The first 14 races of the 2024 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series flew by from March through September like, well, a straight-line race and here we are with only six left to contest in a 20-event season. The six-race Countdown to the Championship moves ever more swiftly to its finish line, with three races in a row, starting this weekend with the 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals on Maple Grove Raceway’s dragstrip outside Reading, PA.
Now that the Countdown’s contestants have been formalized, it’s their job to see just how close to the front of the standings they can get before it’s all over in mid-November during the In-N-Out Burger Finals on the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Will all of the championships come down to the wire? They didn’t last year as first-year Vance & Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3 rider Gaige Herrera had his first title in hand before the first lap was turned in Pomona.
Herrera was the No. 1 seed last year and repeats in 2024. He’s joined by reigning Top Fuel champ Doug Kalitta, racing with Kalitta Motorsports, by John Force Racing’s Austin Prock, subbing for company president Robert Hight in the team’s Chevrolet Camaro SS and Dallas Glenn in KB Titan Racing’s Chevy Camaro.
Being the No. 1 seed for the six-race Countdown gives bragging rights from a week ago Monday through to the finals this weekend. It doesn’t always stay the way it starts, does it? After all, Justin Ashley was the class of Top Fuel last season and floundered in the playoffs; Ron Capps, by virtue of his second consecutive U.S. Nationals victory entered the 2023 Countdown as No. 1 in his Toyota GR Supra. Last season Erica Enders entered the Countdown P1; both she and Herrera fought hard to retain their positions and were the only duo to end the Countdown in the first place, the same way they began their six-race hegira.
It’s different this year. Doug Kalitta holds the top line in Top Fuel, but his failure to qualify for the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park flattened his lead to 15 points, as points-and-a-half were on offer at Indy. Ashley, who won the regular season title in MIssion’s #2Fast2Tasty Challenge secured the second position, with Kalitta’s teammate Shawn Langdon in third, 28 points back. There are 12 drivers eligible for the Countdown, with Steve Torrence fourth, followed by Antron Brown, Indy winner Clay Millican, rookie Tony Stewart, eight-time champ Tony Schumacher, Brittany Force, Billy Torrence, Josh Hart and Shawn Reed, the latter 129 points behind Kalitta.
The way the points are set up, results will tell the tale of the tape in this class, and likely every other. With 19 dragsters on the grounds at Maple Grove Raceway, three racers won’t make the cut. While they’re not in the Countdown, racers like Ida Zetterstrom (who looked like the European champion she is at both Brainerd and Indy), Canadian Dan Mercier, Connecticut’s Rit Pustari, Canadian Smax Smith, series regular Jasmine Salinas, Doug Foley and Scott Farley are ready to challenge the 12 playoff contenders.
Doug Kalitta was a winner at this race last year and had a successful test following his team’s Indy missteps: “I was very relieved and I think we got the wheels back underneath this thing,” Kalitta said. “Indy’s a big race and we just struggled to get down the track; it just wasn’t our weekend. Reading,” he reminded, Is a great place to run and I think our car will be happy there.”
With 13 eligible drivers in Funny Car, the landscape is quite tight for the taking. This year’s “regular season” belonged to Austin Prock and his Chevy Camaro SS, holding down the fort for Robert Hight over these past 14 races. Prock has secured the top spot and cemented his space in the lead by earning five wins over the first part of the season and looking like he’s been racing Funny Car his entire, 29-year life. In his mind, he probably has, as he’s worked with John Force Racing as a mechanic when the finances weren’t there for him to be Brittany Force’s Top Fuel teammate.
Earning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge gave Prock a little more breathing room; he’s got 39 points on the Ford Mustang of second place Bob Tasca III, while reigning, four-time champ Matt Hagan has his Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in third (-46), followed by Kalitta Motorsports’ J.R. Todd (-54) and Ron Capps (-71), both driving Toyota GR Supra race cars. John Force is in sixth place, with Fast Jack Beckman taking the reins of his Chevy Camaro SS for the balance of the season, in sixth place, followed by Jim Head Racing’s Blake Alexander, Daniel Wilkerson and Chad Green, the trio all driving Ford Mustangs. Alexis DeJoria’s Toyota GR Supra is tenth (-125), while Cruz Pedregon and Buddy Hull (Jim Dunn Racing) made the Countdown cut in their Chargers and Dave Richards has a Ford Mustang ready to run; he’s 155 points behind Prock.
There are 16 cars on the entry list, with Joe Morrison’s Dodge Charger, Mike Smith’s Ford Mustang and Him Campbell’s Chevy the final three Floppers on the grounds. Who should Prock be fearing? Hagan, of course, knows when to hold and when to fold, as does his crew chief Dickie Venables; Todd’s been running better and better as the season goes along and Alexander has shown he can win in any nitro car, given an opportunity and proper technical guidance, something his team owner has shown decades of talent in achieving. Capps, too, has the ability to come alive in the playoffs and Beckman is exceptionally hungry to show he’s still got it. This race will likely tell a lot about the other five contests.
Robert Hight was last year’s winner at this rural, Mohnton racetrack, nestled among trees yet close to homes. For Prock, “Any race weekend coming off a win gives you momentum, but winning the U.S. Nationals is pretty special for me and my family,” Prock said. Still, the third-generation racer realizes, “We have to perform better than we have all year long butperformance like we did at Indy is what’s going to win this championship.” While he came into Indy with a huge, more than 300-point lead, it’s now down to less than a round win. Prock knows it’s going to be “a dog fight to the finish for sure.” With no idea of future or off-season, Prock expects his biggest threat will be teammate Jack Beckman. “I hope it’s a battle between the two of us!”
