NHRA’s Las Vegas Race May Determine Some Championships
There are only two races remaining in this year’s NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule of 20 events: this weekend on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and, two weeks later, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona plays host. This pair of Pacific Time contests bring a bit of normalcy to the 2021 tour, as they sandwich the annual SEMA show and, shortly after Pomona, the Los Angeles auto show.
Big races tend to bring out added competition and this weekend should be no different. While the E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod series, which has its finale and celebration this weekend, crowned its latest first-time champion in Jose Gonzalez at Bristol two weeks ago, the four Camping World classes: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle are deep in ongoing competition to claim Countdown to the Championship honors.
The Top Fuel championship battle seems to remind many of 2017, when Brittany Force came from behind to beat Steve Torrence, currently the dragster champ for the third consecutive year. While Torrence’s rail is running, well, like it’s on rails, his challenger has had an up-and-down season, notching No. 1 qualifiers like they’re pieces of Halloween candy – she has 10 top qualifiers in 18 races with a single victory at Heartland Motorsports Park, where Brittany shared the Winner’s Circle with her father, 16-time Funny Car champ John Force. This duo are 73 points apart and have sophomore racer Justin Ashley standing in the wings to take over if either falters; he’s 147 points behind Torrence and has Bristol winner Mike Salinas nipping at his heels with a lag of only three points to Ashley.
You can pretty much count out the balance of Top Fuel’s top 10 – unless something really untoward occurs in Vegas – even with points-and-a-half on offer in Pomona. Billy Torrence is 218 points behind his son, followed by Don Schumacher Racing’s Leah Pruett (-284), Stringer Performance’s Clay Millican (-310), Antron Brown from DSR (-323), Kalitta Motorsports’ Shawn Langdon (-347) and Doug Kalitta (-395). To truly mix things up, all of this Top 10 are entered this weekend for the Dodge//SRT Nationals, in addition to Alex Laughlin, rookie sensation Josh Hart (who just announced crew chief Ron Douglas as a partner in his eponymous team), Tripp Tatum III, Buddy Hull, Troy Buff, Steven Chrisman, Brandon Welch, Rob Passey, Cameron Ferre and James Maroney. That’s 20 Top Fuel entries on the grounds!
The scenery in Funny Car is a bit more complex, as the Flopper division’s battle has seesawed throughout the 18 races held to date. At this particular minute, DSR’s Ron Capps has taken his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the top of the standings, but the 2016 Funny Car champ has only a single point on reigning, three-time teammate and titleholder Matt Hagan, who’s departing Don Schumacher Racing next season to work with Pruett at Tony Stewart Racing, a nascent challenger to the nitro wars. J.R. Todd and his Kalitta Motorsports Toyota Camry are third, 83 points behind Capps, while Cruz Pedregon (Charger) and John Force (Chevrolet Camaro SS) share fourth/fifth places as they’re tied, 101 points back of Capps.
Are 6-11still in contention? Yes, there are 11 in this Countdown, with Jim Dunn’s Charger, driven by Jim Campbell, still eligible for the title, despite being 340 points behind Capps. That’ll come into play during the single Friday and dual Saturday afternoon qualifying sessions and in Sunday’s eliminations this weekend, but early point leader Bob Tasca III has his Ford Mustang sixth (-147), Force’s John Force Racing teammate and company president Robert Hight stands seventh (-153), Bristol winner Alexis DeJoria holds eight place, 171 points behind Capps in her Camry, while Tim Wilkerson is -241 points back, Blake Alexander is -306 in Jim Head’s saddened team, both fielding Mustangs.
There are 19 Funny Car entries for the Vegas shindig, a list that includes the top-11, along with regular competitors Paul Lee (Charger), Terry Haddock’s Mustang, rookie nominee Chad Green in a Mustang, Steven Densham in dad Gary’s Mustang, Jeff Diehl’s Camry, semi-local racer (he’s from Reno, NV) Christopher Morel in a Charger, rookie nominee Bobby Bode III’s Mustang and Tony Jurado in a Mustang. Many of these racers could pull out a win and dampen the day of the top-11 drivers prior to the finale.
Here’s a warning for 98-time Pro Stock winner Greg Anderson and his KB Racing team: look out for Erica Enders. While she didn’t vanquish Anderson in Bristol and left that track 81 points behind the class’ all-time winner, crunch time at the end of each NHRA season is the time when Enders shows her capability to overcome any and all distractions headed her way. When Anderson mounted a 2019 attempt to stymie her by qualifying poorly and having to deal with Enders in the first round in Pomona, Enders prevailed and went on to her third title. So that rearview mirror, Greg Anderson, will be very, very important these next two races.
