NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With the “Eastern Swing” behind us and a rare weekend off, let’s take a moment to reset before the Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. To do that, we’re going to break down the winners, losers, and who broke even during the four in a row that started in Epping and ended last week in Norwalk.

Let’s go class by class, starting with Top Fuel. 

TOP FUEL

Winners

Steve Torrence: The Kilgore, Texas, native left Topeka with 691 points and in second place behind rival Leah Pritchett. In four races, he earned a whopping 380 points, picked up a pair of Wallys, and, most importantly, moved into first place. Torrence went from trailing by 30 points to leading Top Fuel by 50 points; that’s a solid 80-point swing for the Texan, who’s enjoying his best season ever. 

Brittany Force: Steve Torrence is the only driver who picked up more points than Brittany Force during the Eastern Swing. The Monster Energy pilot earned her first Wally of the season, went 9-3 in elimination rounds, and banked a whopping 329 points while moving from seventh to sixth place. That might not sound like much of a move, but it did a lot to move her from the “also-rans” to the “contender” category; she enters Chicago just 47 points behind Doug Kalitta.

Leah Pritchett and Antron Brown: No, this isn’t cheating. Leah Pritchett and Antron Brown earned 300 and 310 points and sit in second and third place, respectively, as Don Schumacher Racing sets its sights on Torrence. That probably suits the Texan just fine; heck, I can’t imagine it bothers Pritchett nor Brown much, either. While Pritchett hasn’t won since Houston, she’s consistently gone rounds on Sunday, and it wouldn’t be wise to count out back-to-back champ Brown. 

Losers

Shawn Langdon: The former world champ entered the Eastern Swing in 11th place with 173 points, 103 points behind Scott Palmer for 10th place. In four races, the former Top Fuel world champion lost five points on the CatSpot Kitty Litter pilot, putting himself behind the eight ball as he hunts a Countdown spot. With six races to go, Langdon needs to pick up an average of 18 points a race (about a round-win a race) to get into the playoffs.  

Tony Schumacher: Most of Don Schumacher Racing’s Top Fuel contingent really enjoyed the Eastern Swing. The Army car? Yeah, not so much. Schumacher turned on the win light just twice in four races and added only 183 points to his bank account. The good news is that Schumacher managed to stay in fourth place thanks to building a big cushion early in the season. The bad news? That lead over Kalitta has dropped from 134 points to 75. 

Troy Coughlin Jr.:  Listen, it’s not easy to drive a Top Fuel car. Troy Coughlin Jr. has proven he’s one of the best drivers in drag racing, but it’s taken the rookie a little bit longer than expected to get the hang of his SealMaster dragster. He banked just 137 points during the Eastern Swing and now sits in a tie for ninth place with Scott Palmer; that leaves him exposed as teammate Langdon guns for a Countdown spot. 

Breaking even

Scott Palmer and Terry McMillen: While Shawn Langdon is kicking himself for not making up any ground during the four-race swing, Palmer and McMillen can breathe a sigh of relief for treading water. Palmer won three rounds (and should have won a fourth, but went red against Pritchett), while McMillen struggled after blowing up in Epping. For independent drivers, it’s all about survival. They did that during the toughest part of the season: that’s mission accomplished. 

FUNNY CAR

Winners

Jack Beckman: It took some time for Beckman’s new crew to get everything together, and maybe a little bit of luck, but “Fast Jack” got on a roll during the Eastern Swing to the tune of 353 points, an 11-2 record, and a pair of Wallys. He also moved up from fifth to third, matched last season’s total of event victories, and earned the most points of any Funny Car driver in that span. Not bad for the Infinite Hero team. 

Don Schumacher Racing:  It’s been a phenomenal season for DSR in both nitro classes, but the crew has been particularly unstoppable in Funny Car. Eleven of the 12 Wallys have gone back to its Brownsburg, Ind., shop, and that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon. The four DSR cars (Beckman, Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, and Tommy Johnson Jr.) were in the top five points-getters during the Eastern Swing and are all in the top five of the Funny Car standings entering Chicago. Not too shabby. 

