NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

All roads lead to historic Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis this weekend for the 62nd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the sport’s most prestigious drag race. To any drag racer, nothing compares to an Indy victory but there is far more at stake this weekend than just individual honors. As the 18th and final event before the fields are set for the Countdown to the Championship, this is the last chance for racers to qualify for NHRA’s upcoming six-race playoff to determine the season champions. There is also a host of special events scheduled for this weekend including the two Traxxas Nitro Shootouts for Top Fuel and Funny Car racers and the popular Mopar Hemi Challenge and School of Automotive Machinists and Technology Factory Stock Showdown. The Indy race will also feature the Pro Stock final round between Vincent Nobile and Aaron Strong from the Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil that was delayed by rain last month.

At last year’s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, Morgan Lucas, racing a part-time schedule, earned a Top Fuel victory to go along with his 2003 U.S. Nationals Top Alcohol Dragster Wally. “Fast Jack” Beckman turned in a dominating performance in Funny Car when he drove the Jimmy Prock-tuned Infinite Hero Dodge to the No. 1 qualifying position and a final round win over Robert Hight. Erica Enders-Stevens claimed her first U.S. Nationals Pro Stock victory en route to her second-straight championship and Jerry Savoie used a dominant performance to win the Pro Stock Motorcycle title when he defeated Chip Ellis in the final.

 Here’s a look at some of this year’s major storylines:

Countdown to the Countdown
For drivers who are fighting for the final spots in the Countdown to the Championship, Indy represents the final chance to secure positions in the playoffs. The most interesting battle comes in Top Fuel, where Leah Pritchett (pictured) and Terry McMillen enter the event tied for the final spot. The first nine spots in Funny Car are secure but there is another battle brewing for the final spot between Alexis DeJoria and Chad Head. DeJoria, who has missed the last two races following her accident in Sonoma, leads Head by 97 points but since points are awarded a 1.5-times the normal rate at Indy, Head is still in the running. In Pro Stock, Elite Dodge teammates Erica Enders-Stevens and Jeg Coughlin are currently seeded ninth and tenth, but both of them need to fend off a challenge from Alex Laughlin, who is 36-points back with his Gas Monkey Camaro. There are several spots Pro Stock Motorcycle up for grabs since just five riders have clinched playoff berths. Entering Indy, Steve Johnson is ranked No. 10 and Michael Ray, Cory Reed, Scotty Pollacheck, and Karen Stoffer are all in the running.

Traxxas Cash up for grabs
Two nitro drivers will earn big bonus checks this weekend when the Traxxas Nitro Shootouts take center stage on Saturday and Sunday. The best eight teams in Top Fuel and Funny Car will participate in the special race-within-a-race which features a $100,000 paycheck to each winner. The Top Fuel field includes Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, Brittany Force, Steve Torrence, Shawn Langdon, Leah Pritchett, and Tony Schumacher along with Terry McMillen who won the lottery drawing held on Wednesday during the downtown Fan fest. In Funny Car, there is a stacked line-up including Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, Tommy Johnson Jr., Courtney Force, Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson, and Alexis DeJoria. The lottery winner in Funny Car is John Force.

Will Capps finally win Indy?
Two weeks ago Ron Capps won his 50th NHRA national event title in Brainerd but surprisingly, none of those 50 win have come at the sport’s flagship event, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. For all his success, Capps has never even raced in the final round at Indy, and he’s quick to admit that winning “the Big Go” is high on his priority list. This season, Capps enters Indy as the runaway points leader in the tough Funny Car class after five wins in the first 17 races. Capps’ Rahn Tobler-tuned NAPA Dodge has also been among the class’ performance leaders with 3.8-second runs in nine of the last ten races including a 3.843 in Seattle so this might be his best chance to finally score an Indy victory.

A tenth for Shoe
While Ron Capps is still seeking his first Indy victory, Top Fuel ace Tony Schumacher is seeking a record-breaking tenth title at “the Big Go”, a win which would break the tie with nine-time Indy Pro Stock winner Bob Glidden. All nine of Schumacher’s Indy wins have come since 2000 but the U.S. Army dragster driver has not won at Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis since defeating Spencer Massey in the final of the 2012 event. Schumacher has just one victory this year, but he was the low qualifier in Seattle and turned in a strong semifinal finish in Brainerd so he’s got to like his chances this weekend. 

DeJoria Returns
Alexis DeJoria and her Tequila Patron Toyota team will make their return at Indy return following an accident in Sonoma that left the popular pro with a fractured pelvis. DeJoria missed the events in Seattle and Brainerd and as a result, she enters Indy in the No. 10 spot in the Mello Yello standings.

Factory Stockers and Hemi’s
There are many special events surrounding Indy from the pre-event Fan Fest to the Traxxas Nitro Shootouts but two of the most popular features are the Mopar Hemi Challenge and the School of Automotive Machinists Factory Stock Showdown. The Mopar Hemi Challenge, contested on Friday, features a large field of 1968 vintage Dodge and Plymouth factory race cars competing in a heads-up format for a $15,000 top prize. The SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown, highlights heads-up competition for the new generation of factory race cars from Dodge, Chevrolet, and Ford including the Drag Pak Challenge, Cobra Jet Mustang, and COPO Camaro. So far this season, David Barton has won the first three Factory Stock events in Gainesville, Englishtown, and Norwalk so the pressure will be on to complete a four-race sweep. Qualifying for the SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown begins on Wednesday and final eliminations for the eight-best qualifiers takes place on Sunday and Monday.

Track records
 Top Fuel
 3.740 seconds by Shawn Langdon, September 2012
 328.54 mph by Tony Schumacher, September 2014
 
Funny Car
 3.936 seconds by Jack Beckman, September 2015
 323.74 mph by Beckman, September 2015
 
Pro Stock
 6.538 seconds by Jason Line, September 2011
 211.13 mph by Mike Edwards, September 2012

Pro Stock Motorcycle
6.815 seconds by Andrew Hines, September 2015
196.76 mph by Hines, September 2015

Schedule
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature one round at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, two rounds of qualifying Saturday, Sept. 3, at 2:45 and 6:45 p.m. and two rounds of qualifying Sunday, Sept. 4, at 11:15 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 5.
 
Tickets
 Call (800) 884-NHRA (6472) or log on to NHRA.com/tickets.

Television
Sunday, Sept. 4, FOX Sports 1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at noon ET and two hours of qualifying coverage at 5 p.m. ET. Monday, Sept. 6, FOX will televise three hours of live finals coverage at 1 p.m. ET.