Rookie nominee and two-time winner Dallas Glenn holds third-place points in his KB Racing Camaro (all the top-11 drivers in Pro Stock compete in Chevrolet Camaro racecars), and is 183 points behind his KB Racing team leader, followed by teammate Kyle Koretsky, (-186), Aaron Stanfield, Enders’ teammate at Elite Motorsports (-216), Chris McGaha (-242), Troy Coughlin Jr. (-246), Mason McGaha (-296), Matt Hartford (-306), Deric Kramer (-342) and Kenny Delco, in 11th place but still considered part of the Countdown to the Championship. He’s 373 points behind Anderson. It’s fair to say that everyone from Chris McGaha in sixth through Delco will be looking to change their finishes for the season but are truly out of the race for a title.
There are 18 entries in Pro Stock, so two will be packing up on Sunday. All of the Countdown contenders are on-site, along with Richie Stevens Jr., Alan Prusiensky (Dodge Dart), Bo Butner III, rookie contender Marty Robertson, Steve Graham, Cristian Cuadra (Mustang) and rookie contender Mike Callahan in the second Dodge Dart.
Pro Stock Motorcycle has 18 entries for this second Las Vegas competition – the first was in April on all four lanes of the racetrack – but we obviously won’t see Cory Reed, who’s recovering from his injuries in Charlotte. Still, it’s a great gathering of the two-wheeled set, most of whom are heavy into the Countdown playoffs. In the top 10 there are six Buell motorcycles with the balance Suzukis, but that looks to change next year, as the Japanese manufacturer’s four-valve head becomes more readily available, either from Monster or Vance & Hines.
Reigning and four-time champ Matt Smith is surging when it matters on his Buell, but the class’ most recent winner, three-time champ Angelle Sampey, riding her Vance & Hines Suzuki, is only 25 points behind Smith and hungry for a fourth title. Steve Johnson, on his four-valve Suzuki is third, 56 points behind Smith; rather than putting sponsors’ names on his white bike, maybe he should just note his entry is sponsored by Murphy’s Law. Johnson’s luck has been awful the past few races, taking him from first to third in the standings. Behind Johnson lies Eddie Krawiec, 111 points behind Smith on his Vance & Hines Buell, while Smith’s teammate Scotty Pollacheck holds down fifth place in the standings, lagging his boss by 160 points.
It’s highly unlikely the riders in sixth through tenth will break through to the title, but there’s enough points on the table to shake up the standings by the close of business at Pomona. Karen Stoffer holds down sixth place, 201 behind Smith on her two-valve Suzuki, while Joey Gladstone, Reed’s teammate is in seventh place, 216 points in arrears with his four-valve Suzuki Hayabusa. Angie Smith holds eighth place on her Buell (-226), Andrew Hines is ninth on his B&H Buell (-274), Ryan Oehler, who looked strong at the start of the year and has faded as the season’s gone along, is 10th on his Buell, 301 points back.
Reed is considered part of the Countdown group, but we won’t see him on a bike until at least Gainesville next year. Savoie could pass him in the standings since he intends to race these last two races, despite massive hurricane clean-up at his Louisiana home. Riders on-hand to challenge the Countdown set include David Barron on a Buell, Chris Bostick’s four-valve Suzuki, Fred Camarena on a Suzuki, Charles Poskey, riding a Buell, Michael Phillips on a Suzuki, and Kelly Clontz with her four-valve Suzuki.
In the Sportsman ranks, NHRA’s Summit Racing Series will welcome a new face to the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks when Las Vegas native Taylor Vetter competes in her for TAD event. She’s been racing dragsters since the age of eight, competing in NHRA’s Jr. Drag Racing League and has progressed through the ranks, most recently working in Top Dragster with Plan B Motorsports, who are backing her this weekend. When she enters the water box for the first time, Vetter will be the sole woman currently competing in the supercharged, methanol-burning category; she licensed late last year. “This is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Vetter said. “There is a lot going on (with a Top Alcohol Dragster), but these cars are really racy and super fun to drive.”
The 2020 winners of this race – which was the season finale – are Antron Brown, Matt Hagan (who will have new livery on his car, as will Leah Pruett), Erica Enders and Angie Smith. The first of three qualifying sessions is set for mid-afternoon on Friday, when the temps should reach their maximum in the low 80s range, with similar conditions forecast for Saturday and Sunday under partly cloudy or mostly sunny skies. Rain would be an anomaly here and the air show from next-door Nellis Air Force base should keep everyone enthralled when cars aren’t on-track.