The 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series draws to a close in just a few short weeks with the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, and the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 12-15.
The competition in all four Professional categories is expected to be heated, with Full Throttle world championships hanging in the balance for the final two races. In Top Fuel and Funny Car, the number of spoilers will in some cases double the number of NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship participants as NHRA announced that both nitromethane classes have the largest number of entries for any race this year.
For the Las Vegas event, the entry totals in Top Fuel and Funny Car are 25 and 20, respectively. For the season finale at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, 24 Top Fuel cars are entered, and 20 are registered in Funny Car. For the Las Vegas event, pre-entries total 721 race vehicles in the Professional and Sportsman ranks, compared to 562 in 2008.
Also significant is the number of Top Alcohol Dragsters and Top Alcohol Funny Cars entered in both races to compete in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. To date, 27 Top Alcohol Dragsters and 25 Top Alcohol Funny Cars are entered for the Las Vegas event, and 25 Top Alcohol Dragsters and 27 Funny Cars are registered for Pomona.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hector Arana, rider of the Lucas Oil Buell, has a 28-point lead over defending world champ Eddie Krawiec and his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team heading into the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
Mike Edwards, who drove the ART/Young Life Pontiac GXP to a dominating performance in Richmond and earned the maximum 150 points, all but clinched the NHRA Full Throttle world championship in Pro Stock. The only team with a legitimate shot to prevent that is the Las Vegas-based Ken Black Racing team, led by Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP, who trail Edwards by 128 points.
In Funny Car, six drivers can still stake legitimate claims to the NHRA Full Throttle world championship, led by points leader Robert Hight. Hight, who drives the Auto Club Ford Mustang, sits 13 points ahead of teammate Ashley Force Hood. Force Hood is trying to become the first female world champion in the Funny Car class. Tony Pedregon, Ron Capps, and Tim Wilkerson are in a logjam in third through fifth. In sixth is Jack Beckman, driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger, who is 86 points behind Hight with two races remaining.
Top Fuel is a four-driver battle for the championship. Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army dragster team are 47 points ahead of Larry Dixon and the Al-Anabi Racing dragster. Cory McClenathan and Antron Brown trail Schumacher by 68 and 81 points, respectively.
For ticket information about the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, call 702-644-4444 or log on to www.lvms.com; for ticket information about the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, call 800-884-4762 or log on to www.ticketmaster.com.