NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

For more than five decades, NHRA National Dragster's famed Tricky Tipster has tested his prognosticating skills prior to each national event, putting odds on the top eight racers he thinks have the best shot at victory in Tricky Tipster. This week, Tricky Tipster handicaps the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties.

TOP FUEL Funny Car | Pro Stock | Pro Mod
	Steve Torrence • Capco Contractors We don’t need to tell you this because he’ll happily do it for himself, but this is the hottest driver in NHRA right now with wins in 10 of his last 11 rounds. ODDS: 3-1
	Tony Schumacher • U.S. Army For all of his past success, he’s got just one win in Topeka (2010), but would anyone really be surprised if that changed this weekend? If anything, he’s overdue for another victory. ODDS: 4-1
	Leah Pritchett • Papa John’s Pizza OK, so she didn’t win Atlanta, but the Papa John’s car did make the best run of the weekend with a 3.69, which should tell you that not much has changed since she opened the season with back-to-back wins. ODDS: 6-1
	Antron Brown • Matco Tools With one win this season, it might be tempting to think the reigning champ is slumping, but then again, he’s only qualified lower than third once, and he’s got 14 round-wins. He’ll get his fair share this season. ODDS: 7-1
	Doug Kalitta • Mac Tools The Kalitta family has had a lot of success in Topeka, including Doug’s 2016 victory over Brown, which could make this a perfect place for them to bank their first win of the season. ODDS: 9-1
	Brittany Force • Monster Energy A recent test session in Indy yielded some big numbers, which makes one think the Monster team is back in contention. Nobody should be surprised if Brittany hoists the Wally on Sunday. ODDS: 11-1
	Clay Millican • Parts Plus/Great Clips It’s a given that he’s going to qualify well, but there is still that small matter of four win lights on race day. It’s going to happen. Just a matter of when and where. ODDS: 13-1
	Shawn Langdon • Global Electronic Technology Won here in his championship season of 2013 and appears to be getting comfortable in his new surroundings as part of the Kalitta team. ODDS: 15-1
FUNNY CAR
	Ron Capps • NAPA Dodge The NAPA team can’t really win four straight, can they? Well actually, they can, and there is a good chance they will. Right now, Capps and Tobler are playing the hot hand, and it would be foolish to bet against them. ODDS: 2-1
	Matt Hagan • Mopar Express Lane Dodge Defending event champ will celebrate his 200th race as an NHRA Pro this weekend. He’ll have a solid chance to bag his 25th career victory as well. ODDS: 4-1
	John Force • Peak Chevy More of a hunch than anything here, but he’s got seven wins at Heartland Park, so he knows this place well. This should also be a good weekend for the “go-fast” teams. ODDS: 6-1
	Robert Hight • Auto Club Chevy Much like his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers, this team is trending upwards lately with a runner-up in Houston and a pair of semifinals in Charlotte and Atlanta. Expect to see a big number on the board in qualifying as well. ODDS: 7-1
	Courtney Force • Advance Auto Chevy The Advance team gets an A-plus in qualifying for four-straight poles, but they’ve got just six round-wins to show for it this season. That sort of imbalance won’t continue much longer. Expect a big breakout soon. ODDS: 8-1
	Tim Wilkerson • Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang We’ve said this 1,000 times before, but nobody does more with less. Solidly in the top 10 after Atlanta final, and he’s not likely to get bumped out. ODDS: 10-1
	J.R. Todd • DHL Toyota Eight races into his Funny Car career, and it’s time to make things happen. This is a championship-winning car, and sooner or later it’s going to start behaving like one. Our guess is sooner. ODDS: 12-1
	Jack Beckman • Infinite Hero Dodge After a rough start, things are starting to come together for the former champ and his Infinite Hero team. Interestingly, he has just one first-round loss this season. ODDS: 15-1
PRO STOCK
	Bo Butner • Butner Auto Camaro Welcome to the top spot, Bo Butner. After two wins in the last four races, you’ve earned it. Momentum is a wonderful thing. Now, the challenge is to keep it going. ODDS: 3-1
	Jeg Coughlin Jr. • JEGS.com Camaro Lately, he’s had the car to beat, especially in qualifying, but not a lot of luck on race day. Still, this is a five-time world champ who is still in his prime, so the wins will come. Bank on it. ODDS: 4-1
	Erica Enders • Elite Camaro Back to winning rounds via holeshot, which is never a bad thing, but she’ll be an even bigger threat when the Elite team starts overpowering their opponents as well. ODDS: 6-1
	Jason Line • Summit Camaro Defending world and Topeka champ probably deserves a little better spot on this list, but he hasn’t been to a final round since Pomona, and that’s not good. ODDS: 7-1
	Greg Anderson • Summit Camaro Atlanta was nothing short of a nightmare for the current points leader, but the good news is that he’s been to seven final rounds at Heartland Park Topeka and won four of them. ODDS: 8-1
	Tanner Gray • Gray Manufacturing Technologies Camaro Was pretty hard on himself after first holeshot loss. How he responds will be the key going forward. We’re betting he gets mean and quickly evens the score. ODDS: 10-1
	Vincent Nobile • Mountain View Camaro He’s one lucky break away from making his first final round of the season, and we’re betting that it comes fairly soon. There’s too much talent here for the string of second-round losses to continue. ODDS: 12-1
	Drew Skillman • Skillman Auto Group Camaro This is a tough team to handicap since they tend to run hot and cold. Certainly the potential is there for a big weekend. In fact, it wouldn’t be much of a shock if they just went ahead and won the whole thing. ODDS: 14-1
PRO MOD
	Mike Castellana • Al-Anabi Performance Camaro Right now, this could well be the most dominant vehicle in any NHRA class. They have barely skipped a beat all season. ODDS: 3-2
	Jonathan Gray • Vallen Camaro So far, he’s looked extremely comfortable behind the wheel of Rickie Smith’s Camaro, and with the recent weight adjustment, it might be time for his first final of the season. ODDS: 4-1
	Steve Matusek • Aeromotive Camaro OK, so he has three round-one losses this season. He’s also won a race, and he’s playing a home game in Topeka. That has to count for something. ODDS: 5-1
	Steve Jackson • Bahrain1 Camaro Made the final round in Atlanta and looked good doing it. That figures to be the first of many for NHRA Pro Mod’s newest sensation. ODDS: 6-1
	Troy Coughlin • JEGS.com Corvette If there are “mulligans’ in Pro Mod racing, he’ll happily take one for Atlanta, where he DNQ’d for the first time in 34 events. Another long qualifying streak starts now. ODDS: 7-1
	Steven Whiteley • J&A Service Cadillac Not sure if consistency really exists in Pro Mod racing, but this might be the closest thing to it. Qualifies well everywhere and often goes a few rounds on race day. ODDS: 9-1
	Danny Rowe • Agave Underground Corvette Cooled off a bit since hot start in Gainesville, but that is apt to change at any moment. No reason to think he can’t join teammate Matusek with a win or two this season. ODDS: 12-1
	Shane Molinari • S&T Truck Repair Firebird As we’ve noted before, this team is greatly improved for 2017. A win here (or anywhere else) would not be the least bit surprising. ODDS: 14-1