NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The three-race Western Swing is the gateway to the home stretch of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series regular season that sets the contenders for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs and a pivotal time for teams trying to establish dominance or just to get back into the fight.

This week we’ll share a class-by-class look at those who prospered and those who floundered during the annual trek through Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle, wrapping up with Pro Stock. [Top Fuel recap | Funny Car recap]

• Aaron Stanfield actually outpointed his teammate and points leader, Erica Enders, over the three-race swing, but only by two points, which lightly dented her incoming points lead from 105 to 103.
• The wings of Enders' otherwise soaring Western Swing were clipped early by an upset loss in round one of Denver, but she went on to win seven of the eight remaining rounds, with a win in Sonoma and a runner-up in Seattle.
• Stanfield went to at least the semifinals of all three races, highlighted by a runner-up in Denver, showing that consistency is as important as flash.
• Kyle Korestky remains the ultimate example of "steady as she goes" as the Lucas Oil driver sits in third place despite reaching only one final round all season (a runner-up in Gainesville). He remained in third thanks to a trio of round-wins over the Swing, though his margin over his fourth-place pursuer shrank from 86 (over Dallas Glenn, entering the Swing) to 47 (over Greg Anderson, exiting the Swing).
• A runner-up in Sonoma and a semifinal in Seattle lifted Greg Anderson past Dallas Glenn into fourth as Glenn won just two rounds over the three races.
• Mason McGaha trod water in sixth place but now has Seattle winner Troy Coughlin Jr. breathing down his neck, just one point back in seventh. A semifinal in Denver and the Seattle win boosted Coughlin from 12th to fifth, making him the biggest position gainer of any class during the Swing.
• Rookie Camrie Caruso dropped from seventh to eighth after winning just one round while Deric Kramer disastrously dropped three spots, going from eighth to outside the Top 10 in the 11th position after losing in the first round of all three events. The news got even worse for Kramer, who lost two qualifying runs in Seattle and thus lost his Countdown qualifying-run eligibility and will now have to earn his way in via points.
• Matt Hartford started the Swing ninth, climbed to seventh with his Denver win, then dropped back to ninth after a first-round exit in Seattle. Bo Butner remained in 10th thanks to a pair of first-round wins in Denver and Sonoma.
• Fernando Cuadra Jr., Cristian Cuadra, Chris McGaha, and Fernando Cuadra Jr. remained in double-digit spots, but all are scheduled to qualify for the Countdown based on meeting the qualifying-run requirements.