The regular season was filled with drama and excitement, but the real battle for 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Pro titles begins this week with the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at historic Maple Grove Raceway. While much of the focus will be on the leading championship contenders and the regular season champions, history has taught us that there is always room for a surprise winner, and that includes non-Countdown to the Championship drivers.

PlayNHRA, NHRA’s partnerships with leading sports books and fantasy sports providers, will enable fans to sign up for free and legally wager on national events and other outcomes in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

NHRA fans will have the opportunity to engage in fantasy games, gaming, and betting for this event. Betting markets feature the Professional classes, Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, where fans can wager on event winners, low elapsed time of the event, and head-to-head match-ups.

The experts at Alt Sports Data have set the opening lines for this week’s event at Maple Grove Raceway, and they have once again chosen Doug Kalitta, Austin Prock, Greg Anderson, and Gaige Herrera as the pre-race favorites.

Below are the opening odds as provided by Alt Sports Data.

(Note: In American sports betting, odds are typically expressed with a plus (+) or minus (–) symbol followed by a number. For example, +200 signifies the amount a bettor could win if wagering $100. If the bet works out, the player would receive a total payout of $300 ($200 profit + $100 initial stake.)

TOP FUEL
    

Doug Kalitta failed to qualify for the first time in more than 300 races at the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, yet he remains the favorite this week as the Countdown begins in Reading. One bad race should not define an entire season, and that won’t be the case for Kalitta, who arguably has been the best driver/car combination this season. A Tuesday test session in Indy also yielded positive results, putting to rest any speculation of a prolonged slump at Kalitta Motorsports.

Steve Torrence does some of his best work in the Countdown, and Justin Ashley has been extremely consistent for much of this season, which helps explain why they are only slightly behind Kalitta on the leaderboard. The same can be said for Antron Brown, who has multiple wins this season. Recent Indy winner Clay Millican can be had for an attractive +926 price, while two-time world champion Brittany Force is also considered a long shot at +1,061.

FUNNY CAR

So far, Austin Prock has passed every test with flying colors in his first season as a full-time Funny Car pilot. Now, Prock will be tested as never before as the pressure of the Countdown is applied, but there is no reason to think he won’t produce similar results as the regular season, where the Cornwell Tools Chevy team was dominant.

Prock has a slight edge over Matt Hagan, Bob Tasca III, Ron Capps, and J.R. Todd, who are each considered to be championship contenders. The same goes for Jack Beckman, who is filling in for and earning points for sidelined John Force. It also might be worth noting that Chad Green, who made the final round in Reading last season, opened at +1,335 with his Bond Coat Mustang.

PRO STOCK

Fun to watch but hard to handicap; so goes the Pro Stock field in 2024. Greg Anderson comes into Reading as the favorite, but his margin over defending world champion Erica Enders, Dallas Glenn, and red-hot Aaron Stanfield is fairly slim. Anderson can be had for a +509 price, while Enders is essentially the same odds at +547. Stanfield, winner of four of the last six events, including the recent Toyota U.S. Nationals, represents a solid value pick at +898.

Looking for value further down the field? Cory Reed has looked solid in his first few races in the Pro Stock class, while Matt Hartford, who opens at +1,472, made a monster run in the opening round in Indy, albeit in a losing cause.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Reigning world champ Gaige Herrera remains the only racer in all of NHRA who is such an overwhelming favorite that one must lay odds in order to wager on him. Herrera, who ended a two-race losing streak with an impressive victory in Indy, comes in at -202, which means a bettor would have to wager $202 in order to earn $100 profit.

Matt Smith, who is gunning for his seventh NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, represents a bit more value at +421, while Seattle winner Chase Van Sant comes in at +1,197. There is also value in betting John Hall, Jianna Evaristo, Angie Smith, and Hector Arana Jr., who have each won events in the past and have shown positive results at varying points this season.

Opening odds provided by Alt Sports Data (Odds are subject to change).

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