NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After an embarrassing 0-5 performance in Richmond, Tricky Tipster, National Dragster's resident odds-maker, has gone back to the drawing board for this weekend’s Fitzgerald USA NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol and come up with the following.

TOP FUEL

FUNNY CAR | PRO STOCK | PRO MOD

Steve Torrence
Capco Contractors

Fell off the horse in Chicago and got right back on in Richmond and won the race. Limiting mistakes to one race is exactly what championship teams do.
Odds: 3-1

Doug Kalitta
Mac Tools

Building momentum with a strong runner-up finish in Richmond. He also moved to third in the points, which is a dramatic improvement over the 2017 season.
Odds: 4-1

Clay Millican        
Parts Plus/Great Clips

He’ll never forget the 2017 Bristol event where he won his first NHRA Top Fuel race. If he wins this weekend he won’t ever forget that either. This car is better by leaps and bounds this year.
Odds: 6-1

Tony Schumacher
U.S. Army

This is easily one of his favorite tracks with five wins in seven final rounds, although his last win here came in 2012. Also got a nice confidence boost by qualifying No. 1 in Richmond.
Odds: 8-1

Leah Pritchett
Papa John’s Pizza/Dodge

Most people don’t remember, but she was a runner-up here last year to Clay Millican. This season hasn’t been particularly kind to the DSR Top Fuel cars, but she does have a win and a runner-up.
Odds: 9-1

Terry McMillen
Amalie Motor Oil

Lost a heartbreaker to Torrence in the second round in Richmond but that’s to be expected since no one takes this team lightly anymore. They’ve adapted as well as anyone to the new track prep, which has been reflected in their qualifying and elimination round results.
Odds: 10-1

Brittany Force
Monster Energy/Advance Auto Parts

The “Eastern Swing” has not started well with a pair of early losses in Chicago and Richmond but there is still time to salvage a couple of wins from the annual four-in-a-row marathon. Qualifying isn’t the issue but race-day consistency is.
Odds: 12-1

Antron Brown
Matco Tools

After five-straight first-round losses, a semifinal finish in Richmond was much needed. The Matco team hopes they’ve put their early-season woes behind them and this race will be a good test to see how far they’ve come. The three-time champ has never won here.
Odds: 14-1

FUNNY CAR

Courtney Force    
Advance Auto Parts Chevy

This is arguably the most competitive era of Funny Car racing in history, so how is it possible for one team to win four of the first ten races and qualify No. 1 six times? The Advance team has a few things figured out that others don’t.
Odds: 7-2

Robert Hight        
Auto Club Camaro

This car runs as good or better than teammate Courtney Force’s Advance Auto Parts Camaro, but it’s not quite as consistent right now. The Auto Club team also won here in 2011, for whatever that’s worth.
Odds: 4-1

J.R. Todd    
DHL Toyota

It’s hard to make any sense of this class. He looked unbeatable in Las Vegas and Houston (winning both) and then came back down to Earth in the month of May. A semifinal in Richmond might be a sign that the DHL crew is regaining their early-season forum.
Odds: 6-1

Ron Capps
NAPA Dodge

One of the things that makes this team so dangerous is that they never seem lost for more than a race. Crew chief Rahn Tobler is a “been there, done that” kind of guy who’s been at this a long time so it’s almost impossible to throw him a pitch that he can’t handle.
Odds: 7-1

Matt Hagan    
Mopar Express Lane Dodge

His first home event in Richmond didn’t go as planned. Now, he’s got a chance for redemption at his second home race in Bristol. Expect to see a better effort out of the Mopar team which has been to the final here in two of the last three years with a win and a runner-up.
Odds: 9-1

Bob Tasca III
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford

Took a small step backward after promising outings in Topeka and Chicago but there is still the potential for a breakthrough outing for the Motorcraft Ford crew. Hard to imagine they go much longer without making it to a final.
Odds: 10-1

Jack Beckman        
Infinite Hero Dodge

Surprisingly, the 2012 champion has not won here yet but he did come close last season with a runner-up finish to teammate Capps. The Infinite Hero crew hasn’t been to the semi’s since Atlanta which means they’re overdue for a little good luck.
Odds: 11-1

