NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

J.R. Todd launched a salvo from the bottom half of the Funny Car table Sunday at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals, reminding the NHRA Drag Racing community the chase for a championship is just getting started. Well, sort of. Todd’s region of the standings has been more interesting for most of the season, and while his win (and Tim Wilkerson’s final-round appearance)  has (probably) ensconced them both in Countdown to the Championship safety, there’s still plenty to decide.

While 10^th place is still very much up in the air, the top half of the field, led by Don Schumacher Racing, picked up and ran away with things very, very early. A cursory look at the standings might not mean much to the casual fan; but if you’ve been following Funny Car for long enough, you might suspect this year is different. You’re not wrong.

Let’s start with Ron Capps' ridiculous 1,276 points and six Wallys after 15 races. That’s 62 more points and two more trophies than he had at this point a season ago. Back-to-back first-round losses to Tommy Johnson Jr. has slowed the defending champion’s pace, but don’t be fooled: he’s banked a ludicrous number of points. Just look back at the history of the Countdown to the Championship era.

Since launching the Countdown in 2007, nobody has surpassed the 1,276 points accumulated by Capps through 15 races. The closest? The 1,216 grabbed by Robert Hight after Sonoma in 2014. He went onto a fifth-place finish that season. The average points through 15 races in the Countdown era is 1,139.64 points, putting Capps 136.36 above average this season.

Then there’s Cruz Pedregon holding the 10^th place bump spot with 570 points, by far the fewest through 15 races since the Countdown was instituted. The lowest up to this point was back in 2008 when Jack Beckman had 632 points after 15 events. If Pedregon continues to accumulate points at this rate (38 points a race) he’ll end up with 684 points. That would be 108 fewer points than the 802 it took in the 2014 season, the previous low it took to get into the Countdown.*

So, what gives? Why are the points in Funny Car so top heavy while the battle between 10^th-14^th is so fierce? It depends on who you talk to; because, rest assured, everyone has an answer. But, as usual, it’s never as simple as one answer. Let’s dive into why this flopper season has been one of the strangest of the decade, starting with the top.

Yes, Don Schumacher Racing has been really, really good

Okay, this is the obvious one, right? Last season the DSR cars finished first, second, third, and fifth. Did you really think they were going to take a step backwards this season? If so, go ahead and pass that Mello Yello over here. Capps and Rahn Tobler picked right up where they left off, and when those guys haven’t won, the rest of the DSR cars have feasted on the rest of the field. That brings us to the next point.

John Force Racing hasn’t taken advantage of its resources

John Force will be the first to tell you he hasn’t been good enough in the driver’s seat this year. Yep, he got that win in Gainesville, but in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport, the GOAT hasn’t done much. That’s left the door wide open for DSR; and while Courtney Force has a closet filled with green low-qualifier hats, crew chief Dan Hood and company haven’t found a great Sunday combination yet.

Meanwhile, Robert Hight has been just about the unluckiest guy in drag racing. It took them a little bit of time to dial things in, and at times their aggression has bit them, but that team should have more than one Wally this season. After a win in Denver, it looks like things might be changing for one third of the Force Funny Car operation.

Moving parts at Kalitta Motorsports

It’s been a weird season over at Kalitta Motorsports.  Funny Car rookie Todd just got his first win in a Funny Car after treading water during the first half of the season. Teammate Alexis DeJoria missed three races, putting her firmly behind the eight ball when she returned. Neither car performed well enough early to give either driver much cushion to work with, and that’s made a big difference as everyone starts to gear up for the Countdown.

Yes, Todd now has a win under his belt and DeJoria looks to have a car that can win a race. She probably has to in order to get into the Countdown. DeJoria trails Pedregon by 73 points and needs to pass four drivers, including Cruzer, to get into 10^th place. That’s a steep mountain to climb with a car that’s averaged 4.024-second passes this season (runs slower than 4.5 seconds removed).

Transition years for veteran drivers

Speaking of Pedregon, we knew this was going to be a year of transition with a new crew chief (Aaron Brooks) and a whole bunch of new parts. So, perhaps it shouldn’t be such a surprise that the Cruzer finds himself hanging onto 10^th place this deep into the season after missing out on the Countdown a season ago. It looks like his program is turning around, judging by a semifinal finish in Denver, but half a season spent testing on race day makes it tough to earn points.

Which leads us to Del Worsham, who left Kalitta Motorsports to race with his father, Chuck. Leaving the team he won a title with in 2015 to drive the rig and race the Lucas Oil flopper wasn’t going to be easy; and it hasn’t been. He’s got four round wins after 15 races; he had that many round wins two races into the 2016 campaign. Oof.

New faces in new places

While Worsham and Pedregon are anything but newbies, some of the contenders for Countdown spots this year are relative newcomers to the sport. Jim Campbell is a sophomore driver in his first full season, while Jonnie Lindberg is making a run for the Auto Club Road to the Future award. That lack of experience, in addition to driving for smaller teams, puts them at a disadvantage compared to the legion of cars operating out of DSR’s garage.

Dancing with someone else’s date

The first round of Sonoma’s Funny Car Sunday started with team racing’s biggest nightmare: two dates with teammates. Capps vs. Tommy Johnson Jr. and Todd vs. DeJoria. The DSR contingent has done a remarkable job of avoiding that this year; at least, until Capps and Johnson Jr. have made it a habit the last two races. That all starts with good qualifying.

You can’t race your teammate in the first round if everybody ends up in the quick half of the field, and that’s been happening a lot. Here are the average qualifying positions for the DSR floppers: Matt Hagan (4.7), Capps (6.1), Beckman (6.3), and Johnson Jr. (6.7). That’s a good way to avoid an awkward first dance.

That’s paid off in the following stat that will make everyone competing against Don Schumacher sick: DSR has had at least two Funny Cars in the semi’s in all but three races this year. They had all four in the Bristol semifinals, three in the Four-Wide final, and have brought home the Wally 12 of 15 times this season. Efficient.

All that adds up to a season unlike one we’ve seen before in Funny Car. If there’s hope for those at the bottom of the table, it’s that the DSR contingent has struggled the last two races. Capps took back-to-back first round losses for the first time since 2015, Hagan hasn’t found a successful combination since arriving in Denver, and the two-race winless streak for DSR’s Funny Cars is the longest of the season.

With three races to go, including the points-and-a-half spectacle that is the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, there’s still plenty of time for this very weird season to get weirder. I can’t wait.

*In 2007, only eight cars qualified for the Countdown. The 10^th place spot, held by Kenny Bernstein, had 739 points. From 2008 on, 10 cars qualified for the Countdown.