NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Greg Anderson has been in first place in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings every day this season, but his lead has never been more tenuous than it is right now with just one race remaining in the 2021 season. Anderson will enter the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals with a narrow 32-point lead over three-time and reigning champ Erica Enders. Las Vegas champ Dallas Glenn (-109 points) and Kyle Koretsky (-186) are also mathematically in the race, but both face long odds against the favorites.
 
A total of 187 points is available for any Camping World Series competitor at the event. Before we start, let’s remind you of how  those points can be accrued:

Performance bonus points are awarded for each of the three qualifying sessions as follows:

Performance bonus points WILL NOT be awarded for any session unable to be completed.

Qualifying positions earn points as follows:

Koretsky’s sophomore season has been better than advertised as he’s got a win in Charlotte to go along with a pair of runner-up finishes, although the only way he could win the title is if Anderson and Enders don’t show up in Pomona, so we know that’s not going to happen.

Glenn’s odds of winning are better, but not by a lot. He’s got 109 points to make up with a total of 187 available, including 120 on race day. The only situation that would allow Glenn to win the title would be for both Anderson and Enders to exit in round one. We’ve all seen some crazy things happen in the last week of the season, but few have been that unlikely.  

Essentially, that leaves Anderson and Enders fighting for the title, and when we say both teams are willing to pull out all the stops in order to help their driver, we mean it.

Last week in Las Vegas, we saw the Elite team qualify three of their drivers at the bottom of the field in order to take out Anderson early. That strategy worked as Troy Coughlin Jr. landed on the bump after three shutoff runs and then handed Anderson his first round-one loss of the season.

Expect that level of gamesmanship to continue in Pomona. Elite drivers are almost certain to play the qualifying game again, but what if the KB Racing team employed a similar move? It’s possible they could counter by having several of their drivers shut off early in order to catch Enders in round one? It’s possible, but orchestrating a perfect match-up isn’t easy, and even if you get it, it still requires a level of execution to get the desired result.

For Anderson, the mission, at least in qualifying, is fairly straightforward because he currently leads Enders by more than 30 points, so she’d need to win two more rounds than him in order to take over the lead. Anderson has been the king of qualifying this season, landing in the top spot in 11 of 16 races, so his odds of maintaining that edge going into Sunday appear to be quite good.

Enders has qualified outside the top eight just once this season, but she’s only qualified No. 1 on time, so the Elite team is going to need to dig deep in order to make it happen. If Enders can somehow cut Anderson’s lead to 29 points or less, she’ll need to win just one more round than he does. If not, she’ll need two more win lights than the HendrickCars.com driver.

The fine print:
All of this happens under the specter of possible centerline violations that would cost either 5 points for crossing the centerline after the finish line and before the 1,320 mark (and going up in five-point increments to a max of 15).

Fact:
When either Anderson or Enders wins championship No. 5, they will join an exclusive fraternity of Pro Stock racers that includes just Bob Glidden (10), Warren Johnson (6), and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (5).

Quotable:
“They [Elite] did what they meant to do, but I'm not giving up. I won't ever give up. I don't hear anybody singing just yet." – Greg Anderson

“The ball is in our court, and I want it when there are seconds left on the clock.” – Erica Enders

TLDR:
If Anderson can maintain his 32 point advantage after qualifying, Enders will need to win two more rounds than him to win a fifth championship.