NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Heading into the 2022 Camping World NHRA Drag Racing season; Steve Torrence is the undisputed king of the Top Fuel class until someone says otherwise. The Capco team is riding a wave of four straight championships and since 2018. They’ve also won 33 of 78 races in that span. For those keeping score, that’s an impressive 42-percent clip.

Torrence might well win a fifth title in 2022, in fact he’s easily the favorite to do so, but this season figures to be different. By different, we mean it’s going to be much more competitive out there. There will be more entries, and more importantly, there are more quality entries to fight for round wins, race wins, playoff spots and ultimately, the Camping World championship.

Below, we’ve highlighted several areas which lead us to believe that Top Fuel 2022 is going to exceed all expectations.

MORE CARS AND BETTER CARS

By our count, there are currently a dozen teams committed to a full 22-race season in Top Fuel with at least 10-12 more very competitive part-time entries scattered around the country.

The sheer number of Top Fuel cars currently active should all but cure the issue of short fields. There might be one or two races that draw 14-15 cars but the greater expectation is that qualifying will no longer be automatic and some of the more popular events could attract 20-plus entries resulting in some very stout bump spots. The Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals is still seven months away but it’s very possible there will be well north of 20 cars battling for 16 spots.

Not only are there more cars this season, but the quality of entries has improved across the board. The top cars routinely run in the 3.6s when conditions allow, but the number of cars capable of running mid 3.7s or quicker has increased dramatically. Case in point, former Pro Stock racer Alex Laughlin has made just a handful of runs in a Top Fuel dragster but he’s already run as quick as 3.75. Doug Foley and T.J. Zizzo’s personal bests are also 3.75 while it took Tripp Tatum just a few runs to run 3.71 in his Lagana brother’s prepared entry.

DISTRIBUTION OF TALENT

Each November, normally just hours after the season ends in Pomona, there’s an unmistakable rumble through the streets of Brownsburg or Ypsilanti or anywhere else that nitro cars reside as toolboxes roll from one shop to another. The crew chief shuffle has become a big part of the annual NHRA “silly season’ where rumors often become reality.

This season’s biggest moves include Alan Johnson, Brian Husen, and Jake McCulloch heading to Kalitta Motorsports, a move that was recently announced, just two weeks ahead of the Pomona season-opener.

Aaron Brooks, long regarded as one of the most versatile crew chiefs in the sport, has landed at Foley & Lewis Racing, a team that has made a big commitment to improving their competitiveness this season.

Mike Green has also settled in as the tuner of Justin Ashley’s dragster and he’ll now benefit from the experience of new assistant Tommy DeLago while Rob Flynn, formerly of Kalitta Motorsports, has been confirmed as the new crew chief for Mike Salinas and the Scrappers team this year.

More recently, multi-time championship winning crew chief Rahn Tobler has been lured out of retirement to join Joe Barlam on Austin Prock’s Montana Brands/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster.

Long story short, this is a good time to be a qualified nitro tuner.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

This year, the Top Fuel class will greatly benefit from the return of eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher and past rookie of the year Austin Prock, who are both committed to a full season. Fan favorite Terry McMillen is also planning on coming back at select races as part of Dan Mercier’s team.

It might be easy to assume that after eight world titles and 85 wins Schumacher might not have much left to prove but that’s clearly not the case. Fans might remember that Schumacher made a few spot appearances during the Covid shortened 2020 season and didn’t look the least bit rusty, especially in Houston where he won his 85th title following a dramatic final round with Steve Torrence.

Schumacher is returning with the help of the Maynard family, and he’s also signed Scag Mowers as a partner. He’s also got veteran crew chief Todd Okuhara in his corner, and this will be the only full-time nitro car run out of the DSR stable this season.

As for Prock, his career was progressing nicely until it was interrupted by Covid early in 2020. Prock not only won the rookie of the year award in 2019, but also bagged his first win in Seattle and had five additional semifinal finishes. Prock also got a chance to race last season in Norwalk when Clay Millican was sidelined by a medical issue. He also showed no signs of rust with a semifinal showing in the Parts Plus dragster.

McMillen was also affected by Covid as the former Indy winner suddenly found himself without sponsorship and ultimately sold off his equipment to former alcohol racer Mercier. There proved to be a silver lining as Mercer has enlisted McMillen to drive at a handful of events this season including Indy.

DOMINATION OR PARITY (OR BOTH)?

Believe it or not, when it comes to NHRA Top Fuel racing, you can have your cake and eat it too, at least when it comes to parity.

Torrence might well dominate again, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a wide variety of other winners in the class.
For reference, let’s take a look back at a couple of other noteworthy seasons to see exactly how this works.

In 2008, Tony Schumacher put together what is arguably the greatest season of all time with 15 wins in 24 races, yet there were still eight different winners that season including first-time winner Hillary Will and Antron Brown and Larry Dixon, who each won twice. That might or might not fit one’s definition of parity, but its nice to see some different winners from time to time.

More recently, Steve Torrence put together another famous run to remember in 2018 when he won 11 of 24 events including all six Countdown races. Despite Torrence’s domination, there were still 11 total winners that season including some very interesting ones. That season, Blake Alexander authored a breakout performance with a pair of wins. Clay Millican also scored twice that year while Terry McMillen took home the sports biggest prize, a U.S. Nationals victory.

Since 1997, when the NHRA season expanded to 22 races for the first time, there have been at least seven different winners in 21 of 25 seasons. The fewest number of Top Fuel winners in any season has been five, and that happened just twice (2003, 2010).

On three occasions, there have been 11 different winners and given the number of competitive entries currently out there, that mark could easily be in jeopardy.

By this point, no one should need further convincing that the 2022 Top Fuel season will be amazing, but we’ll offer up one final thought in regards to the bump spot record, which currently stands at a modest 3.775 from the 2019 U.S. Nationals. To put it bluntly, it’s toast. Kaput. Finished. Smart money says that number is exceeded several times this season, possibly as early as Pomona or Phoenix.