NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The three-race Western Swing is the gateway to the home stretch of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series regular season that sets the contenders for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs and a pivotal time for teams trying to establish dominance or just to get back into the fight.

This week we’ll share a class-by-class look at those who prospered and those who floundered during the annual trek through Denver, Seattle, and Sonoma, beginning with Top Fuel.

Justin Ashley entered and exited the Western Swing as the Top Fuel points leader, but with a win in Seattle and semifinals in Denver and Sonoma, Steve Torrence cut Ashley’s lead by two-thirds, from 97 points to just 32.

Torrence also banked some extra Countdown reset points by winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in both Seattle and Sonoma.

Torrence, who briefly took over the points lead in Seatte before surrendering it back to Ashley in Sonoma, collected the most points of any Top Fuel driver, earning 274 of a possible 387 markers available.

Were it not for a much-needed win in Sonoma, Ashley’s Swing could have been the stuff of real nightmares. After winning the Mission Challenge there, he lost in round one in Denver and fell in round two in Seattle before winning in Sonoma. His 209 points were just fourth best among the totals earned by Top Fuel drivers during the Swing.

Clay Millican earned the second-most Top Fuel points (231) thanks to his win in Denver and a semifinal in Seattle and moved from 12th place to 10th. The position gain might have been much better had it not been for a lackluster pre-Swing season that left his Parts Plus team in a bit of a hole.

Though she remained winless on the season, reigning world champ Brittany Force did climb up one position, from fourth to third, thanks to a tough three-race stretch by Leah Pruett, who she passed. Still, Force’s 146-point intake was just the ninth best of the 12 drivers tracked, and she netted just one round-win over the three races (in Seattle).

Hot off her win in Norwalk, Leah Pruett failed to win a single round in each of the three Swing races, accumulating just 98 points and dropping to fifth behind Antron Brown. Oddly, Pruett was last year's hero of the Western Swing, when she moved up four positions over the three events.

Antron Brown, the last driver to sweep the Western Swing (2009) before Gaige Herrera did it this year in Pro Stock Motorcycle, moved up two spots, from sixth to fourth, after picking up 190 points, thanks largely to his Sonoma runner-up, which came after just one round-win in the previous two races.

Austin Prock netted just 127 points in the Swing and dropped one spot, from fifth to sixth, after winning just one round over the three events, in Sonoma.

Doug Kalitta jumped two spots in the points, from seventh to ninth, on the strength of back-to-back runner-ups in Denver and Seattle, and his 230 accrued points were third most in the class, behind Torrence and Millican. 

Despite qualifying No. 1 in Seattle and winning rounds in both Denver and Seattle, Mike Salinas dropped one spot, from seventh to eighth.

Josh Hart had a respectable Western Swing, notching a semifinal in Sonoma and a quarterfinal finish in Denver to accrue 164 points (seventh most) but still dropped one spot to ninth.

Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher dropped one spot each, to No. 11 and 12, respectively, as Clay Millican scrambled past both. Langdon’s 190 points tied for fifth most during the Swing after semifinal finishes in Denver and Seattle, while Schumacher’s woes continued as he added just 96 points – worst among the top 12 – and a trio of first-round losses.