DODGE NHRA FINALS - NHRA CAMPING WORLD SERIES - OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 1, 2020

NOTE: Click on the thumbnails to display the full-size images

(LEFT) Making his national event debut is Chris Morel in his "Charger" nitro funny car. (RIGHT) Making his Vegas debut is Top Alcohol Funny Car contender (currently #5 in the points standings) Bob McCosh Jr., all the way from Columbia, Missouri.

(LEFT) Lurking under the big awning are the two Kansas killer Kars, with Julie Nataas (cuirrently #3 in the Top Alcohol Dragster standings), and in the background, her teammate and defending champion Megan Meyer. (RIGHT) Putting on his "game face" is Top Alcohol Dragster points leader Shawn Cowie as he aims to upgrade the number on his rear wing from #2 to #1.

The early bird gets the best parking spot as our intrepid lensman, BIG Bob Snyder slides his road warrior van into an otherwise empty media parking lot.

Due to an uncooperative (ie. crap) wi-fi at Motel "5.9", our photographer was only able to transmit two pictures from yesterday's Top Alcohol qualifying at Las Vegas. Thankfully they were images of the top cars in each class. Much more to come later today though and throughout the weekend. Stay tuned!

(LEFT) Normally you would expect these two cars to be the last pair in a qualifying session, but after 9- and 10-second runs in the first session, Brian Hough in the near lane, and Greg Bellemeur in the far lane, were the first cars out of the waterbox to start the second (and final) qualifier. They both improved dramatically, with Hough jumping from #15 to the top of the ladder with a 5.464 - 267.75 pass, while Bellemeur nearly matched his numbers as he leaped from #16 to #2, courtesy of a 5.487 - 264.96 clocking.

(RIGHT) The story for this pair is the opposite of the Funny Cars, as they finished the first session in the top two spots, and stayed there on the final qualifying sheets. To show the consistency of these teams, they were the quickest cars in both qualifying sessions. In the far lane, Megan Meyer followed up her 5.203 - 271.79 with an almost as good 5.236 - 269.56 pass, while on the near side, Shawn Cowie fell off slightly from his earlier 5.208 - 276.80 to a merely very good 5.258 - 276.13 in the final session. Interestingly, Cowie had the two fastest passes of qualifying at over 276-mph, beating out the BIG horsepower of the A/Fuel cars.

Following the first PRO qualifying session, which was slowed somewhat by cone blasting, engine destroying, rearend locking, etc incidents, the Top Alcohol cars waited patiently in the staging lanes for their first round of eliminations. With two rounds of eliminations scheduled for today (second one at approx. 6:30 pm), there could be some major changes in the dragster championship before the day is over. In fact, Shawn Cowie could be crowned the new champion if his two pursuers from the Meyer Racing team, Megan Meyer and Julie Nataas lose in either the first or second round. To make that possibility a reality, Cowie would have to at least win his first round match with Dusty Green in the one-of-a-kind driver forward A/Fuel Dragster.

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(LEFT) Launching hard enroute to another low 5.50 pass, Bob McCosh Jr.

(RIGHT) The numbers on the board don't tell the full story, with Bob McCosh Jr.'s 5.552 - 265.64 pass taking the winlight over Chris Marshall's better 5.461 - 267.96, courtesy of an .042 to .104 holeshot. The margin of victory at the stripe was just one thousandth of a second. And that's all we've got from yesterday's qualifying.

COMPETITION, SUPER STOCK & FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN Finals

(LEFT) Hangin' 'em high on the launch in the Hancock & Lane E/SMA Cavalier is North Bend, WA's Cody Lane, enroute to a win over the just barely in the extreme left corner of the frame, Doug Engels in his D/Dragster. Lane didn't have a great start to the weekend, qualifying at the very bottom of the 14-car Comp field, but marched through eliminations and took the final round with a quicker pass and great light (.009), for a convincing seventh national event win.

(RIGHT) At the conclusion of six rounds of eliminations, it was Terry Emmons in his little SS/BS Cavalier (popular little cars eh?) taking the Super Stock trophy, his eighth national event victory, over the wild wheelstanding SS/JA Camaro of Pennsylvania's Bryan Wormer (seen below). With the handicap headstart, Wormer redlighted away his chances, and even though Emmons also left before the green, the first or worst rule always applies.

