NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It might be Scott Palmer’s most aggressive season to date in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series in terms of participation, but a controlled approach is currently the Top Fuel veteran’s main objective early in the 2017 season.

While that means round wins haven’t come in bunches yet, Palmer has been impressed with the continuous improvement in his 10,000-horsepower Marck Industries/Voodoo II dragster in what will be his first full Top Fuel season. It also has Palmer hopeful for a big finish and more personal-best performances, including a possible landmark for his team at this weekend’s 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

“If it’s cool we’re going to try to run 3.70s there,” said Palmer, whose career-best run of 3.819 came earlier this year in Las Vegas. “It’s a controlled reckless right now. You see everybody out there running fast and you want to go for it, but we have to set our limits so we don’t overdo it right now. We’ve been a little conservative early and it’s probably cost us, but it’s still early. We’re being smart and trying to learn something. It would be hard for things to be going much better right now.”

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car) Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also last year’s winners of the event that will be televised on FOX Sports 1, including finals coverage starting at 6:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 7. It marks the seventh of 24 events during a season where Palmer plans to run 24 events for the first time. 

It’s an exciting step for Palmer, who is currently 10th in the Top Fuel points standings. But being able to concentrate on 24 Top Fuel events is actually less stressful for Palmer, who raced 19 times a year ago and also ran nine drag boat races with Tommy Thompson Motorsports. Their relationship has continued in 2017, with Palmer only concentrating on drag racing this season.

“With what Tommy has given us, the most challenging part now is our goals are higher,” Palmer said. “We’re running more races so now we want to be in the top 10, and being in the (Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship) is now a possibility. It’s going to be tough for sure to do that, but we’re moving our goals up. We’re focused solely on the car and every race we’ve been learning more and more. To be consistent and step up your program, you have to make clean runs.”

That consistency has greatly improved, with Palmer also getting assistance from the Lagana Racing and Torrence Racing teams. The assistance has helped Palmer move forward in a class featuring a number of standouts, including three-time 2017 winner and points leader Leah Pritchett, eight-time champion Tony Schumacher, back-to-back world champ Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, Brittany Force and Charlotte winner Steve Torrence. Palmer, though, is thrilled with how the season has started and sees the greatest potential in his Top Fuel career.

“I think we can win if the conditions are right and that’s the first time I’ve been able to say that since I’ve had a Top Fuel car,” Palmer said. “We have a great car and set a career-best MPH last weekend in Charlotte and everything looked good. That proves we can push it a little harder. We’ll just keep working on it, but this is probably the most rewarding year we’ve had. Hopefully we can keep making improvements and be at our best by Indy and the Countdown.”

Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:15 and 6:45 p.m. on Friday, May 5 and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, May 6, at 1:15 and 3:45 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 7.

To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, call (800) 884-NHRA (6472) or visit www.NHRA.com/tickets. Kids 12 and under are free in general admission areas with a paid adult. To honor the Salute to First Responders, military and first responders can save 20 percent on general admission tickets at the gate.