As the calendar turns to July, we’re rapidly approaching the midway point of the 2022 season. So far, the show has been spectacular with record-setting performances, surprise winners, and dominant performances by championship favorites. To that end, we’ve polled a handful of NHRA insiders and come up with our mid-season awards.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE

The Pro Stock class that is supposed to have parity, but Erica Enders is currently having none of that. Through the season’s first eight Pro Stock events, Enders has five wins and a runner-up. Her record is a jaw-dropping 23-3 (and remember, one of those losses came in the Bristol final when her engine broke). Enders two other losses were both on holeshots, but that’s small potatoes compared to the damage she’s currently inflicting on the rest of the class. If we’re handing out grades, she gets an A+. The only question is how long this can continue.

BIGGEST SURPRISE (Season)

Okay, admit it. How many of you thought that the departure of Alan Johnson and Brian Husen would be too much to overcome for Mike Salinas and the Scrappers team? Salinas certainly didn’t feel that way and his decision to hire Rob Flynn is rapidly turning into a stroke of genius. Salinas said he spent a full day with Flynn before offering him the job and was impressed by his calmness and his uncanny ability to recall information from almost any past run and their mutual love of classic rock music didn’t hurt, either. Now, with four wins in the bank, and the points lead, Salinas and Flynn are leading contenders for the title.

SECOND BIGGEST SURPRISE

So, this category was a late addition because we simply couldn't overlook the success of Camrie Caruso in her debut season in Pro Stock. There is nothing simple about driving a Pro Stock car. It’s a fine art and difficult to master. In fact, some drivers never fully get the hang of it. Caruso does not appear to be one of them. Despite her lack of experience, Caruso qualified in her Pomona debut and then put her Titan Engines-powered Camaro on the pole in Houston. She also reached the final of that event. Nine races into her career and Caruso is No. 7 in points and its entirely possible she improves a few notches before the year is over.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

When Tony Schumacher announced his long-awaited return, it was hard not to think that he’d be in the running for a ninth world championship. There is still plenty of time to make that happen but so far, it’s been tough for the sport’s winningest Top Fuel racer as he’s won just five rounds in the first ten events and is 12th in the Camping World standings. Schumacher was ranked No. 7 after Houston, but has one round win in the last six events. The good news is that he’s only 26 points out of tenth place. A few win lights on the Western Swing would be huge for the SCAG/Maynard Family team.

MOST IMPROVED PRO RACER

Mike Salinas would be the easy choice here but honestly, he had a solid season in 2021 with a win in Bristol, three runner-up finishes, and third place in the Countdown to the Championship. We think a better choice is Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Marc Ingwersen. Coming into 2022, Ingwersen had competed in 19 events, but was still looking for his first-round win. He got that in Gainesville when he upset Angelle Sampey and has since scored back-to-back semifinals in Richmond and Bristol. The Ohio-based racer is solidly in the Top 10 and there’s no reason to think he won’t stay there.

BIGGEST SURPRISE (Event)

Tripp Tatum appeared to come out of nowhere to win the Top Fuel title in Gainesville but on second thought, maybe it wasn’t as big a surprise as it would seem. Tatum’s car was built by the Capco team under the direction of Bobby Lagana and it was impressive in its debut last season in St. Louis where he topped Doug Kalitta with a 3.714. Fast forward to Gainesville and Tatum qualified No. 1 with a 3.67 and never ran slower than 3.72 to win his first race as an NHRA pro.

BEST PERFORMANCE (RACE)

A broken engine in the final cost him a shot at his first win, but in terms of driving, Cristian Cuadra’s performance at the Four Wide Nationals in Las Vegas was a work of art. Cuadra knocked over the Christmas Tree on all three elimination rounds with lights of .001, .006, and a .005 in the final. He was nearly a lock to beat Erica Enders, Mason McGaha, and Dallas Glenn in the last quad before his Corral Boots Mustang went silent before the finish line and he had to settle for a runner-up. Honorable mention: Justin Ashley also crushed it during season-opening Top Fuel win in Pomona with four runs between 3.692 and 3.702 and four competitive lights.

RUN(S) OF THE YEAR

This is a tough one. In fact, it could be a tie between Karen Stoffer’s record 6.665 Pro Stock Motorcycle run from Gainesville and Erica Enders’ 6.537 during qualifying for Norwalk but by a slim margin, we’re going with Stoffer. The once-in-a-lifetime weather conditions in Gainesville made it seem obvious that records were in jeopardy and Stoffer delivered with a pair of 6.6-second runs that might not be bettered for a while. Enders’ 6.537 is not the quickest pass of her career (and not even her quickest run this season) but it was .033-second quicker than the rest of the field which is light years in the world of NHRA Pro Stock.

BEST RACE OF THE YEAR

The Pro Stock final in Bristol between Aaron Stanfield and Erica Enders may not have been much of a race in terms of performance, but it makes our list because it was pure entertainment. Stanfield shook the tires as soon as he dumped the clutch, sending Enders to what appeared to be her fourth-straight win. Fate intervened when the Elite Camaro trailed a wall of white smoke after destroying an engine. A quick-thinking Stanfield got his car back into gear and drove by for an unlikely win. The numbers, 8.03 to 8.80 weren’t’ pretty, but that’s a final that fans will long remember.

RISING STAR AWARD

Who’s NHRA’s most promising up-and-coming racer? Let’s see, Camrie Caruso should get some votes and the same for Austin Prock, Trip Tatum, Mike McIntire, Chad Green, Mason McGaha, and the Cuadra brothers, but we’re going with Bobby Bode, especially after his runner-up performance in Houston. The 20-year-old second-generation Funny Car racer has competed in just 16 events, but he strung together consistent runs on Sunday in Houston to make the final, where an engine explosion cost him a shot at his first win. Bode was ahead of Matt Hagan when his Arbee Mustang began to drop cylinders, leading to a body shredding explosion. Afterwards, Bode threw his helmet in disgust, a move that drew criticism from some, but also openly displayed his passion for the sport.

DRIVER OF THE YEAR

Erica Enders? Matt Hagan? Mike Salinas? They’d all make good choices but we can’t overlook the job Kris Thorne has done in the FuelTech Pro Mod series presented by D-Wagon. Thorne has won three of the first four events to take a commanding lead in the series. Thorne’s Camaro has been one of the quickest cars in the class at each event, but he’s also doing his part on the starting line with a string of solid reaction times.

UPSET OF THE YEAR

Cameron Ferre and Mike McIntire Jr. both went to the final round of the Four Wide event in Las Vegas, but for sheer shock value, we’d prefer Rob Passey’s victory against Doug Kalitta in Phoenix or Scott Farley’s victory against Steve Torrence in Epping. In both races, the low qualifier went down against the No. 16 qualifier, which is a rarity in any class. Both races also featured tire smoke by the favorite. In Farley’s case, the win came in his second professional start following a DNQ in Pomona so he’s our pick.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SPORTSMAN RACER

There are a lot to choose from here including Don Meziere’s back-to-back Top Sportsman wins in Pomona and Phoenix and Doug Gordon’s current 18-round win streak in Top Alcohol Funny Car but in a close vote, we opted to go with Greg Stanfield for his continued domination of the Division 4 Super Stock class. A year after winning his fifth championship, Stanfield hasn’t lost a thing as he’s already filled out an impressive scorecard with three wins, a runner-up, and a quarterfinal in the South Central Division. Stanfield is currently leading the race for the national championship, even though he’s attended just one national event. There is still work to be done, but a sixth title seems likely at this point.