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 Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals.

TOP FUEL Funny Car | Pro Stock | Top Alcohol Dragster | Top Alcohol Funny Car
	Brittany Force • Monster Energy When you’re in Vegas, you ride the hot hand. Force has the points lead for the first time in her career following two consecutive final rounds, the last of which in Gainesville resulted in her first win.	3-1
	Richie Crampton • Lucas Oil This dragster is snarling on the starting line before its ears pin back to attack the racetrack. Crampton is the defending event winner.	7-2
	Doug Kalitta • Mac Tools Last fall, he didn’t finish the race with the same dragster he started with but still won the event from the lucky No. 13 position.	4-1
	Steve Torrence • Capco Contractors Tuning consultant Alan Johnson has had a hand in the quicker final-round elapsed time of all three events thus far this season.	5-1
	Clay Millican • Denso/Parts Plus/Great Clips He is a career-high No. 2 in the Mello Yello standings. This could be the first time that three drivers have scored their first Top Fuel wins at consecutive races since 1973.	6-1
	Tony Schumacher • U.S. Army He leads all Top Fuel drivers with eight wins at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.	7-1
	Leah Pritchett • Quaker State This team knows how to race the desert. It reached the final round at both Las Vegas events last year and scored its first win together in Phoenix.	8-1
	Antron Brown • Matco Tools The 2015 world champ has never been this low in points on four wheels, but the season is young, and a marathon test session following the Gainesville event will have him back on track.	10-1
FUNNY CAR
	Robert Hight • Auto Club Chevy His Gainesville win alone would be enough to put him No. 1, but he’s also really, really good at this race with two wins, two runner-ups, and two No. 1 starts in the last five. It also doesn’t hurt that he won the last time we were at this track.	2-1
	Ron Capps • NAPA Dodge His car wasn’t as strong and steady in Gainesville as it was earlier, but we still think he’s among the leaders in the class right now, and we know several drivers would probably love to have a win, runner-up, and No. 1 start in the first three races.	3-1
	John Force • Peak Chevy Though Gainesville was a little rough for him, we expect conditions this weekend to be similar to those in Phoenix, where he absolutely shined, averaging a 3.98 across his eight passes. Oh yeah, and he’s the defending event champion.	5-1
	Courtney Force • Traxxas Chevy She didn’t get into the top five in points by accident — Force’s car has been very good, making full runs more often than not. In fact, 12 of her 19 passes this year have been in the threes, including that very impressive 3.89 in Gainesville.	6-1
	Jack Beckman • Infinite Hero After the national record run in Gainesville qualifying, we anticipated a dominant Sunday and moving him up our order. Then the dominant Sunday didn’t happen, so we’re leaving Beckman mid-pack while his team continues to work out kinks in the front-halved 2015 car it brought back out in Florida.	7-1
	Del Worsham • DHL Toyota This week’s Tipster conundrum: what to do with the reigning world champ. We know this team is good, but it faltered a bit in Gainesville. Though our confidence isn’t quite as high as before, we believe the Florida struggles were an anomaly for this usually good team.	9-1
	Chad Head • Head Inc. Toyota Looking for a long-shot underdog on which to bet this weekend? Look no further than Head, who had the most consistent (and possibly best overall) car in Gainesville. And a semifinal finish last October shows he knows how to go rounds here.	10-1
	Alexis DeJoria • Patrón Toyota We considered Matt Hagan and Tim Wilkerson for this spot, but we’re sticking with DeJoria, who just keeps coming up on the wrong side of great races in round one. Plus, there’s her record at this event: a win and two semi’s in the last three years.	12-1
PRO STOCK
	Greg Anderson • Summit Camaro KB Racing continues to dominate the rest of the pack with Anderson and Jason Line meeting again in the final in Gainesville. Anderson has two wins this season and the most Pro Stock wins in Vegas, which gives him the edge coming into this weekend.	2-1
	Jason Line • Summit Camaro Once again, either one of the Summit Camaros has a chance to take the title this weekend. Line seems to have the quicker car but hasn’t been able to beat his teammate when they meet in the final round.	5-2
	Bo Butner • Jim Butner Auto Camaro He has been one of the top three qualifiers all season and has one of the three strongest cars in the field. If Butner can eliminate race-day mistakes, he could easily be on his way to his first Pro Stock win.	3-1
	Drew Skillman • Ray Skillman Auto Camaro He continues to be the front-runner for the Elite Motorsports team. Skillman qualified in the top half of the field for the third time and reached his second semifinal round this season last time out in Gainesville.	5-1
	Allen Johnson • Marathon Petroleum Dart While we still haven’t seen the best of Johnson, he is improving quickly. He made his first semifinal appearance in Gainesville, which could give him momentum and confidence going into this weekend.	7-1
	Chris McGaha • Harlow Sammons Camaro Although his performance in Gainesville wasn’t remarkable, Tipster isn’t going to count him out. The weather conditions in Vegas are supposed to be very similar to Phoenix, meaning McGaha could make another final-round appearance.	9-1
	Jeg Coughlin Jr. • JEGS.com Dart He recorded his best run this season, moved up a few spots in qualifying, and added another round-win in Gainesville. Coughlin has the second-most Pro Stock wins in Vegas, which could give him an advantage this weekend.	11-1
	Erica Enders • Elite Motorsports Dart Tipster was close to putting Alex Laughlin in this last spot, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Enders has swept this race the past two years. Having made a few solid runs in Gainesville, she could be getting a handle on her new car.	13-1