INDIANAPOLIS — Defending world champion Kris Thorne won the world’s biggest drag race in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, knocking off Justin Bond in the final round at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as part of this weekend’s 69th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals.
The event, which was powered by ProCharger, was the eighth of 10 races during the 2023 season in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports. It was also second race in the category’s Road to the Championship.
Thorne delivered an epic performance in his Bahrain 1 Racing Chevrolet Camaro, going 5.827 at 248.07 in the final round against Bond. Last year’s champion had a .017 reaction time, which made all the difference in holding off Bond’s 5.777 at 246.89, sending Thorne into the points lead for the first time this season and also handing the standout his first career U.S. Nationals victory.
“There is no other race in the world I’d rather turn it around (than Indy),” Thorne said. “I’m super excited we were finally able to conquer this one. I’ve been upside down here, I’ve been on fire here, I’ve torn everything up I’ve owned here. This was emotional and great. If I went out today, this is the last race I would ever want to win – the U.S. Nationals, the biggest one.”
Thorne advance to the final round with wins over Jerico Balduf, Rickie Smith and Stan Shelton, while Bond advanced to the championship round for the thanks to victories against Mason Wright, Billy Banaka and Mike Castellana. With two races remaining in the season, Thorne holds a 12-point lead over Bond. Jason Lee is 49 points back of the defending world champion.