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 NHRA New England Nationals.

TOP FUEL Funny Car | Pro Stock
	Doug Kalitta • Mac Tools He begins this stretch of four races in four weekends looking for his fourth consecutive win, something that hasn’t been done at Kalitta Motorsports since cousin Scott’s then-class-record streak in 1994.	2-1
	Brittany Force • Monster Energy All the pieces are in place for the new national e.t. record holder to become the third member of her family to win this event, which has only been on the tour since 2013.	3-1
	Antron Brown • Matco Tools The champ is going about his season like a baseball player who is hitting a bunch of doubles and triples and rarely strikes out.	4-1
	Tony Schumacher • U.S. Army After suffering a series of close losses in the second round this season, he is poised for a breakout at the event he has won for the past two seasons.	6-1
	Steve Torrence • Capco Contractors The next win light he turns on at New England Dragway will be his first. As with a Lay’s potato chip, we bet he can’t have just one.	7-1
	Richie Crampton • Lucas Oil Don’t look now, but he has climbed a spot in the Mello Yello standings at each of the past two races.	8-1
	J.R. Todd • SealMaster It’s considered best practice to avoid matchups with Antron Brown in the opening round. Outside of tough spots on the ladder, this team’s race-day performance has had it on the verge of victory.	10-1
	Shawn Langdon • Sandvik Coromant/Red Fuel His recent performance put him in the top 10 for the first time this season, and he is looking onward and upward.	11-1
FUNNY CAR
	Courtney Force • Traxxas Chevy Not only has Force’s car been very good all season, but she has an incredible record at this event. Force won the inaugural year here, and she has been in the semifinals the two other years. It’s hard to bet against her really good car at this track.	5-2
	Matt Hagan • Mopar Express Lane/ Rocky Boots Dodge If Force didn’t have such a strong record at New England Dragway, Hagan very likely would be at the top of our rankings thanks to his back-to-back wins in Atlanta and Topeka. Dickie Venables certainly has this car running mean right now.	3-1
	Jack Beckman • Infinite Hero Dodge Tipster thinks Beckman’s car is actually a little better than Hagan's — remember he had lane choice for the Topeka final — but it’s hard to rank Beckman ahead of Hagan after the back-to-back final-round losses against him.	7-2
	Alexis DeJoria • Patrón Toyota We challenge you to find anyone in the class who has had more tough, close losses than DeJoria. Her car is still among the quickest in the class, but she just can’t seem to catch a break, ending up on the wrong side of many good races.	6-1
	Tommy Johnson Jr. • Make-A-Wish Dodge Tipster remembers how dominating this car was at this race last year. Add in its recent performance surge, and we think there is real potential for a breakout weekend for Johnson’s team.	7-1
	Tim Wilkerson • Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford There is a level of uncertainty with this team after the semifinal incident in Topeka, but Wilkerson has been too strong in both of the cars he has rolled out this year to drop him too far down or even out of our rankings.	9-1
	Robert Hight • Auto Club Chevy After a bit of an inconsistent stretch from Vegas through Atlanta, Hight’s team regained its footing in Topeka, where it had a good, consistent car, including posting low e.t. of eliminations, before running into the buzz saw known as Matt Hagan.	10-1
	Del Worsham • DHL Toyota Tipster considered giving Ron Capps this spot due to his strong record here, but in the end, we went with who we feel has the better car right now. There’s a little inconsistency in Worsham’s entry, but more often than not, it’s going downtrack and doing so competitively.	11-1
PRO STOCK
	Jason Line • Summit Camaro He has collected the most victories and has appeared in every final round this season. Tipster believes there’s no reason Line doesn’t deserve this top spot.	3-2
	Greg Anderson • Summit Camaro Based on his stellar performance this year, he could easily defend his 2015 title at New England Dragway.	2-1
	Bo Butner • Butner Auto Sales Camaro Though the last couple of races didn’t exactly go as planned, he still has one of the fastest cars in the pack. It’s only a matter of time before he earns his first Pro Stock Wally.	3-1
	Allen Johnson • Marathon Petroleum Dart In the last three races, he has made three semifinal appearances. This team is quickly improving and is a definite threat to the KB Racing team.	5-1
	Chris McGaha • Harlow Sammons Camaro He is still the only non-KB driver who has made it to a final round. Though his last few racing performances haven’t been up to par, there’s no reason to count him out.	7-1
	Shane Gray • Gray Motorsports Camaro Teaming with Dave Connolly may just have been that extra little boost this camp needed to get back in the competition. Gray’s semifinal appearance in Topeka was the best finish he has had all season. Things are looking up!	9-1
	Drew Skillman • Ray Skillman Auto Camaro He started the season strong but seems to be losing a little bit of steam. Despite his troubles, Skillman still has the best car from the Elite Motorsports team.	10-1
	Vincent Nobile • Mountain View Camaro He can put up some impressive numbers but always seems to come up short of a win. Nobile added another round-win in Topeka, which helped him move up a spot in the points race.	12-1