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 Kansas Nationals.

TOP FUEL Funny Car | Pro Stock | Top Alcohol Dragster | Top Alcohol Funny Car
	Doug Kalitta • Mac Tools The points leader has a chance to win three races in a row for the first time in his career. The Kalitta Motorsports team has had a great deal of success at Heartland Park Topeka.	2-1
	J.R. Todd • SealMaster There have been 10 different Top Fuel winners here over the past decade, and three of them have been from the Kalitta camp.	7-2
	Antron Brown • Matco Tools He has been in the semi's or final at the last four events. A win here has eluded the two-time world champ, and he would like to check it off the list.	4-1
	Brittany Force • Monster Energy She reached the semifinals here the past two seasons with a No. 1 qualifying effort in 2014, and it’s not hard to argue that she has a much better car this year.	5-1
	Steve Torrence • Capco Contractors More than a decade ago, he won this event in his Top Alcohol Dragster debut and won the championship that season. The Torrence family has momentum after father Billy won Super Comp in Atlanta.	7-1
	Tony Schumacher • U.S. Army He has his consistency back. He was only .002-second from defeating Kalitta in Atlanta, although the dead-heat final round made that narrow margin look like a country mile.	8-1
	Richie Crampton • Lucas Oil The defending event winner qualifies at or near the top and returns to a racing surface that can handle all the power Aaron Brooks can throw at it.	10-1
	Shawn Langdon • Red Fuel/Sandvik Coromant Welcome back to Tipster, Shawn. This team had its best outing of the season with a semifinal finish in Atlanta, and Langdon turned on additional win lights with a quarterfinal outing in Super Comp.	11-1
FUNNY CAR
	Courtney Force • Traxxas Chevy While very much impressed by the finalists in Atlanta, Tipster thinks Force probably has the best car in the class, and the stats back that up: 64 percent of her runs this year have been threes. Her car consistently goes downtrack and does so very quickly.	3-1
	Jack Beckman • Infinite Hero Dodge Proving Sunday in Houston was no fluke, Beckman looked great in Atlanta, where he was the No. 1 qualifier and finished as the runner-up. Add in the fact he is the defending event champ, and we think that’s worth a healthy jump in the rankings.	4-1
	Matt Hagan • Mopar Express Lane/ Rocky Boots Dodge Speaking of big jumps, how can you not rank the two-time world champion near the top after his impressive Atlanta outing? But in fairness, that didn’t entirely come out of nowhere. Hagan was among the pacesetters in Charlotte and consistently went downtrack in Houston.	9-2
	Alexis DeJoria • Patrón Toyota Last weekend, DeJoria earned her first round-win in Atlanta. This week, she will try to repeat in Topeka, where she is winless. With the car under her — her 3.94 was the second-quickest run of Atlanta’s round two — we like her chances of snapping her Kansas drought.	6-1
	Tim Wilkerson • Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Atlanta was kind of forgettable, but there’s no need to think things are coming undone for this team just yet. Mechanical gremlins popped up in Georgia, but we have faith that Wilk and his talented team can fix them and return to form.	7-1
	Del Worsham • DHL Toyota Giving credit where credit is due, Worsham fixed his starting-line woes in Atlanta. His car was also good, but Worsham was simply outgunned by some great entries. If he and his team can up the performance a little, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them in the winner’s circle.	8-1
	Ron Capps • NAPA Dodge Since missing the field in Vegas, Capps’ team has made steady progress and is now consistently going downtrack. Capps is a little off from the top performers, but if his team continues to pick away at it, Capps should be back in the mix soon.	9-1
	Tommy Johnson Jr. • Make-A-Wish Dodge Coming off a pair of semifinal finishes, Johnson and his team are beginning to hit their stride. Though not 100 percent perfect right now, Johnson and crew have shown enough to convince us to give them the final slot over Robert Hight and John Force.	11-1
PRO STOCK
	Greg Anderson • Summit Camaro This can’t go on forever can it? Well probably not, but for the foreseeable future, this is the king of the Pro Stock class. It will be a shock if he doesn’t make it to the final.	7-5
	Jason Line • Summit Camaro He has raced in every round so far this year and shows no signs of slowing down. If he gets beat, it will likely be by one of his KB Racing teammates. Otherwise, he’s a near lock to win.	3-2
	Bo Butner • Butner Auto Sales Camaro He has taken a lot of heat for his driving, but there is no denying that he has made big strides this season. His first Pro Stock win will not be the least bit surprising.	4-1
	Chris McGaha • Harlow Sammons Camaro If the KB team somehow makes a wrong turn and gets lost on the way to Topeka, here’s your favorite. Actually, he’s almost to the point where he can make it a fair fight anyway.	6-1
	Shane Gray • Gray Motorsports Camaro Welcome back, Dave Connolly. The former Gray team member has returned to lend his expertise. After qualifying No. 4 in Atlanta, they have to feel that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.	7-1
	Allen Johnson • Marathon Petroleum Dart It’s a long road back to the top, but the progress is also evident in this camp. They are chipping away at the KB team’s advantage.	10-1
	Drew Skillman • Skillman Auto Camaro He probably should be ranked higher than this, but the Atlanta race was not kind to the reigning Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner. Expect a better effort this time around.	12-1
	Vincent Nobile • Mountain View Racing Camaro Sometimes this sport is simply not fair. His first-round package in Atlanta was enough to defeat any other opponent except for Allen Johnson, who happened to be in the other lane. Yes, he would have even beat all three KB cars.	15-1