Josh Hart will never shrink from a challenge. The entrepreneur who, along with his wife Brittanie, built Burnyzz Speed Shop into a car restoration, speed shop, and horsepower powerhouse is looking at the upcoming Winternationals, the third race of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, as another opportunity for success. The first two races of the season have been impacted by rain in Florida and high heat in Arizona. The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team is looking to get to southern California and use the info they have picked up to turn on win lights and move up in the early season point standings.
“Mother Nature wasn’t very kind to any of the teams in Florida for the Gatornationals, and then last weekend in Arizona, it was our first hot race of the season. The good news is we tried three different tune-ups and came away with one we think will keep us on track moving forward,” said Hart. “The Winternationals is an amazing event. There is a lot of history here and we want to really get after it starting this Friday in qualifying.”
This will be Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team’s fourth Winternationals. In 2022, he raced to the quarterfinals from the No. 9 qualifier spot. The previous two events have seen Hart exit early in close races with Steve and Billy Torrence.
Since his rookie debut in 2021, Hart has picked up two Top Fuel national event wins as well as the Pep Boys Top Fuel Allstar Challenge victory in 2023. For the highly competitive driver and team owner, having wins and winning consistently are two different motivators. Over the off-season, Hart added crew chief Jason McCulloch and Top Fuel veteran Joe Barlam to work with long-time crew chief Ron Douglas. The trio of Top Fuel experts are working to improve on a championship-contending performance tune-up.
“I feel like I have three of the smartest guys in Top Fuel working on our team,” said Hart. “This class is so competitive that everything must be working perfectly. Between Ron, Jason and Joe I am confident we are going to keep improving.”
Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will get two qualifying runs on Friday, March 28 and then on Saturday, March 29 they will get two more chances to position themselves in the 16-dragster field for race day on Sunday. Eliminations for the NHRA Winternationals will begin at 11 a.m. local time. Fans can tune in to the FS1 broadcast from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. ET. For more information on the event schedule or to purchase tickets, visit www.nhra.com.
This story was originally published on March 27, 2025. 
