NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

There is a good chance that at least one professional champion will be crowned today as Pro Stock leader Erica Enders carries a 164 point lead into Sunday’s final eliminations. Should Enders advance two more rounds than rival Aaron Stanfield, she will win her fifth NHRA Camping World Championship. The Pro Stock points battle is just one of the storylines that have developed after two days of qualifying at the NHRA Nevada Nationals, race No. 21 of 22 in the 2022 season.

The championship battles are ongoing in the rest of the pro classes including Top Fuel, where low qualifier Brittany Force is attempting to catch leader Justin Ashley. Force qualified in the No. 1 spot thanks to her impressive 3.66-second run on Friday night. Force will also get a bye run in the opening round due to the 15 car field. Ashley qualified No. 3 with a 3.68 but will have a tough draw in round one as he’s scheduled to race Clay Millican.

The battle for the Funny Car title is the closest of any pro class as just 21 points currently separate leader Robert Hight from reigning champ Ron Capps. Hight has been strong all weekend in Las Vegas as he qualified his Auto Club Camaro in the top spot with a 3.857 and will race Jeff Arend in the opening round of eliminations. Capps finished in the No. 6 spot after a 3.889 in his NAPA Toyota and he’ll race against Jim Campbell in round one. Since they are on opposite sides of the ladder, it’s possible that Hight and Capps could race in the final round.

Incoming leader Matt Smith also made some headway in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points battle as he pursues a record-tying sixth championship. Smith was the leader on Friday with a track record 6.79 and improved to a 6.78 yesterday aboard his Denso Buell. Smith opens eliminations with a race against Katie Sullivan, who finished No. 16 in spite of a competitive 6.95 run on her Suzuki. Joey Gladstone, the rider with the best chance to catch Smith, enters eliminations as the No. 6 seed and his Fatheadz Suzuki is paired against Gainesville winner Karen Stoffer.

Sunday’s schedule in Las Vegas also features the final rounds of the Lucas Oil Drag Racing series, the Summit E.T. Series National championships, and the Red Line Oil Legends Funny Car class. Of particular interest to NHRA fans is the competition debut of three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, who is racing in the Top Alcohol Dragster class with his Mobil 1 dragster. Stewart has won the first two rounds of eliminations to reach the semifinals where he’ll take on former series champ Chris Demke.

You can catch the action all weekend on FOX Sports 1 and NHRA.tv.

You can follow NHRA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to get a closer look at the action.

2021 EVENT WINNERS

Steve Torrence, Top Fuel; Cruz Pedregon, Funny Car; Dallas Glenn, Pro Stock; Steve Johnson, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

TRACK RECORDS:

TOP FUEL
3.652 seconds by Brittany Force, Nov. 2019; 338.17 mph by Brittany Force, Nov. 2019
FUNNY CAR
3.835 seconds by Jack Beckman, Nov. 2019; 336.90 mph by Jack Beckman, Nov. 2019.
PRO STOCK
6.559 seconds by Erica Enders, Oct. 2015; 210.28 mph by Erica Enders, Oct. 2015
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
6.797 seconds by Matt Smith, Oct. 2022; 201.04 by Matt Smith, Oct. 2022.

TV SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, Oct. 30, FS1 will televise one hour of qualifying at 9:30 a.m. (ET) and 90 minutes of qualifying at noon.
SUNDAY, Oct. 30, FS1 will televise 3 hours of finals coverage at 5 p.m. (ET).