With only one race remaining in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, the Pro Stock championship is down to three drivers entering the weekend at California’s In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip — Aaron Stanfield, Dallas Glenn and Greg Anderson.
Stanfield holds the top spot in the standings with a 32-point advantage over Glenn with Anderson 56 points behind.
Due to points-and-a-half being paid for the season finale, all three drivers are within striking range.
While Anderson is still mathematically in the hunt, it’d take a falter by either of the top two for the five-time champion to be in the hunt for another title.
A major point of interest that may sway the title from one camp to the other is qualifying. In Pomona, the No. 1 qualifier earns 10 points instead of eight. Low E.T. of each session earns an additional four points versus the typical three.
The bottom line — if a driver has a perfect qualifying effort, they’ll gain a maximum of 18 points, along with the guaranteed 15 for attempting one run.
Could this format lead to a more aggressive approach to qualifying?
“I definitely think we gotta go out there and make the best runs we can make and set ourselves up good for race day,” Stanfield said. “I think our approach is gonna be the same as it’s been — go there, make great runs in qualifying and get ready for race day.”
From Glenn’s perspective, he’s also aiming for near perfect execution in hopes of stealing points from the Elite Motorsports driver.
“I think the right strategy is probably gonna be to try to get at least two or three bonus points and a position ahead of Aaron so we can get it to be a winner-take-all final if it comes down to that,” Glenn said.
“There’s always a part of me that just wants to see if I can get him first round and get it over with.
“That’s probably not the smart move. So, we’ll probably just try and see if we can make absolutely four flawless runs and hit all my shifts and make good aggressive runs and try and see if we can sneak two points from him and maybe a qualifying spot because he’s got a great car.”
The second part of the equation for the three title contenders is points per round. Thirty points separate the winner and runner-up finisher, making the Stanfield and Glenn battle even more intriguing as they are separated by only 32 points.
Hypothetically, if Glenn were to gain an additional two points or more ahead of Stanfield in qualifying, the two could potentially meet in the finals and settle their season-long battle once and for all.
“I feel like Aaron definitely is coming up swinging every time he’s raced me,” Glenn said. “We’ve had some absolutely killer rounds. He’s definitely gotten a hold of me on a couple good ones and I’ve gotten some luck on a couple good ones.
“I think it would be fantastic if we could have it bring down to a winner-take-all final round.”
Despite not having a better head-to-head record against Glenn, Stanfield believes the rivalry between the two is a positive for the category.
“He’s got the better part of me for sure,” Stanfield began. “It’s been a great rivalry. He’s a great competitor and man it feels like we accomplished something when we beat him because he does a great job.
“It very well could come down to that last round, so, that’s what the dreams are made of or crushed of. It’s gonna be fun to watch it all pan out.”