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 K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

TOP FUEL Funny Car | Pro Stock | Pro Stock Motorcycle | Top Alcohol Dragster | Top Alcohol Funny Car
	Shawn Langdon • Red Fuel/Sandvik Coromant Langdon’s season turned around so fast that it’s making us lightheaded. He’s going for three in a row.	5-2
	Doug Kalitta • Mac Tools In 2016, he has qualified No. 1 or 2 at two-thirds of the events and won three-fourths of the rounds he has competed in.	3-1
	Antron Brown • Matco Tools On even years, the Windy City becomes the winning city for the 2012 and 2014 victor.	4-1
	Steve Torrence • Capco Contractors He had to withdraw from Norwalk due to a medical procedure, but the competition hasn’t forgotten what a strong car the Englishtown winner has had of late.	5-1
	Tony Schumacher • U.S. Army The defending event winner has been on the verge of scoring his first victory of the season. His comfort level is high in the Chicago area where he grew up.	6-1
	Brittany Force • Monster Energy The lauded Route 66 Raceway surface will provide a great complement to her Alan Johnson horsepower.	7-1
	J.R. Todd • SealMaster He is hungrier than ever after reaching the final round for the second time this season with a great performance in Norwalk.	9-1
	Leah Pritchett • Albrecht’s Fast Track The only other time Dave Albrecht’s motorcycle repair and customization shop was the major sponsor for a Pro team at an event, Craig Treble won a Wally in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Pritchett will try to help them go two-for-two.	12-1
FUNNY CAR
	Ron Capps • NAPA Dodge Winning in Funny Car isn’t as easy as this team is making it look right now. There are so many great cars out there, so it’s hard to say how long this team can continue to dominate, but we’re sticking with it until there’s reason not to do so.	2-1
	Courtney Force • Traxxas Chevy Force’s record here is a little spotty, but she does very well in even years — she was the runner-up in 2012 and advanced to the semi’s in 2014. With her car's consistency this year, we like her chances of continuing that trend.	4-1
	Matt Hagan • Mopar Express Lane/ Rocky Boots Dodge His ranking this week has as much to do with his record here as it does with how his car is running. Hagan has been in the final here the last three years, winning twice. A solid Norwalk qualifying effort proves the potential is there to do it again.	5-1
	Tommy Johnson Jr. • Make-A-Wish Dodge Speaking of great records at Route 66 Raceway … Since Johnson returned to full-time competition, his worst finish here is a runner-up. The defending event champ also happens to have a great car, too.	6-1
	Del Worsham • DHL Toyota Not to get all broken record on you loyal Tipster followers, but seriously, the great qualifying efforts, including a No. 1 start in Norwalk, have to translate into Sunday success soon, right?	7-1
	Jack Beckman • Infinite Hero Dodge One of Tipster’s favorite teachers preached, “Consistency is key.” While said teacher was referring to writing, the same definitely can be said about racing, and Beckman’s team is proof of that. Once it fixes its consistency issues, this team should be right back in the thick of things.	8-1
	Robert Hight • Auto Club Chevy Hight came this close to making Tipster look like a really big fool for leaving him out of our Norwalk rankings. We’re not making that mistake again. Hight and crew are clearly making progress with their new car, which looked pretty darn good in Ohio.	10-1
	Alexis DeJoria • Patrón Toyota Another week, another round of “Who makes the cut and who doesn’t?” The who: DeJoria and John Force. The why: DeJoria’s car has just been better overall this year, and both drivers have pretty comparable recent records here.	11-1
PRO STOCK
	Jason Line • Summit Camaro We are officially halfway through the season, and the KB Racing team has yet to be defeated. Line holds an incredible winning record of 41-5 going into Chicago, making him the favorite once again.	2-1
	Greg Anderson • Summit Camaro He stayed just as competitive as his KB teammate by appearing in his ninth final round in Norwalk, with five wins so far this season.	5-2
	Allen Johnson • Marathon Petroleum Dart He struggled to make it down the track in Norwalk, but Tipster won’t count that against him. Johnson has had the most consistent car compared to the rest of the field, giving him a greater chance of upsetting the two Summit Camaros.	4-1
	Vincent Nobile • Mountain View Camaro He has really stepped up his game in the last month. Nobile has qualified in the top half for four consecutive races and had two semifinal finishes. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him make a final-round appearance very soon.	5-1
	Shane Gray • Gray Motorsports Camaro After struggling to make it past the first round earlier this season, Gray has turned things around with three semifinal finishes in the last five races.	6-1
	Drew Skillman • Ray Skillman Auto Camaro He scored his second-highest qualifying position of the year last time out and consistently made solid runs. His team will be back to where it needs to be in no time.	8-1
	Bo Butner • Jim Butner Auto Camaro While he continues to impress with quick runs in qualifying, Butner is still struggling in eliminations, not making it past the first round since Epping.	10-1
	Jeg Coughlin Jr. • JEGS.com Dart Had another first-round loss in Norwalk, but his semifinal finish in Bristol gave him this last spot. It’s still too soon to see if this team is making moves in the right direction.	12-1
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
	Eddie Krawiec • Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson The three-time champ has lost only two rounds this season and has won three of the first five events. He has also qualified No. 1 four times, which makes this a fairly obvious pick.	7-2
	Jerry Savoie • White Alligator Suzuki The two-time runner-up this season is overdue for his first trip to the winner’s circle. Interestingly enough, four of his five losses on the season have come against Krawiec.	4-1
	Angelle Sampey • Star Racing Buell Given her recent results and the quality of the competition in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class this season, she might actually be better than she was in her championship seasons of 2000 through 2002.	5-1
	Andrew Hines • Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Sitting on 394 round-wins, and Sampey has 382. One of them will be the first Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to hit 400. Hines should easily do it by the end of July.	7-1
	Hector Arana Jr. • Lucas Oil Buell Something has been amiss on the Lucas Oil Buell for most of the season, but from time to time, the Aranas have been impressive. He’s overdue for a breakout, and as the winner of the last two Chicago races, this is as good a place as any to start.	9-1
	Matt Smith • Victory Gunner Although it ended with a disappointing quarterfinal finish, Norwalk was a breakthrough event for the Victory team. When this bike is right, and it now appears to be, he is capable of running with anyone in the class.	10-1
	LE Tonglet • Nitro Fish Suzuki This is arguably the second-best Suzuki in the class, behind Savoie, and Tonglet rates among the class’ best riders. That’s a tough combination to beat when the Nitro Fish team is on its game.	12-1
	Hector Arana Sr. • Lucas Oil Buell Thirty years into his career, this is still a very competitive bike-rider combination, but he could do himself a favor by not qualifying in the 8-9 spots, which means a tough quarterfinal draw against a top qualifier.	15-1