{"id":36353,"date":"2017-02-09T09:51:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T17:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=36353"},"modified":"2018-08-16T12:35:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:35:13","slug":"nhra-preseason-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nhra-preseason-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"NHRA Preseason Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year again, when the Circle K NHRA Winternationals comes roaring back to the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.\u00a0 We\u2019re in store for some of the best competition ever in 2017, especially in the Top Fuel and Funny Car ranks with incredible side-by-side racing.\u00a0 The four professional drag racing categories are set to take the green on the 24-race tour this Sunday, and here are my preseason picks for the NHRA Mello Yello Season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Fuel<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"NHRA
Doug Kalitta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n
  1. Doug Kalitta \u2013 4-time runner-up (2003-04, 06, 16) finally breaks through with his first Top Fuel championship.<\/li>\n
  2. Tony Schumacher \u2013 A resurgent Sarge will march to the front in comeback season; you can\u2019t be the most prolific Top Fuel driver (with 76 victories and 8 championships) without knowing how to win.<\/li>\n
  3. Antron Brown \u2013 Brown continues great runs throughout the year; point contender for sure; can he keep championship momentum?<\/li>\n
  4. Steve Torrence \u2013 Never count out Alan Johnson horsepower; Texas swagger runs strong and deep in the heart of this camp.<\/li>\n
  5. Brittany Force \u2013 Never stopping for a moment, running on Monster Energy, and will be one of the names battling for the championship.\n

    \"NHRA
    Leah Pritchett<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
  6. Leah Pritchett \u2013 This businesswoman is one of the fans\u2019 favorite drivers; can she produce in the Countdown? Starting the season off right in preseason testing running quickest TF time ever \u2013 3.65 seconds.<\/li>\n
  7. Troy Coughlin, Jr. \u2013 Rookie candidate living the dream; slow and steady at first to produce great runs by season\u2019s end.<\/li>\n
  8. Clay Millican \u2013 Still looking for first Top Fuel win; should be another Top 10 finish setting some quick times.<\/li>\n
  9. Terry McMillen \u2013 Should finally make his first Countdown appearance.<\/li>\n
  10. Shawn Langdon \u2013 Has all the components to be champion; just needs to build back to become effective leader in the category. Team parked until sponsorship is secured.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Other contenders: <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Scott Palmer \u2013 Could upset more than a couple of top contenders this year; always runs well.<\/p>\n

    Dom Lagana \u2013 Part-time campaigner who runs well and has a top-notch crew.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Funny Car<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"NHRA
    Tommy Johnson Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      \n
    1. Tommy Johnson, Jr. \u2013 Has best three-year average in Funny Car points standings; will win his first title and continues to \u201cMake-A-Wish\u201d dreams come true.<\/li>\n
    2. Ron Capps \u2013 Last year’s champion will be back with his \u2018NAPA-Know How\u2019 to go for two in a row.<\/li>\n
    3. Matt Hagan \u2013 Humble Virginian is the quickest and fastest Funny Car in the land and we can see lower ET\u2019s in his future.<\/li>\n
    4. Robert Hight \u2013 Long overdue team with veteran driver will be a thorn to many teams\u2019 sides and will contend for title.<\/li>\n
    5. J.R. Todd \u2013 First time Funny Car racer will have a Top 5 finish in final standings; car and team are very good, yes that good!<\/li>\n
    6. John Force \u2013 NHRA\u2019s favorite driver at 67 will continue to win again and again and again; best interview in motorsports. The fun never stops at JFR.<\/li>\n
    7. Courtney Force \u2013 After lackluster 2016, you can bet this lady will be back in point contention; won\u2019t be denied. Ran unofficial quickest time in class \u2013 3.80 seconds.<\/li>\n
    8. Jack Beckman \u2013 New crew chiefs on his team will keep him viable all year.<\/li>\n
    9. Alexis DeJoria \u2013 Recovering from hard-hitting crashes late last year finds her more than ready and anxious to climb back in the cockpit and get back to racing.<\/li>\n
    10. Cruz Pedregon \u2013 Missed NHRA Countdown in 2016; won\u2019t in 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Other Contenders:<\/strong><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"NHRA
      J.R Todd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      Del Worsham \u2013 Family run team in their initial outing; just needs more financial backing to become proven consistent winner.\u00a0 Acquired sponsorship from Lucas Oil for 6 races.<\/p>\n

      Tim Wilkerson \u2013 Longtime racer needs to look at improvement in 2017; new look and new attitude takes the team to the next step.<\/p>\n

