NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship has different players mobilized every year. Often it’s a foregone conclusion by the fourth or fifth of the six playoff races as to who’s got the goods; this year there are only a few racers who appear ready to claim their titles before the finale in Pomona, which would be very, very unusual.
The six races in the upcoming Countdown will be held on a variety of drag strips from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Illinois (abutting St. Louis, MO), Dallas, Las Vegas and Pomona. Weather is always an issue, particularly at Maple Grove Raceway outside Reading PA, where it’s been known to rain torrentially, to be hot, sticky, cold, what have you! The same could hold true for Charlotte, NC and St Louis, but NHRA crew chiefs know they’ll likely find cooler and more temperate conditions for the final two contests of the year.
Points accrued during the 12 races that hosted Mission Foods’ #2Fast2Tasty Challenges are applied now that the Countdown is on and points have been reset. Nobody in the series excelled in those Saturday races more than Top Fuel No. 1 seed Justin Ashley, who earned wins in six of the bonus races. That gave the New York native an extra 21 points, 10 more than four time champ Steve Torrence, giving Ashley 30 points more than the Texan, as he looks to earn his first world title.
The balance of the Top Fuel playoff field includes Indy winner Antron Brown, lagging by 44 points, with Leah Pruett needing 58 points and reigning champ Brittany Force lagging by 68 points. Doug Kalitta, Mike Salinas, Austin Prock, Clay Millican, Josh Hart, Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher round out this very intense Top Fuel battle. In Indy last weekend, the field acknowledged this is Ashley’s championship to win or lose. His Mike Green and Tommy DeLago-led crew are firing on all cylinders.
Ron Capps, looking to secure a fourth Funny Car title and third in a row, ended the regular season on a massive high, racing a Don “The Snake” tribute Toyota GR Supra race car and successfully completing all nine laps over four days of competition to earn the blue winner’s hat at the most prestigious race of the 21 contests on the docket. Capps’ Mission Foods accomplishments on a variety of Saturdays earned him the title in that specialty series that concluded at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, just as the “regular” season finished at the Brownsburg track close to many teams’ headquarters, including Ron Capps Motorsports.
Capps opens the playoffs with 24 points in hand over former teammate Matt Hagan, driving Tony Stewart Racing’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (2,114 to 2,090). Robert Hight and his John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS are third, 38 points behind Capps, while Bob Tasca III is 48 points back in his Ford Mustang. With a new combination at the start of the season, 2018 Funny Car champ J.R. Todd had to learn the car, and it appears his Kalitta Motorsports team is peaking at the right time with their Toyota GR Supra, just 56 points back after a final round result in Indy. Fellow Toyota driver Alexis DeJoria is sixth, followed by the Mustangs of Chad Green and Tim Wilkerson, John Force’s Camaro SS, Cruz Pedregon’s Charger and Alex Laughlin in Jim Dunn’s Flopper, lagging by 124 points.
Former Pro Stock Rookie of the Year Dallas Glenn dominated the regular season in his KB Titan Camaro with four victories, earning eight bonus points in the Mission Challenge along the way, which is five more than Matt Hartford in second place. That gives Glenn 25 points in hand (2,108 to 2,083). Hartford has the momentum in hand after his Indy win and feels confident he can compete for the title. Erica Enders, the reigning Pro Stock champ for a fifth time, is in third place, 32 points behind Glenn, while her Elite Motorsports teammate Troy Coughlin Jr. is 41 points back. Deric Kramer rounds out the top five, trailing Glenn by 52 points, and the balance of the playoff field includes Aaron Stanfield, Greg Anderson, Kyle Koretsky, Camrie Caruso, Cristian Cuadra, Bo Butner, Fernando Cuadra Jr, rookie Jerry Tucker, Mason and Chris McGaha, along with Fernando Cuadra.
Gaige Herrera, plucked by Vance & Hines to ride their Suzuki Hayabusa this season couldn’t have had a more successful regular season, earning six national event wins and four Mission Foods victories, giving the second year rider 29 points in hand to Buell rider Matt Smith, seeking his seventh title on two wheels. Hector Arana Jr. is 37 points behind Herrera on his Buell, followed by Herrera’s teammate Eddie Krawiec and Angie Smith rounding out the top five. The balance of the playoff field includes Steve Johnson (Suzuki), rookie Chase Van Sant on a Suzuki, Marc Ingwersen’s Buell, Jianna Evaristo’s Suzuki, Kelly Clontz on her Suzuki, Ryan Oehler’s Buell and Chris Bostick on a Suzuki, a full 133 points behind Herrera.
The Countdown to the Championship begins with the 38th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway next weekend. That’s when the talk stops and the action begins as drivers and riders contend for the champion’s white hat, the prestige and, of course the money that comes with a championship.
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