NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The battle for the first Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship has boiled down to just two drivers: two-time defending series champ Steve Torrence and veteran Doug Kalitta, the most overdue champion in the history of the sport.

The situation: When action begins at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the first of two qualifying sessions Saturday for the season-ending Dodge Finals, Torrence will hold a lead of 101 points over Kalitta as he seeks to become just the second Top Fuel driver to win three consecutive championships (Joe Amato, 1990-92; Tony Schumacher, 2004-09).

How we got here: Kalitta was the points leader from the moment he won the season opener in Pomona until the seventh event, when he lost in the first round of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in September. Torrence went on to win the event, going from a 60-point deficit to an 18-point lead. Incredibly, Torrence skipped the season’s first event and still was able to get the points lead.

Kalitta won the next event, the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil in St Louis, where Torrence was runner-up, but Kalitta still trimmed Torrence’s lead to just two points.

Torrence then won the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, where Kalitta was a semifinalist, then was runner-up at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil last weekend in Houston while Kalitta was felled in round two.

The scenarios: Even though the Las Vegas event is points and a half and there are 183 points available, it's a tough road for Kalitta. Currently, the field only has 15 entrants, meaning that everyone will qualify. That immediately reduces the maximum number of points that Kalitta can advance on Torrence, who will earn a minimum of 48 points just by making a qualifying run (15 points for making a qualifying run, 3 points for qualifying No. 15 at worst; and 30 points as a first-round loser). 

That leaves just 135 points that Kalitta can pick up if Torrence loses in round one and Kalitta maxes out (earns all eight points as the quickest in both sessions; is the No. 1 qualifier; and wins event) and with a 101-point deficit, that leaves a very narrow path to the title that requires Torrence to earn no more than 34 additional points.

Torrence could earn those 34 points via a combination of session points and/or qualifying position points and winning the first round, or by winning two rounds if he doesn't

There also is a bye run awaiting the No. 1 qualifier, so if Torrence qualifies No. 1, the championship is his regardless of what Kalitta does in eliminations because he'd have earned at least 14 points in qualifying (10 for the No. 1 position and at least four as lowest of at least one session).

There are only a few slim possibilities for Kalitta to win the championship that mostly revolve around Torrence's inability to earn at least four points in qualifying. Should Torrence not get any session bonus points and qualify No. 13-16, it opens up a small window for Kalitta that still requires Kalitta to at least reach the final round and hope for an early exit for Torrence.

Quotable: 
“We have an opportunity to lock up our third championship in three years and we just need to continue what we’ve been doing all season. The bottom line is we know we’re taking a great car to Vegas.  I can’t wait to get started.  I wish we were racing tomorrow.” – Steve Torrence

"We knew the championship would come down to the last race. We have a hole to dig out of for sure. The one thing about this Mac Tools team is we are going to keep fighting. If we get a couple of quick qualifying runs we can make up some ground on Saturday.” – Doug Kalitta