Robert Hight: Yes, he’s still looking for that first Wally of the season, but so are all but five other Funny Cars. Hight and crew chief Jimmy Prock earned 291 points during the Eastern Swing, fourth-most in the class, and hung on to fourth place in the process. They reached the final round in Norwalk and appear to be right on the edge of breaking through for their first win of the season. 

Losers

John Force: The 16-time champion has looked like anything but his old self in recent weeks. He turned on the win light just twice during the four-race road trip and earned only 159 points. That sent Force down from third place all the way to seventh, where he holds a comfortable 158-point lead over Tim Wilkerson. Still, Force is anything but comfortable with the way he’s racing right now.  

Jim Campbell: It all started so well for Campbell and Jim Dunn Racing. The team reached the semifinals in Phoenix and picked up a round-win at the following event in Gainesville. Since then, the team hasn’t earned a single round-win. They’re still in contention for a Countdown spot, but something must change soon as it appears Alexis DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon are finding their groove. 

Standing pat

Cruz Pedregon, Alexis DeJoria: The two Toyota drivers added nearly identical points (174 and 173, respectively). That helped Pedregon move from 13th to 10th, while DeJoria is stuck in 14th thanks to missing three races before the Eastern Swing. It’s not the big push either of them would like to have made during the four-in-a-row stretch, but Pedregon is in a playoff spot, and DeJoria is in striking distance. They’ll take it. 

J.R. Todd: He’s new to the class, still (relatively) comfortably in a playoff spot and that’s all despite winning only one round since the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. It’s not great, but it’s also not panic time for the Yella Fellas. Not yet, anyway. They’ve got an 82-point cushion to work with, and they’re working on their tune up, so, let’s see how things play out at the next two races before worrying. 

Tim Wilkerson: If it were anyone other than Tim Wilkerson, I might get a little worried, but come on, it’s Wilk we’re talking about. He added 165 points and moved up a spot after getting just one round-win in four races. He’s going to be just fine. 

PRO STOCK

Winners

Bo Butner: Nobody earned more points in a Pro class during the Eastern Swing than Butner. The 397 points he picked up are 76.35 percent of the maximum possible during a four-race span. He only took home one Wally during that stretch, but he reached two finals, qualified No. 1 in Englishtown, and posted an 11-3 round record. That has him in first place with a 126-point lead. Yep, Bo knows Pro Stock alright. 

Greg Anderson: Lest we forget Butner’s KB Racing teammate, Anderson had a pretty good time during the Eastern Swing, too. His 295 points extended his lead on second place while he reached two finals (mixed in with two first-round exists). The veteran won’t be happy with that inconsistency, but he knows he’s got a great car right now. 

Tanner Gray: One of those first-round exits Anderson took? Yeah, that was against rookie Gray, who has shown a real penchant for irritating the veterans in Pro Stock this season. Another KB Racing member, Jason Line, got the best of Gray in Norwalk, but Gray’s 277 points over four races kept him in third place. He’s the front-runner for rookie of the year and for good reason: his two Wallys, three finals, and four semifinal finishes make him a contender for a Pro Stock title in his first season. The kid is for real. 

Losers

Alan Prusiensky: An opportunity to get into the Countdown presented itself as Shane Gray and Chris McGaha both sat out all but one of the four Eastern Swing races. Alan Prusiensky didn’t earn a round-win during that stretch, banking just 143 points and staying in 12th place during that time. He’s 54 points behind Allen Johnson, who sits in 10th place as we head to Chicago. 

Jason Line: It wasn’t exactly a bad stretch for the defending champion, but it wasn’t all that good, either. Line earned the seventh-most points in Pro Stock (205) and stayed in fifth place behind Butner, Anderson, Gray, and Jeg Coughlin Jr. His grip on fifth isn’t secure, either. Sixth-place driver Erica Enders is 91 points behind Line, and Vincent Nobile, who sits in seventh, gained 51 points on the veteran over the four-race swing. 

Glass half empty or half full?

Allen Johnson: The good news for Allen Johnson is that he moved from 11th to 10th place during the Eastern Swing. That bad news is he did so by winning just two rounds and passing Shane Gray, who was idle for all but one race. If Prusiensky makes a push and John Gaydosh Jr. runs the rest of the regular season, things could get tight for the veteran. The ace up Johnson’s sleeve? Denver is still on the horizon.