{"id":63295,"date":"2019-06-20T10:12:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T17:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=63295"},"modified":"2019-06-24T10:14:49","modified_gmt":"2019-06-24T17:14:49","slug":"norwalk-closes-nhras-four-race-sprint-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/norwalk-closes-nhras-four-race-sprint-this-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwalk Closes NHRA\u2019s Four-Race Sprint this Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season reaches its halfway point once this weekend\u2019s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals are completed at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Weather permitting, quick times will be set, rivalries will continue as NHRA marks the return of both Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle after a three-race hiatus.<\/p>\n

Norwalk is always a big event and this particular contest marks the close of a four-week trek across central America to conduct four consecutive races. The reappearance of NHRA\u2019s two Pro Stock categories neatly bookends the four-races-in-for-weekends hegira and gives the drag racing pits a bit more of a \u201cnormal\u201d feel to it. Pro Mod is also in the house this weekend.<\/p>\n

There are healthy entries for all four Mello Yello classes in Norwalk, as 19 Top Fuel, 20 Funny Car and 18 each Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle entrants have signed on to compete for 16 available slots in each class\u2019 Sunday eliminations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a healthy group of dragsters making the trip to northern Ohio for this race where, as is becoming customary, everyone will be chasing at least one Torrence CAPCO Contractors rail. Father Billy joins reigning champ and son Steve again this weekend, looking for his third win of the year as Steve attempts to earn his sixth. After taking five in a row, Steve Torrence surrendered to central California\u2019s Mike Salinas, who took his second victory in the class at Bristol.<\/p>\n

Of interest in the dragster field is the return of young Jordan Vandergriff, together with attempts by elders Luigi Novelli and Chris Karamesines. While Steve Torrence has more than 300 points in hand over Doug Kalitta, who is racing with the colors of Applied Imaging, similar to his Mac Tools red-and-white logos, there\u2019s a hot pursuit from second through sixth places in the dragster corps as everyone jockeys for those ten spots in NHRA\u2019s playoffs.<\/p>\n

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That Countdown to the Championship doesn\u2019t start until after Labor Day\u2019s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals outside Indianapolis, but the journey to gain one of those spots and advanced seeding<\/p>\n

through round and event wins keeps the action hot and heavy in every category. Behind Kalitta are Bristol winner Mike Salinas, Antron Brown, Brittany Force, Clay Millican, Leah Pritchett, Richie Campton, Austin Prock, and Terry McMillen.<\/p>\n

The wait to see John Force earn his 150th NHRA Funny Car national event is getting tiring, even for the 16-time champion, who came up short – again – last weekend to a man he mentored, Bob Tasca III. While Force has won the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals only once, in 2014, he\u2019s pumped for this weekend\u2019s event, knowing he\u2019s won 68.9 percent of all NHRA races he\u2019s run, with a 1,330-599 record. So this weekend, he\u2019ll either attain that 150th victory or lose for the 600th time. Either way, \u201cI\u2019ve got confidence. That (150th) win is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n