NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The battle for the world title in Stock Eliminator came to a thrilling conclusion on Saturday morning in Las Vegas, where Division 1 racer Russ “Bubba” Linke earned hist first title.

Linke set the bar high with a 677 point score, and elected to stay at his home in New Jersey rather than attend the final events of the season in Las Vegas and Pomona.

There were a handful of drivers with a mathematical chance to catch Linke, but one by one, they fell by the wayside during this weekend’s Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Direct Connection. Two of the contenders, Parker Theobald and former champ Kyle Rizzoli, met in the third round of eliminations where Rizzoli prevailed, knocking Theobald from contention.

A round later, Rizzoli suffered a similar fate when he lost a close race against Chris Hall, securing the title in Linke’s favor.

A frequent Top 10 finisher, Linke enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career in 2025 with a win at the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte to go with a semifinals showings in Epping and Reading. In Lucas Oil Series divisional events, Linke was particularly effective with a win and a runner-up at the Virginia Motorsports Park double-header to go with another runner-up in Numidia to go with late round finishes in Epping and Reading.

Linke won his first national event in 2011, beating Dan Fletcher to win the Gatornationals Stock title. He has since added additional Stock titles in Reading in 2014 and 2024 to go with his victory this season in Charlotte. On the divisional side, Linke has nine wins dating back to the 2005 season.

Linke joins a list of newly-crowned 2025 champions that already includes Mark Pawuk (FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown), Lenny Lottig (Holley EFI Factory X), John DeFlorian (Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock), and Larry “Spiderman” McBride (Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle).

The rest of the professional and sportsman titles are still up for grabs although several could be clinched this weekend in Las Vegas. The next titles to be decided could be in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. Shawn Cowie is the leader in Top Alcohol Dragster and will clinch the title if Joey Severance is eliminated. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, four-time world champ Sean Bellemeur holds a commanding lead with Brian Hough the only driver with a mathematical chance to catch him. Hough also must win this week's event in Las Vegas.