TOP FUEL

The battle for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel title is a competitive one as the lead has changed hands several times since the beginning of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs in Reading. Following his most recent win in Dallas, Justin Ashley enters Las Vegas as the championship leader with a 44-point advantage over Antron Brown. Ashley has appeared in five finals this year and posted three wins in his Scag Power Equipment dragster. He has nine round-wins during the first four races of the Countdown.

Brown, seeking his fourth title, won the first two playoff races in Reading and Charlotte but suffered a rare round-one loss in Dallas to drop from first to second. Brown, a 79-time winner in Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle, also has nine round-wins during the playoffs.

Shawn Langdon, Steve Torrence, and Tony Schumacher, who have each won previous Top Fuel championships, remain in the mix for the title. Langdon is 76 points behind, while four-time champ Torrence is 88 points back, and eight-time champ Schumacher is 105 points out of the lead. The final event of the season in Pomona features an expanded points format (points and a half), so it’s possible to make up a late-season deficit.  

The top seven drivers in Top Fuel are within 133 points of first place, so it’s still possible for someone further down the order, including defending champ Doug Kalitta, to make a late-season run at the title.

FUNNY CAR

There is a possibility that Austin Prock will clinch his first Funny Car title in Las Vegas as he holds a sizable 147-point advantage over his team owner, John Force, who continues to recover from his accident earlier this season and has tabbed Jack Beckman as his replacement driver.

Prock has led the championship standings since Epping in June, and his debut season in the Funny Car class has been one for the ages with seven wins in 10 final rounds. Prock can clinch the title if he leaves Las Vegas with a lead of 196 or more points.

Beckman was nipping at Prock’s heels, but Beckman had to sit out eliminations in Dallas for medical reasons. Beckman is expected to race in Las Vegas, but he’s fallen far enough behind that he’ll need some help in order to bring the title fight to Pomona.

Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, and Bob Tasca III round out the top five in Funny Car, and while they’re all still mathematically in the running for the title, it would take a miraculous turn of events in order for any of them to overtake Prock.

PRO STOCK

When it comes to competitive points battles, look no further than Pro Stock, where the top four drivers, Dallas Glenn, Aaron Stanfield, Greg Anderson, and Erica Enders, are separated by 111 points. While Enders might have a tough time winning her seventh title this season, Stanfield and Anderson are much closer to the front, and neither one is willing to concede at this point.

Glenn, who has five wins in nine final rounds this season, entered the Countdown as the No. 1 driver but slipped to second after the Reading race. He has since regained the lead and holds a 53-point advantage over Stanfield, who is also battling for the Holley EFI NHRA Factory X title. Stanfield’s stats mirror that of Glenn with five victories in nine final rounds.

Anderson kicked off the Countdown with three straight semifinals and added a runner-up in Dallas, but that wasn’t enough to prevent Glenn from opening a 90-point lead. While Enders hasn’t won since Gainesville, she has been consistent with three runner-ups and five semifinal finishes. She has also enjoyed tremendous success in Las Vegas during her career, which leads to the possibility of an 11th-hour rally.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Gaige Herrera hasn’t yet locked up his second straight Pro Stock Motorcycle title, but he’s a heavy favorite thanks to a 62-point lead over six-time champion Matt Smith. Herrera has won nine of the 13 events contested so far this season, including the last two Countdown races held in St. Louis and Dallas. Overall, he has 20 career wins in just 34 starts, which is an NHRA record for any driver in any class.

Smith is nothing if not determined, and he certainly doesn’t believe he’s out of the running for a seventh title. Smith took over the points lead after riding his Denso Buell to a win in Charlotte, and he has qualified no worse than third at any event this season.

When it comes to the championship, the battle is between Herrera and Smith, although Richard Gadson and 2022 Las Vegas winner Hector Arana Jr. are still technically in the running.

In addition to the Mission Foods Series and Holley EFI Factory X class, winners will also be crowned in the Johnson’s Horsepowerd Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock class and nine different NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Sportsman categories, as well as the RoofTec Comp Clash, a special high-dollar bonus race for drivers in Comp eliminator. Las Vegas fans will also be treated to an exhibition by the Legends Nitro Funny Car class.

2023 EVENT WINNERS
Mike Salinas, Top Fuel; Robert Hight, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.652 seconds by Brittany Force, Nov. '19; 338.17 mph by  Force, Nov., ‘19.
Funny Car - 3.816 seconds by Robert Hight, Nov. '23; 335.90 mph by Jack Beckman, Nov. '19.
Pro Stock - 6.552 seconds by Kyle Koretsky, Oct. '23; 210.28 mph by Erica Enders, Oct. '10.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.755 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Oct. ’23; 202.27 by Matt Smith, Nov. ‘22.

NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading; 338.94 mph by B. Force, Nov. ‘22, Pomona
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 339.87 mph by Hight, July ’17, Sonoma
Pro Stock - 6.450 sec. by Erica Enders, Mar. ’22, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Enders, May ’14, Englishtown
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.627 by Gaige Herrera, October ’23, Dallas; 205.04 by Matt Smith, July ’21, Sonoma

SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, November 1: Lucas Oil Series qualifying and time trials at 8 a.m.; Pro Stock qualifying at noon and 2:30 p.m.; Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, November 2: Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8 a.m.; Pro Stock qualifying at noon and 2:30 p.m.; Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, November 3: Pre-race ceremony, 9:30 a.m.; eliminations begin at 11 a.m. (NOTE: Daylight savings time ends on Sunday at 2 a.m.)

TELEVISION
SUNDAY, November 1: FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 3 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, November 3: FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 5 p.m. (ET).
SUNDAY, November 3: FSI will televise a 30-minute post show at 8:30 p.m. (ET)