NHRA Welcomes Clinton Snead as Director of Engineering

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – December 6, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – NHRA officials announced today that Clinton Snead has been named the new NHRA Director of Engineering.

Snead returns to NHRA from Toyota Racing Development, where he served as senior engineer. He worked with Top Fuel and Funny Car teams to improve on-track performance, as well as developing and maintaining the NHRA tuning program and engine simulation programs for the nitro teams.

Snead previously worked as associate engineer at NHRA from 2013-2015. He returns to the Technical Department and will help lead the team that oversees on-track competition and safety.

In his new role at NHRA, Clinton will be the primary engineer for NHRA and will be responsible for supervising and mentoring the Tech Department staff, including Joey Gorman (Top Fuel & Funny Car Specialist), Josh Hamming (Top Fuel & Funny Car Specialist) and Jake Petrusky (Associate Engineer).

“I’m most excited to make a positive impact on the sport of drag racing,” Snead said. “Being able to contribute to something I’ve loved my entire life is truly special. It’s an honor to work with the talented NHRA Tech Department team, as well as the teams, manufacturers and racers who bring so much passion to the sport.”

Snead will report to NHRA Vice President of Competition Ned Walliser and will be based out of NHRA’s Indianapolis office. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Motorsports Engineering from the Purdue School of Engineering & Technology, IUPUI.

“We are thrilled to welcome Clinton back to the NHRA and especially in this important role as Director of Engineering,” Walliser said. “Clinton has an incredible knowledge and love of the sport, and has a great working relationship with our race teams and manufacturers. He is a great addition to our Tech Department staff, and we look forward to great things from him and our entire team in 2025.”

For more information on NHRA, including the 2025 schedule, please visit www.nhra.com.

About NHRA

NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 110 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Source: National Hot Rod Association

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