Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, marked the halfway point of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
A two-week break until the series heads west to Pacific Raceways in Seattle, Wash., allows for teams to regroup and retool for the final grind ahead to the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park and the Countdown to the Championship.
With plenty of movement within all four categories, here’s a look at the standings from each category.
Top Fuel
Reigning Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta has begun to put distance on the rest of the field following four straight races of making the finals, including a monumental victory last month at Epping, N.H.’s New England Dragway.
With the win in New England, Kalitta has won at every race track on the NHRA schedule.
While Justin Ashley started off hot with two wins and a hefty points lead, it all came crashing down with three straight round one exits. Sunday’s event in Ohio, however, was a turnaround for the SCAG Racing group as he reached the semifinals before losing to eventual winner Antron Brown.
Kalitta’s teammate, Shawn Langdon, scored two wins to kick off the season as well, including the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Florida. He is third in the standings.
Fresh off his win in Norwalk, three-time champion Brown has settled into fourth in points. Brown scored his 60th career Top Fuel win on Sunday.
Steve Torrence, Tony Schumacher, Billy Torrence, Tony Stewart and Brittany Force complete the top 10.
Notably, Force missed last week’s event as she remained with family following her father’s (John Force) accident in Virginia.
Funny Car
It’s been a pleasantly surprising season for John Force Racing’s Austin Prock, who’s seamlessly transitioned to a Funny Car after two full-time seasons in Top Fuel.
Prock leads Bob Tasca III by 178 markers in the standings with a division-leading three wins.
Tasca topped the JFR phenom on Sunday in the semifinals in Norwalk before beating Ron Capps in the finals. The win was Tasca’s second of the season after falling short to Prock a week earlier. Tasca also won the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas earlier this year.
Three markers behind Tasca is Tony Stewart Racing’s Matt Hagan. The reigning Funny Car champion reeled off two straight victories earlier this season.
Since then, however, Hagan’s been searching for a 52nd career Wally. In the last three races, Hagan has reached the semifinals twice.
Sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force holds down the fourth spot in the standings, but the 75-year-old is seemingly out of action for the near future while recovering from injuries sustained in an accident two weeks ago at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Prior to his accident, Force was second in the standings after picking up two victories, including his 157th at the New England Nationals over teammate Prock.
J.R. Todd, Ron Capps, Daniel Wilkerson, Alexis DeJoria, Chad Green and Blake Alexander complete the top 10.
Pro Stock
Dallas Glenn holds an 89-point advantage over Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock category. In the last five races, Glenn has reached the finals three times, including a win at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.
While Glenn has reached the finals the last two weeks, it’s been Aaron Stanfield who’s beaten him each time. Stanfield is fourth in points, 53 points behind third-place Erica Enders.
Enders was a surprise round one exit last week to Cristian Cuadra. The six-time champion won the season-opening Gatornationals.
Jeg Coughlin, Troy Coughlin Jr., Jerry Tucker, Cuadra, Deric Kramer and David Cuadra round out the top 10.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Gaige Herrera has won all five of Pro Stock Motorcycle’s events so far as he holds a commanding 271-point advantage over six-time champion Matt Smith.
Aboard his Vance & Hines Suzuki, Herrera topped Smith in the finals in Norwalk to reach 11 straight victories, further extending his record that eclipsed Bob Glidden’s 10 a week prior at the Virginia Nationals.
Herrera is up to 43 consecutive round wins, with his last loss coming at Pennsylvania’s Maple Grove Raceway last September.
Behind the front two, Herrera’s teammate Richard Gadson is third. Gadson won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge this past weekend. He also has one final round appearance, which came two weeks ago in Virginia.
John Hall is fourth in the standings with one final round appearance at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals.
Angie Smith, Chase Van Sant, Hector Arana Jr., Jianna Evaristo, LE Tonglet and Steve Johnson complete the top 10 in the standings.