NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

For more than five decades, NHRA National Dragster's famed Tricky Tipster has tested his prognosticating skills prior to each national event, putting odds on the top eight racers he thinks have the best shot at victory in Tricky Tipster. This week, Tricky Tipster handicaps the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.

TOP FUEL Funny Car | Pro Stock | Pro Stock Motorcycle | Pro Mod
	Antron Brown • Matco Tools He has won half of his starts in “Hotlanta” since he switched from two wheels to Top Fuel in 2008. When the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series stops in Atlanta or St. Louis, it almost equates to a home game due to his track record of success.	3-2
	Steve Torrence • Capco Contractors He is one No. 1 qualifying position in 2016 from equaling his career total prior to this season. He has a little magic in Atlanta, too; it is the site of his first career win in 2012.	3-1
	Brittany Force • Monster Energy The points leader won two races ago and two races before that. Interestingly, this wouldn’t be John Force Racing’s first Atlanta win with a dragster. Sister Ashley won in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2006.	7-2
	Doug Kalitta • Mac Tools The Houston winner has been strong all season. The last time he scored wins at consecutive events was in 2006, when he did it on two occasions, the first of which included a victory here.	4-1
	Clay Millican • Parts Plus/Great Clips This place has been kind to first-time Top Fuel winners. Steve Torrence, Morgan Lucas, Dan Pastorini, and Lucille Lee earned their first wins here.	7-1
	J.R. Todd • SealMaster All they do is go rounds. No matter how this team performs in qualifying, it seems to get it together on race day.	8-1
	Leah Pritchett • FireAde It’s difficult to establish where to rank a driver who is racing for a different owner. However, she’ll have good equipment at DSR and has Mike Guger and Joe Barlam behind her. The 2015 runner-up also has some unfinished business in Atlanta.	9-1
	Tony Schumacher • U.S. Army Superman has his kryptonite, Achilles has his heel, and “the Sarge” has Atlanta Dragway. This is the only track on tour that he has yet to conquer.	10-1
FUNNY CAR
	Tim Wilkerson • Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford As if the very fast Ford that has carried him to two wins and a runner-up this season wasn’t enough to keep him atop the rankings, we are returning to the track where he utterly dominated last year. We certainly wouldn’t want to line up against him right now.	2-1
	Courtney Force • Traxxas Chevy Tipster has been high on Force all season — remember last time when we said we were surprised she hadn’t won yet? — and that was only heightened when she finally took that quick car to the Houston winner’s circle. We certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see her there again.	3-1
	Alexis DeJoria • Patrón Toyota Save for a No. 1 start two years ago, Atlanta Dragway hasn’t been too kind to DeJoria, who has no round-wins at the track. However, with how well her car is running this year, the Las Vegas champ could easily correct that this weekend.	5-1
	Del Worsham • DHL Toyota Tipster really isn’t trying to sound like a broken record, but it’s hard not to with the reigning world champ. His car is there — Worsham was second-quickest of the first two rounds in Houston — but miscues are holding him back. When those are corrected, look out.	6-1
	Ron Capps • NAPA Dodge Much like Houston, a big part of where he is ranked is due to his record at this event: He has a win, runner-up, and semifinal finish in the last four years. Plus, though there is still work to do on his car, it feels like his team is making progress.	8-1
	Jack Beckman • Infinite Hero Dodge Quiet for much of the year, Beckman and crew certainly made some noise on Sunday in Houston, where they looked pretty darn good. If what they found between Saturday and Sunday in Texas sticks, Beckman’s team could easily be a threat from this point forward.	9-1
	Robert Hight • Auto Club Chevy We’re not ready to throw in the towel on this team yet, but our confidence is beginning to wane after two rough outings. Even years have been kind to Hight in Atlanta — he has been in the final the last three — so perhaps he can right the ship this weekend.	11-1
	Matt Hagan • Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge No big surprise here: Tipster had multiple racers in mind for this spot, including Atlanta’s winningest driver, John Force. However, we felt Hagan’s resurgent Dodge, which steadily, consistently, and, at times, very quickly went downtrack in Charlotte and Houston, was most deserving of the spot.	12-1
PRO STOCK
	Greg Anderson • Summit Camaro Coming off of a win in Houston and having four wins at this track, Anderson could be well on his way to his fourth victory this season.	2-1
	Jason Line • Summit Camaro So far this year, he has been in six of six final rounds and won three. Line was victorious at this race last year, defeating teammate Anderson, whom he has yet to beat this season. There’s no reason he couldn’t pull out another win here.	5-2
	Bo Butner • Jim Butner Auto Camaro He recorded his third semifinal finish this season in Houston and was the No. 3 qualifier also for the third time. Butner’s car is consistently quick but always falls short against that blue Summit Camaro.	3-1
	Drew Skillman • Ray Skillman Auto Camaro He has yet to qualify below the No. 6 position and has the most round-wins of all the non-KB cars. As of right now, Skillman has the best chance of breaking up the KB streak in the winner’s circle.	5-1
	Allen Johnson • Marathon Petroleum Dart He started off slow but is beginning to pick up the pace as he posted another top-half qualifying position and semifinal appearance in Houston.	6-1
	Chris McGaha • Harlow Sammons Camaro While he has had a few good performances, he isn’t consistently successful from race to race. Despite the ups and downs, McGaha’s car does have the potential to win.	8-1
	Erica Enders • Elite Motorsports Dart The defending world champ began making some headway in Vegas and continued in Charlotte, getting past the first round. While she didn’t have a great outing in Houston, her top-half qualifying position is another sign of progress.	10-1
	Vincent Nobile • Mountain View Camaro Tipster was close to putting Jeg Coughlin Jr. back in the last spot, but his last few performances have been lacking. Nobile is showing slight improvement with his top-half qualifying positions and by collecting a few more round-wins for the season.	12-1
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
	Eddie Krawiec • Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson He won his first race here in 2009 and claimed two more victories, in 2012 and 2014, making this one of his best tracks. After a hot start, no reason to think he can’t win it a fourth time.	3-2
	Andrew Hines • Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Has momentum on his side following a win at the most recent event in Charlotte, but his bike remains a tiny bit slower than teammate Krawiec’s.	3-1
	Hector Arana Jr. • Lucas Oil Buell He started the season with a first-round loss and a DNQ, which makes this more of a hunch than anything, but there has to be some good news for the Lucas Oil team soon. He can’t afford to let the leaders get too far ahead, so there is extra pressure to perform here.	5-1
	Matt Smith • Victory Gunner Although he hasn’t shown it yet this season, the Victory is one bike that can take the fight to the class-leading Harleys. A breakthrough performance is on the horizon. Bet on it.	6-1
	Jerry Savoie • White Alligator Suzuki Next to the Harley V-Rods, this was arguably the best bike in Charlotte, and on its best days, one could make the case that this is the best bike in the whole class.	8-1
	Angelle Sampey • Star Racing Buell It would have been very interesting to see how the three-time world champ would have done at the four-wide race if she hadn’t red-lighted early. The whole Star team should also be very motivated to race at its home track.	10-1
	Hector Arana Sr. • Lucas Oil Buell “The Hammer” won this race last year, and he’s off to a solid start in 2016. No one should be surprised if he wins here again.	12-1
	LE Tonglet • Nitro Fish Suzuki These guys do a lot with a little, and their competitors have learned not to take them lightly. The former world champ also happens to be an elite-level rider.	15-1