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Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Monday preview

After a long day of qualifying, the professional fields are set for the 2019 Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, and today is the day that champions will be crowned at NHRA’s oldest and most prestigious event.
02 Sep 2019
NHRA National Dragster staff
Race coverage
indy

The day that every drag racer dreams of has arrived as champions will be crowned today at the 65th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at historic Lucas Oil Raceway. The fans in Indy have already seen history with the sport's quickest fields in Top Fuel field and nitro Funny Car. At the end of today's racing, racers in 16 different classes will forever be able to say they are U.S. Nationals winners.

Brittany Force will lead the record Top Fuel field in her Advance Auto Parts dragster after running 3.645 on Saturday. Force, the 2017 Mello Yello series champion, will look to lock up the No. 2 seed in the Mello Yello standings beginning with her round one match against T.J. Zizzo. The battle for the final spot in the Countdown will focus on Billy Torrence, defending Indy winner Terry McMillen, and Scott Palmer. There is room for just two of the three drivers and while Torrence is currently No. 1, he is less than one round out of a playoff spot.

The Funny Car field featured a record-tying 15 drivers in the three second zone and a 4.00-second bump spot by Justin Schriefer, who will be paired with low qualifier Jack Beckman in today's opening round. The top eight cars are in the 3.8-second range including incoming points leader Robert Hight who is sixth with a 3.884. The top ten in Funny Car is set after Tim Wilkerson wrapped up the final spot in the Countdown by virtue of his 11th place qualifying effort.

The entire Pro Stock field is separate by less than a tenth of a second but no one was quicker than incoming points leader Bo Butner, who clocked a 6.655 on Saturday to claim the top spot for the third time this season. Butner, who is also competing in the SAM Tech.edu Factory Stock Showdown, will be paired against Kenny Delco in round one. Delco is currently locked in a battle with Fernando Cuadra Sr. for the final playoff spot, and holds a slim one-point edge going into  eliminations.

Angelle Sampey was the low qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle for the first time in three years and the first time since she joined the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team after her 6.816 on Saturday. Sampey racked up ten qualifying  bonus points through the five sessions which should be helpful in her quest to secure a playoff berth. The top five qualifiers; Sampey, Matt Smith, Andrew Hines, Hector Arana Jr., and Eddie Kraweic, are all former Indy winners.

In addition to eliminations for Mello Yello series pros, Monday's action packed schedule at Indy will include final eliminations in Pro Mod, Top Fuel Harley, Factory Stock, the Lucas Oil sportsman classes.

You can catch the action live on the FOX Sports 1, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern Today and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on FOX broadcast network. All the action is broadcast live on NHRA.tv, and the full TV schedule is available here at any time.

Whether you’re in Pomona, Indianapolis, or anywhere else around the world, you can follow NHRA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to get a closer look at the action.

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