The old adage of "if ya can't be good... at least be spectacular" certainly applies in this instance, as Bryan Wormer leaves with the front end heading for the moon as he registers an automatic loss in the Super Stock final with his red-light start.

With a restricted 9" wide rear tire, the Factory Stock cars have to work very hard to keep them biting, so launching with the front end high is necessary to get enough weight on the rear wheels to keep them hooked up. Both finalists did it well, with (left side)

TOP DRAGSTER & SUPER COMP - Finals

TOP SPORTSMAN - Semi-Final

TOP SPORTSMAN - Final

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Semi-Final

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Final

Two views of the Top Alcohol Funny Car runner-up, Bob McCosh Jr., burning out on the left, and launching hard with the front wheels just off the concrete on the right. Although he had the better numbers 5.499 - 266.64, to winner Greg Bellemeur's almost-as-good 5.500 - 266.06, the reaction times told the tale. Bellemeur's .028 light covered McCosh's good, but not quite good enough, .058 time, and the margin at the 1320 mark was a little more than half a car length.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Semi-Final

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Final

On the left side, it's the defending Top Alcohol Dragster national champion, Megan Meyer,,,, doing her burnout. On the right, it's former four-time champ, Joey Severance launching hard, but all for naught as he was off the throttle before half track and slowed to a losing 7.126 - 128.70 time. After a very quick leave and major holeshot on Meyer (.015 light to .176), Severance was unable to hold the lead.

Taking the win, and clinching a repeat national championship was Meyer, who kept up her pace with a great 5.200 - 281.07 (top speed of the meet) in what might have been her final pass down a dragstrip. She recently announced her retirement from the sport following her marriage last weekend. Whether she stays retired forever remains to be seen.

PRO MODIFIED - Round One

PRO MODIFIED - Round Two

PRO MODIFIED - Semi-Final

PRO MODIFIED - Final

With a short (11-car) field, the Bahrain 1 team filled the semi-final round, with all three of their cars advancing to that round of competition. Then it was down to the final two, with (on the left) Khalid alBalooshi burning out in his ProCharger-equipped 2019 Camaro, while (on the right) the screw-blown 2018 Camaro of Stevie "Fast" Jackson lights up the big Goodyears.

When the lights came down, Jackson (right side) left first by a few hundredths, followed closely by alBalooshi (left side), with his front wheels higher on the launch. Jackson steadily increased his lead until alBalooshi shut off at the 1000' mark, and coasted to a losing 5.890 - 224.96, while Jackson blasted into the winners circle with a better 5.789 - 247.47 timeslip. It was a double celebration for Jackson, as he clinched his second consecutive Pro Mod championship with a win over Brandon Snider in the second round of eliminations.

TOP FUEL HARLEY - Round One

TOP FUEL HARLEY - Semi-Final

TOP FUEL HARLEY - Final

One of the fan favourite categories, Top Fuel Harley whittled the 8-bike field down to the finalists, Ricky House (left side) against long-time dominator in the class, Jay Turner (right side). Despite a quicker (.041 to .059) leave by House, it was Turner putting on the winlight with a bike-length margin at the finish line, and the boards showing the 6.390 - 214.96 decision in Turner's favour, over House's not quite good enough 6.444 - 214.79 effort.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Round One

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Round Two

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Final

PRO STOCK - Final

FUNNY CAR - Round One

FUNNY CAR - Round Two

FUNNY CAR - Semi-Final

FUNNY CAR - Final

On the left side, burning out in preparation for the final, is Ron Capps, while on the right side we've got Matt Hagan

(LEFT) Launching from the left side is Matt Hagan enroute to a winning 3.914 - 326.40 pass, putting a great exclamation mark on his championship season. On the right side, Ron Capps left hard, but ran into trouble before half track, slowing to a losing 4.463 - 173.70 in the losing effort.

(RIGHT) One final shot of Hagan with the flames up putting down some serious power.

TOP FUEL - Round One

TOP FUEL - Round Two

TOP FUEL - Semi-Final

TOP FUEL - Final

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