What can we learn from the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing series pass through the west?
We have little more than a week to unpack the Western Swing just completed at Seattle last weekend. Those three races in Denver, Sonoma and the Pacific Northwest gave us no reason to doubt the health of drag racing’s prominent Camping World Drag Racing series, despite a lack of entries for some of the contests. It costs a lot to do those three races, so teams and drivers have to be invested in championships in order to make the tough trip.
Now there are just three races before NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series begins its Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoffs that decide Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle championships. Next weekend all classes compete at Topeka, KS, followed by Brainerd, MN and the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Of course everyone is gunning for the Wally trophies from the U.S. Nationals; it’s the biggest race of the year.
So what did we learn at Denver, Sonoma, Seattle? Legacy teams and drivers aren’t over the hill is the first lesson: Tony Schumacher scored his 86th national event win in Seattle; Robert Hight bookended the Western Swing by being victorious at both Denver and Seattle; Matt Smith knows how to win on a Buell at Denver and go fast on a Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle; Bob Tasca III can bring victory for Ford Motor Co. in Sonoma; Joey Gladstone can win one of these things at Sonoma after being runner-up [too] many times in Pro Stock Motorcycle and, finally, Troy Coughlin Jr. carries on his family’s Pro Stock legacy, taking out the class of his class (and teammate) Erica Enders in Seattle to earn his first national event title.
Tony Schumacher’s season has been uneven at best, driving full-time again after being on the sidelines since the U.S. Army declined to continue its sponsorship. Schumacher did a partial schedule in 2020 and 2021, always with the intent of returning to full-time competition, which he did at the start of this year’s campaign, thanks to the Maynard Family that started as an associate sponsor with Don Schumacher Racing last year. Earning his fifth Seattle win in that event’s 33rd running, Schumacher turned his topsy-turvy season around with one run down the 1,000-foot drag strip.
Schumacher beat Brittany Force, who intended to bring home the Wally for the race’s sponsor, who happens to be one of her sponsors, as well: Flav-R-Pac. She went up in smoke in the finals; he pedaled through cylinder loss. It’s been a very inconsistent season for Schumacher and Todd Okuhara, his crew chief. And they’re still on the outside of the Countdown standings, lagging Clay Millican (another driver suffering from inconsistency) by ten points. So the question remains: is this a sea change for Joe, Cathi and the Maynard Family Racing team or will there be more of the same?
Troy Coughlin Jr., too, has had a 2022 Pro Stock season that’s been anything but consistent. He’s been out in the first round more times than he’d like to admit, but during the Western Swing, he started turning the corner. Coughlin’s team, Elite Motorsports has won nine of 11 Pro Stock races run to date, either with Erica Enders, with Aaron Stanfield and now, with Coughlin. In his fourth career final round, Coughlin Jr. finally made the moves to earn the win in stifling conditions. The win allowed Coughlin Jr. to leapfrog both Denver winner Matt Hartford and rookie sensation Camrie Caruso to assume seventh place in the standings.
Coughlin’s margin of victory over four-time champ Enders was a scant 0.0001 seconds. “TJ (Coughlin) really wanted it,” team owner Richard Freeman said. “He struggled the first part of the year, but it’s coming around and we’re proud of him. With six of its drivers qualified in the top 10 going into race day last Sunday, it was inevitable that Elite would put at least one racer into the semifinals and finals. Even with a festival of fouls in the second round, both Coughlin Jr. and Enders survived, as did Stanfield – and reigning titleholder Greg Anderson from KB Racing, who is still looking for his 100th class win.
Coughlin Jr. was almost speechless after beating Enders. “It’s absolutely humbling. I’ve been surrounded by some wonderful people with great equipment, so we are definitely really blessed,” he said. “I can’t wait to keep going – this win is so special! We’re lucky to be here – I’ll never forget this,” Coughlin exclaimed. Growing up in a racing family, TJ understands how this game works: “To have that many good runs in the heat is extremely difficult and impressive to do,” he said giving credit to his team. “The car is phenomenal and a blast to drive, and I’m the luckiest kid in the pits. When the morale is up the car just starts to work. This team is gaining momentum and I’m excited to get to Topeka.” But he gets to enjoy this first win for one more week!
Meanwhile, teammate Enders is having a ridiculous season, having won six of 11 races held in Pro Stock. She has three No. 1 qualifiers, earned the top speed at six different races, been in eight finals and set lowest ET six times. Her win/loss record is an amazing 30-5 for a win percentage of .857. When she won in Sonoma for the first time, Enders was over the moon about the accomplishment, after putting five-time champ Greg Anderson on the trailer as he waits, hopes for his 100th class victory: “This is huge for us,” she crowed in the Winner’s Circle. “This [track] has evaded us for 18 years and every season this is one race I wanted to win. We were finally able to capitalize on it and my guys worked so hard. Being able to win for the first time here is truly something I’ll never forget.”
Another competitor who won’t forget winning on the Western Swing is Joey Gladstone. Riding a Suzuki Hayabusa for the second year with Reed Motorsports, Gladstone has shown his worth since the start of the season in Gainesville. After a pair of final round appearances, he finally broke through – on a hole shot win – over Eddie Krawiec of Vance & Hines, riding similar machinery. In fact, V&H produce the bikes that Gladstone rides, but while Krawiec had a better speed and time, he couldn’t top Gladstone on the tree and the rider finally got the victory he’s been working towards so intently. Not only did he win the final round, Gladstone’s second round victory over Katie Sullivan placed him securely in the 200mph Club: 6.735 at 202.18 mph.
“I’ve been waiting for this day since I was 12 years old, when I decided I wanted to race Pro Stock Motorcycles,” Gladstone admitted. “To finally be here to do it and race the best in the world, this means everything to me. I just had to do my job out there. It’s been quite the road, and this means a lot and more than you could ever imagine. I’ve spent my whole life trying to get here and this is just the start for us,” he threatened. Gladstone and teammate Cory Reed, the latter still recovering from a very nasty broken leg at Charlotte last fall, have managed to place Gladstone’s bike two points behind three-time champ Angelle Sampey of V&H, who currently leads the standings.
The Countdown to the Championship is only three races away, now that the Western Swing is done, but only two racers have qualified, leaving space for 38 more. With six victories, two runner-up results and three No. 1 qualifiers, Robert Hight and his John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS is the first Funny Car racer in the playoffs; with her similar results, Enders has the only other nod, also racing a Chevy Camaro in Pro Stock. From the first pull at Pomona in February, straight through to Seattle, Hight and his crew chiefs, Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, have found the sweet spot, just as the Elite Motorsports team has with Enders.
While Hight didn’t get the win at Sonoma – that went to Bob Tasca III and his Ford Mustang, with tuning duties relegated to Mike Neff and Jon Shaffer – he’s been a monster just about everywhere else. Prock, who has a way of either getting it completely right or ending up with a blown-up race engine has, with Cunningham, been on his game all year in working towards Hight’s fourth Funny Car title. “Clinching a spot in the Countdown this far out, it’s big, especially after last year where we struggled all season long. They,” referring to Prock and Cunningham, “came up with good combination and it’s been working for us, but there’s still more in it,” Hight proclaimed. “We’ve capitalized when we’ve needed to; we just need to stay steady to go into the Countdown No. 1. That could be big!”
And so the winners are savoring their victories for another week while every other competitor is searching for ways to be the winners next week in Kansas, at Brainerd, Indy and through the Countdown.
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