Cruz Pedregon
Snap-on Toyota

Big boomer in Richmond put a damper on what should have been an encouraging weekend. It will be interesting to see how quickly the Snap-on crew can recover.
Odds: 14-1

PRO STOCK

Greg Anderson
Summit Camaro

Fair question; Do we keep picking him at the top until he wins, or go with someone else? This week, he’ll retain the top ranking, but only by a slim margin. How any driver in any class can qualify in the top four each week and remain winless is hard to imagine.
Odds: 4-1

Tanner Gray
Gray Manufacturing Technologies Camaro

When everything is clicking, as it was in Richmond, this is an almost unbeatable car/driver combination. It’s been difficult for any driver to maintain momentum in Pro Stock this season, but this could be a good bet for a repeat.
Odds: 5-1

Erica Enders
Melling/Elite Camaro

She’s picked up seven round wins in the last three races, but back-to-back losses to Tanner Gray certainly sting. Rivalries aside, this has been a strong comeback season for the two-time champ.
Odds: 6-1

Vincent Nobile
Mountain View Camaro

Solid qualifying efforts have produced similar race-day results. As long as he’s ranked in the top five or six on Saturday night, the Mountain View team will have a decent shot at a productive Sunday. He’s already well ahead of last year’s pace.
Odds: 6-1

Jeg Coughlin Jr.
JEGS.com Camaro

Playing a hot hand after back-to-back wins in Pro Stock (Chicago) and Super Comp (Richmond). Entirely possible he wins one of those classes (or even both) this weekend in Bristol.
Odds: 8-1

Chris McGaha
Harlow Sammons Camaro

Topeka and Chicago were not kind to the Harlow Sammons team, but Richmond was a dramatic improvement. Will be interesting to see if the third leg of four-straight races has any impact on the performance of a single car team.
Odds: 9-1

Bo Butner
Butner Auto Camaro

After a strong effort in Richmond, his qualifying struggles might well be a thing of the past. In the last five races he’s dropped from first to fifth in the standings. That’s a trend that needs to be reversed ASAP.
Odds: 11-1

Drew Skillman
Skillman Auto Camaro

Beat both of the Summit cars in Richmond which doesn’t happen very often. Driving is rock solid, but could absolutely use a top-half qualifying performance this time around.
Odds: 14-1

PRO MOD

Rickie Smith
Bahrain1 Camaro

Is there anything that screams Pro Mod more than Rickie Smith and Bristol Dragway? They go together like biscuits and gravy. Oh, and he’s probably not happy about coughing up the points lead.
Odds: 3-1

Mike Janis
Jan-Cen Racing Camaro

He’s been consistent all year but did a masterful job in Richmond by not only winning the race but taking over the lead in the points standings. Not exactly sure how the supercharged cars will perform in Bristol, but this figures to be one of the best in the field.  
Odds: 4-1

Mike Castellana
AAP Camaro

Crawled back into the points picture with a timely runner-up in Richmond. Another final round showing would be huge not that the season is about to hit the halfway mark.
Odds: 5-1

Jose Gonzalez
Q80 Racing Corvette

So much for the whole “turbo cars are struggling” notion. Charlotte champ set the pace in Richmond with a stout 5.770, 254.47 blast that held for low elapsed time and top speed of the event. Also helped himself with a semifinal finish.
Odds: 6-1

Troy Coughlin
JEGS.com Mustang

Okay, so he didn’t qualify in his much-hyped return to the Pro Mod class. Is there anyone who doesn’t think the reigning class champ won’t make it to a final round before the season is over? He’s likely to do much more than that.
Odds: 7-1

Khalid alBalooshi
Bahrain1 Camaro

Tied Gonzalez for low E.T. with a 5.770 run in eliminations but lost on a big holeshot. Nothing would take the sting out of that loss more than a strong outing this weekend.
Odds: 9-1

Chad Green
Bond-Coat, Inc. Corvette

Was the beneficiary of a rare Rickie Smith foul start in Richmond but didn’t let it go to wasted by reaching the semifinals. He’s currently No. 6 in points but isn’t out of the championship picture by a longshot. A win here would be a huge achievement.
Odds: 12-1

Danny Rowe
Rowe Racing Camaro

After a tough start to the season, he had a 5.7-second bracket race in Richmond and made it to the semifinals. That was easily one of the most impressive performances of the event, regardless of class.
Odds: 15-1