In Pro Stock, if Dallas Glenn is feeling cocky, he should put those feelings right back in his pocket, because even though he’s 25 points in hand against Elite Motorsports’ Aaron Stanfield, the latter driver has momentum on his side, having achieved two wins in a single day at Indy, securing victories in both Pro Stock and Factory X, one of the newest classes in NHRA. This Countdown battle is between two teams and that’s the way it is: with 13 eligible racers, and even with a couple who have no affiliation with big teams (Chris and Mason McGaha), this is a KB Titan Racing vs Elite Motorsports battle.
Elite has six drivers in the Countdown: Stanfield in second, Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Troy Coughlin Jr., Jerry Tucker and Cristian Cuadra are all contending for this title, while KB has Glenn, five-time champ Greg Anderson (who won the season-long Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and is 33 behind his teammate), Eric Latino, Deric Kramer and Matt Hartford. Chris McGaha, Mason’s dad, is the final eligible racer in these playoffs and has 144 points to make up on Glenn if he’s going to earn his first title.
Twenty-one racers are en route to Maple Grove Raceway, so the theme of “anything can happen” fits this class perfectly. In what is essentially an all-Chevy class, there are some racers with other nameplates. Cristian Cuadra, for instance uses the Ford Mustang body on his bright yellow car, while Alan Prusinsky and Brandon Miller are both racing Dodge Darts. Derrick Reese is racing a Mustang, too, while the balance of the field includes Chevy runners Camrie Caruso, who returned to competition at Indy following her recuperation from Phoenix injuries incurred last spring, veteran Larry Morgan, Kenny Delco and former Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Cory Reed, who’s showing good pace in his first four-wheel professional competition.
Glenn, testing before heading to Reading as the No. 1 seed for the seconds year in a row 2nd year in a row, “Our team is looking at technical improvements” for these six races, he said. “Any time you’re static in this glass you’re going backwards. There were mistakes on my part in the 2023 countdown. I was out at Reading 1st round and we did have some small parts failures. In order to win,” Glenn acknowledged, “you’ve gotta have luck on your side. We know what needs to be done; we’ve got to go up there and be as aggressive as possible. Stanfield has four wins on season and there are no easy rounds. We’ve got to remember to focus on precision driving and shifting these things well.”
Sadly, the Pro Stock Motorcycle grid is light, with only 14 motorcycles entered for this race. Ten of those entries qualified for the Countdown and, of course, Herrera stands atop that field – but not by much. He and his Vance & Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3 have 20 points on six-time champ Matt Smith and his trusty Buell, which has been running quite well in both his hands, in John Hall’s (fourth -46), Angie Smith in sixth (-71) and JIanna Evaristo in seventh, who is 82 points behind Herrera. Herrera’s teammate, Richard Gadson has his Suzuki Hayabusa3 in third place (-33), while WAR Racing’s Chase Van Sant, the 2023 NHRA Rookie of the Year who earned his first Wally winner’s trophy in Seattle, holds fifth place points (-63).
The balance of the top 10 on two wheels are Hector Arana Jr. in eighth with his family’s Buell, veteran Steve Johnson’s Suzuki (with Monster heads rather than Vance & Hines equipment) in ninth and Chris Bostick tenth. The latter rider, 113 points behind Herrera, rode his Suzuki equipped with a parachute at Indy on Labor Day and forced many to take a second look, particularly after Angie Smith ended up in the sandbox during Indy’s race. So who’s showing up to challenge these ten riders? Marc Ingwersen has his Buell on-site, and Kelly Clontz is riding her V&H Suzuki. 2003 Pro Stock Motorcycle titleholder Geno Scali makes his third start of the year – after Joliet, his home race and Indy, where he rode the same V&H Suzuki piloted earlier in the year by 2010 champ LE Tonglet. Ron Tornow, who gets some support from Matt Smith, is bringing his Buell to this dance.
In his final round at Indy, Herrera had a perfect reaction time, but he realizes that, over the season there’s have gained a step or two. “The whole class has tightened up from last year,” Herrera stated. “We’re going to need great trees and fast runs. We made mistakes at Reading last year,” which led to Matt Smith winning the race. “It’s the one place I haven’t won yet so going into this weekend,” Herrera mused, “I’m trying to be consistent. While the recent rules changes affected us and everyone else, my biggest goal is to maintain consistency and win that championship. I don’t take any of this for granted and realize it’s a Matt Smith Racing versus Vance and Hines Motorsports deal. My biggest goal,” he said, “is to stop Matt from winning his seventh title so Andrew [Hines] can remain tied with him.”
If the four Mission Foods classes are not enough action, this Pep Boys NHRA Nationals features Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car, Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman, Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Top Dragster and Factory Stock Showdown to keep fans on-site enthralled. There’s even Factory X exhibitions on the schedule. Incredibly, it looks like mostly sunny or sunny skies are part of the program for this weekend’s race, which is normally subjected to moisture of some type. Expect highs in the mid-80s and lows around 60 for all days of this race meeting, which means great conditions for racing. Sportsman qualifying starts Thursday morning, while the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series have a single qualifying session on Friday evening starting at 5PM ET and two on Saturday (noon and 2:30 are the start times). Eliminations are set to begin Sunday morning at 10:30AM ET.
Leave a Reply