      Jonnie Lindberg \u2013 Swedish driver finally getting his big break to drive a nitro Funny Car for Jim Head Racing; workaholic driver will bring instant results.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Pro Stock<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \"NHRA
      Jason Line<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
        \n
      1. Jason Line \u2013 The battle for championship title will again go through Ken Black Racing after winning 8 races last year and third championship.<\/li>\n
      2. Greg Anderson \u2013 Along with KB Racing teammate, Line, Anderson won 8 times and lost the championship by 3 points; what improvements will we see in Pro Stock?<\/li>\n
      3. Jeg Coughlin \u2013 5-Time Pro Stock champion is back with Chevrolet under the Elite Motorsports umbrella and could be a major surprise to combat KB Racing.<\/li>\n
      4. Bo Butner \u2013 Another KB Racing Chevy product; driver will be better in 2017 after running so strong last year.<\/li>\n
      5. Erica Enders \u2013 Like her teammate, Jeg Coughlin, she will resuscitate her career with her new Chevy Camaro; the lady has sheer determination.\n

        \"NHRA
        Vincent Nobile<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
      6. Vincent Nobile \u2013 Part of the Chevrolet Bowtie Brigade looking ahead to be more of a points player this season with more wins.<\/li>\n
      7. Drew Skillman \u2013 With a quick draw, this Indy native is deadly on the starting line and becomes bigger name and player in the sport.<\/li>\n
      8. Chris McGaha \u2013 Texan plans big season after winning Indy to turnaround his season.<\/li>\n
      9. Allen Johnson \u2013 This lovable Tennessean will again struggle until he figures out how to make more horsepower from his Mopar motor.<\/li>\n
      10. Tanner Gray \u2013 17-year driving prodigy will have a big learning curve in 2017 but will be a top frontrunner before season\u2019s end.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Other contenders:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Alex Laughlin \u2013 Second year driver will again pilot the Gas Monkey Garage; won at St. Louis; could win any Sunday.<\/p>\n

        Deric Kramer \u2013 Australian raider hopes to see more improvements in 2017.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Pro Stock Motorcycle<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \"NHRA
        Andrew Hines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
          \n
        1. Andrew Hines \u2013 Most prolific rider will again bring Harley-Davidson another title, as he\u2019s my pick to win it all to add to his five previous championships.<\/li>\n
        2. LE Tonglet \u2013 2010 champion with White Alligator Racing backing will be another name to contend for championship.<\/li>\n
        3. Eddie Krawiec \u2013 Harley rider who has hovered around the top three titlists in recent years and will again be in the mix at the season\u2019s end on his Screamin\u2019 Eagle.<\/li>\n
        4. Jerry Savoie \u2013 Can he repeat as champion? Brings new teammate to White Alligator Racing in the form of proven winner LE Tonglet.\n

          \"NHRA
          Angelle Sampey<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
        5. Angelle Sampey \u2013 Former 3-time champ returned to the winner\u2019s circle last year and you can expect more in 2017; joining Cory Reed\u2019s racing operation.<\/li>\n
        6. Hector Arana, Jr. \u2013 Dependable low ET in the hot summer months; needs to muster more power to be a steady contender.<\/li>\n
        7. Hector Arana \u2013 The patriarch of the Arana clan has one championship to his credit; will continue to be a regular competitor with a few low ET\u2019s this year.<\/li>\n
        8. Steve Johnson \u2013 Affable rider who just needs some financial support to produce a top-notch bike.<\/li>\n
        9. Matt Smith \u2013 Switching motorcycle brand and could find difficulties getting things worked out.<\/li>\n
        10. Cory Reed \u2013 After Victory motorcycles closed that leaves this young driver searching for a new brand to ride in 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Other contenders:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Karen Stoffer \u2013 Consistent rider and will again see a few season highlights.<\/p>\n

          Angie Smith \u2013 Riding a Buell in 2017 and will have her husband\u2019s team giving her a first-class ride.<\/p>\n

          Scotty Pollancheck \u2013 Good rider in search of a good team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          We\u2019re in store for some of the best competition ever in 2017, especially in the Top Fuel and Funny Car ranks with incredible side-by-side racing.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029,3399],"tags":[547,41,7,1632],"class_list":["post-36353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","category-nhra","tag-jay-wells","tag-news","tag-nhra","tag-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2016_Doug_Kalitta_Action1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-9sl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36353"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36367,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36353\/revisions\/36367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}