It’s one race to go in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship and three remaining champions to be crowned.
At the NHRA Nevada Nationals last weekend, Erica Enders secured her fifth world title in the Pro Stock category, successfully ending her “Drive For Five” campaign.
However, the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle championships are still undecided entering the Nov. 10-13 Auto Club NHRA Finals at the In-N-Out Pomona (Calif.) Dragstrip. With the final round boasting points-and-a-half structure, there is still hope for those who remain in the chase.
Enders Clinches Championship No. 5
Enders collected her sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season at The Strip @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, making a 6.579-second pass at 208.75 mph. She inched closer to the championship with every round win, securing the title with her semifinal victory against KB Racing’s Kyle Koretsky.
However, the Elite Motorsports driver didn’t stop there. She launched off the start in the final round of eliminations, defeating Troy Coughlin Jr. with a 6.640-second elapsed time and taking her 10th victory of the season.
“We set out like we set out every year, to go out and win as many races as we can and to ultimately win the world championship,” Enders said. “You’ve got to get up and be hungry and fight tooth and nail every week.”
By the end of the Nevada Nationals, Enders’ unrelenting dominance led to a 224-point lead over her teammate Aaron Stanfield, allowing her to secure the championship one weekend early.
“It’s hard to put everything out of your mind and make your stomach and your nerves calm,” Enders said. “It was a tough day for me …. but I’m glad we parked it in the winner’s circle.”
Now a five-time Pro Stock world champion, Enders has joined an incredibly exclusive group of drivers who have managed to achieve the same feat — including the likes of Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and current competitor Greg Anderson.
Ashley Stumbles, Force Gains Ground
Brittany Force skyrocketed back into the championship conversation with a strong qualifying run at the Nevada Nationals, picking up her ninth No. 1 qualifier of the season. During Sunday’s eliminations, Force defeated Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Mike Salinas on her way to her first event win since the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in late July. It was her first win of the Countdown and her fifth victory of the season.
“We’ve struggled the entire Countdown. We started to make ground last weekend and I screwed up,” Force admitted. “To feel like I held [my team] back when we’re in the hunt for this championship, there’s no worse feeling.”
In the first four races of the six-race Countdown, Force failed to make it past the quarterfinal round of eliminations. Despite her dominance during the regular season, Justin Ashley has held the points lead throughout the playoffs in his Phillips Connect dragster.
It all changed in Sin City as Ashley took an uncharacteristic loss in the first round, while Force stormed into the winner’s circle. Heading into Pomona, Force has a seven-point lead over Ashley and a 66-point lead over Salinas.
“You have to be humble as a team and know that you can lose it at any second,” Force said. “We want that No. 1, we want it so bad, and we’re going to chase this thing to the end.”
Hight vs. Hagan In Funny Car
Funny Car points leader Robert Hight might’ve been the man to beat in qualifying, but Matt Hagan was rock solid during eliminations at the Nevada Nationals. Hight was searching for a comeback after his recent defeat during the semifinals at the Texas NHRA FallNationals.
It appeared the John Force Racing driver would get his wish as he picked up the No. 1 qualifier in Nevada and bested Terry Haddock, Alexis DeJoria and J.R. Todd on his way to the final round. However, Hagan was also enjoying a near-perfect day as he bested Steven Densham, Chad Green and Bob Tasca III to reach the finals.
Before the two Funny Car veterans faced off in the finals, Hagan recalled a conversation he shared with Hight earlier in the weekend.
“I walked up to him and said, ‘I don’t know how this stuff ends up man, but tip of the cap to you,’” Hagan recalled. “Anybody that wins eight or nine races in a Funny Car, you’ve done something.”
Armed with respect for one another and an inevitable will to win, Hight and Hagan took off down the dragstrip as the green light flashed at the starting line. Hagan quickly pulled ahead in his Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car as Hight smoked the tires. Hagan’s performance placed him third in points, two points behind second-place Ron Capps and 63 points behind Hight.
Hagan and Hight are each chasing a fourth Funny Car title, while Capps is in line to earn his third championship and second in as many years.
“I think anything’s possible,” Hagan said. “It’s always to the end, it’s always to the last race and you just never know how it’s going to happen.”