Georgia Motorsports Park, Adel, Ga.<\/p>\n

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May 14-17:<\/b> 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance, Route 66 Raceway, Chicago<\/p>\n

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June 12-14:<\/b> 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol Dragway, Bristol, Tenn.<\/p>\n

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Pro Mod Road to the Championship<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

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June 25-28:<\/b> 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Sept. 2-7:<\/b> 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Indianapolis<\/p>\n

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Sept. 25-27:<\/b> TBD<\/p>\n

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Oct. 2-4:<\/b> 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, World Wide Technology Raceway, St. Louis<\/p>\n

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Oct. 29-Nov. 1:<\/b> 26th annual NHRA Nevada Nationals, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a couple of weeks between NHRA’s Texas FallNationals and next weekend\u2019s Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals, the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series landscape is taking time to change.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":103064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[12422,1259,5993,8558,9966,7,1666,11785,2811,4640,12675,73],"class_list":["post-103059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-bill-bader-jr","tag-countdown-to-the-championship","tag-jason-mcculloch","tag-justin-ashley","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-pro-mod","tag-scag-racing","tag-summit-motorsports-park","tag-summit-racing-equipment-nhra-nationals","tag-tommy-delago","tag-top-fuel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Justin-Ashley-launch-Joliet-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-qOf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103059"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103068,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103059\/revisions\/103068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}