NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Following his most recent win at the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas, Joey Severance is now a three-time NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster champion. Severance locked up the title and then went on to defeat Shawn Cowie in the final round. He was joined in the winner’s circle by Sweden’s Ulf Leanders, who defeated three-time Top Fuel champ Larry Dixon in a bizarre Top Alcohol Funny Car final. Other winners from the event were Greg Kamplain (Comp), Ryan McClanahan (Super Stock), Justin Lamb (Stock), Marko Perivolaris (Super Comp), and Val Torres Sr. (Super Gas). 

Severance won for the 19th time in his career with a 5.286 to 5.402 victory against Cowie in the Top Alcohol Dragster final, which featured the event’s top two qualifiers. Severance, who never ran slower than 5.314 during eliminations, got to the final with wins against James Stevens, Justin Ashley, and Kirk Wolf. Severance was also extremely sharp and consistent on the starting line with reaction times of .027, .028, and .023 in the last three rounds. [Watch video]

Leanders coasted to the win in Top Alcohol Funny Car after opponent Dixon spun his Bartone Racing Camaro out on the starting line. Dixon staged with fuel under his rear tire, and his car made an immediate right turn and crossed the centerline as soon as he stepped on the throttle. Leanders, who previously won the 2015 Gainesville race, reached the final after wins against Sean Bellemeur, John Lombardo Jr., and Brian Hough. During the event, Shane Westerfield also locked up the national championship, following his quarterfinal finish. [Watch video]

Kamplain made the long trip from Indiana to Las Vegas pay off when he drove to the win in Comp. Kamplain won his seventh career national event title by driving his B/Econo Dragster to a final-round win against Tom Mettler’s PST ’01 Dakota truck. Kamplain was able to ease to the win after Mettler fouled by just two-thousandths of a second in the final. Kamplain made it to the final by posting wins against Mitch Withers, Joe Mozeris, and Ryan Warter. He lost just four-hundredths to Competition Index Control violations along the way. With the win, Kamplain has all but locked up a spot in the top 10. [Watch video]

McClanahan is also a seven-time national event champion, following his win in Super Stock. McClanahan, the 2010 Super Stock national champion, won in his SS/BM Cobalt after final-round opponent Darrell Dietz fouled in his FSS/C Cobra Jet Mustang. McClanahan began the season with three straight round-one losses but has come on strong lately with a win at the Salt Lake City divisional event and the NHRA Toyota Nationals. McClanahan, one of nine former national champions in the Super Stock field, topped Darren Smith and Irvin Johns before earning a bye run into the final. McClanahan currently sits No. 12 in the points standings and can still earn points at the final two events of the season. [Watch video]

Lamb has already locked up the national championship in Super Stock, and he’s now on the verge of adding the Stock title after a dominating win in Las Vegas. Lamb drove his new Redback Boots COPO Camaro to a win over Randi Lyn Shipp’s wheelstanding Firebird in the final. Lamb cut a .010 light and won the double-breakout match with a 9.831 on his 9.84 dial. Shipp missed her dial by nearly .07-second. Lamb has now appeared in 28 national event finals, and he has turned on the win light in 18 of them. [Watch video]

After runner-up finishes earlier this season in Phoenix and the Division 7 race in Salt Lake City, Perivolaris earned the win in Super Comp when he defeated Mark Potts in the final round. Racing on a 9.05 index, Perivolaris drove to a 9.062 to defeat Potts’ 9.080. Perivolaris, who won his first national event title in Super Gas at the Pomona event in 2015, defeated Tommy Phillips, Chad Langdon, Rich Lash, Ken Mostowich, and Mike Shannon before a bye run in the semifinals. [Watch video]

Torres opened eliminations in Super Gas with a perfect 10.050 on the 10.05 altitude-adjusted index, and he eventually made his way to the final, where he coasted to the win after Tanner Hiatt fouled by two-thousandths of a second. Torres was solid through eliminations with another 10.057 run in his round-three win against Bradley Johnson and a 10.061 to 10.077 victory against Super Comp champ Perivolaris in the fourth round. [Watch video]