NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series rounds out a three-race Southwest Swing with the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway. The event is the fourth of the 2023 season and the first of two that will follow the unique format that sends four ground-pounding race cars down the dragstrip at once. 

The thunderous intensity is most prevalently felt in the nitro categories, where Top Fuel's Steve Torrence has come closest to mastering the craft. Of the seven four-wide races that took place between 2017 and 2021, Torrence won all but one in his CAPCO Contractors rail, and he was runner-up at this event last year. Although he has yet to win a race this season, he held the points lead through the first two events and arrives at The Strip No. 2 in the standings. 

Incoming points leader Justin Ashley, driver of the Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster, has yet to reach a final round at a four-wide race, but he is absolutely on a tear this year with back-to-back wins in Phoenix and Pomona. He'd surely like to close the deal on a Southwest Swing sweep, but Mike Salinas and defending event champ Brittany Force have each won two four-wide trophies — and they're the only Top Fuel drivers, aside from Torrence, to have accomplished the feat since 2016. 

The most winning driver in NHRA history has claimed three four-wide Funny Car wins, and John Force will be seeking redemption after a troubling NHRA Winternationals showing. Two weeks ago in Pomona, Force qualified No. 16 and logged a second consecutive first-round loss — a surprising and uncharacteristic display after a steady hand the season before. Not one to stay down for long, odds are on Force and his Peak/Blue DEF Chevrolet Camaro springing back to life at a facility where he has six overall wins. 

The only Funny Car racer to match Force's overall tally at The Strip is reigning world champion Ron Capps. He and his NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra have reached the final round at each of the most recent two events on the 2023 tour, but he has yet to score a trophy this season. Capps claimed victory at this race last year and was also a four-wide winner in Charlotte in 2017. Matt Hagan has two wins on the season and is leading the Funny Car points, but he's yet to score when it comes to four-wide competition. He has, however, been the runner-up at this very event in each of the last two seasons.

In Pro Stock, current and five-time champion Erica Enders has shown that she knows how to get it done when the factory hot rods line up as a quad. She has three wins in this style race, including the last two held in Las Vegas, and is the most winning Pro Stock driver in Las Vegas with an impressive nine overall triumphs. This season, however, has been a dramatic departure from the stature Enders has held in recent years. The 43-time Pro Stock winner has claimed but a single win light thus far in 2023, stunning fans and competitors alike as young Camrie Caruso, the 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year, has emerged as a serious threat. 

Caruso has had no luck as of yet in four-wide competition, but the driver of the Powerbuilt Tools Chevrolet is in the most well-armed race car she's had yet. After earning the first win of her career just a few weeks ago in Phoenix and then qualifying No. 1 at the Winternationals, she's on target to send more shockwaves through the class. 

Troy Coughlin Jr. powered into the new year with a win in Gainesville — the third of his career — and led the points for the first two races, and Pomona winner Dallas Glenn appears to have reawakened his mojo. It would also be unwise to count out Greg Anderson, an eight-time winner in Las Vegas and the only currently competing Pro Stock driver other than Enders to have been victorious in more than one four-wide race. He got it done in Charlotte in both 2011 and 2012. 

2022 EVENT WINNERS

Brittany Force, Top Fuel; Ron Capps, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock

MOST EVENT VICTORIES

Tony Schumacher, 4, TF; Larry Dixon, 4, TF, Robert Hight, 3, FC; Erica Enders, 4, PS.

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.652 sec. by Brittany Force, Nov. ’19; 338.17 mph by B. Force, Nov. ’19

Funny Car - 3.835 sec. by Jack Beckman, Nov. ’19; 335.90 mph by Beckman, Nov. ’19 

Pro Stock - 6.559 seconds by Erica Enders, Oct. '15; 210.28 mph by Enders, Oct. '15.

EVENT SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, April 14 

Lucas Oil Series qualifying and time trials at 8 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. 

Top Alcohol qualifying at 12:45 p.m. and 2 p.m. 

Camping World Series Pro Stock qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

Camping World Series Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at noon and 2:30 p.m. 

SATURDAY, April 15

Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. 

Top Alcohol qualifying at 12:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. 

Camping World Series Pro Stock qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

Camping World Series Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at noon and 2:30 p.m. 

SUNDAY, April 16 

Pre-race ceremonies, 11 a.m. 

Camping World Series eliminations begin at noon

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, April 14, FS1 will televise one and half hours of qualifying highlights at 9:30 p.m. (ET)

SATURDAY, April 15, FS1 will televise one and half hours of qualifying highlights at 9:30 p.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, April 16, FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 9:30 p.m. (ET)

Or watch all day on NHRA.tv