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The latest update as of October 2, 2023


NHRA Midwest Nationals logo

It was another busy weekend in NHRA drag racing, with the Camping World Series on stage at St. Louis' (Madison, IL) World Wide Technology Raceway with the 12th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals. There were a few upsets, some sure bets, and numerous changes in the points standings, as the Countdown To The Championship reached the halfway point for 2023. Just three races remain on the calendar, starting with next week's Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex. While only a few racers have been mathematically eliminated from championship contention at this point, the field of serious challengers for the season title will seriously narrow at the conclusion of the FallNationals.

We've also presented the latest updated standings for the Top Alcohol categories following their Eastern Regional event at Virginia Motorsports Park last weekend. There were a few moves in those standings, with the most important one in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Scroll down to see what happened.

NOTE: Click on the graphics to see larger (and easier to read) versions


Countdown to the Championship TF

After back-to-back wins at the first two events of the countdown, Doug Kalitta took a bit of a tumble, going up in smoke in the second round of eliminations. Taking advantage of his plight was Leah Pruett, who went all the way to the final before losing to Clay Millican. With her runnerup finish, after semifinal results in the first two races, Pruett moved to #2 in the standings, just 47 points behind Kalitta. After consecutive first round losses, Millican jumped three spots, from #11 to #8, but is still very much a longshot for the title, being 152 points out of the lead, with just 12 rounds of racing remaining on the schedule.

Defending series champion, Steve Torrence advanced to the semifinals where he lost to Pruett and fell one spot to #3, but only 51 points out of the lead. The points leader following the U.S. Nationals, Justin Ashley continued to struggle, losing to Torrence in the second round by just .001 of a second, and dropped one more spot to #4, and 71 points behind Kalitta. The hottest driver in the class following wins at Brainerd and Indy, Antron Brown suffered his third straight second-round loss and remained in the #5 spot, but well within striking distance of the lead, less than 100 points behind.


Countdown to the Championship FC

Despite going out in the semifinal round after winning at Charlotte, Bob Tasca IIIRobert Hight lost in the second round and fell to #3 in the standings. Moving past him was the St. Louis winner, Matt Hagan, who now sits just 11 points out of the lead, while Hight is only 14 points behind. Runnerup Ron Capps reamined in the #4 spot, just 31 points behind Tasca, making for a very tight four driver grouping at the top of the points table.

In the #5 spot, and 150 points out of the lead, following back-to-back first round exits, is Chad Green, and below him the numbers drop off all the way down to Cruz Pedregon at the bottom of the Countdown list, 259 points behind and nearly out of chances to contend for another world championship.


Countdown to the Championship PS

It's been a long slow climb towards the top for the defending world champion Erica Enders, but she's finally back in her accustomed #1 position following another (three in a row) semifinal finish at St. Louis. Aiding her was a first round loss by the leader coming into the latest race, Matt Hartford, who fell from the top to #3. Jumping over him into second place was the suddenly resurgent Greg Anderson who chalked up his second consecutive event win to move within 25 points of Enders. Going in the other direction was the points leader since the Winternationals, Dallas Glenn, who lost in the opening round of eliminations for the second time in three races and has fallen 64 points out of the lead in the #4 spot.

Just below Glenn in the standings, Aaron Stanfield finished runnerup to Anderson on Sunday and picked up one spot to #5, and 74 points from the top of the charts. Below Stanfield the points totals start to drop substantially, with #8 Kyle Koretsky 145 points behind Enders and rapidly falling out of contention for a serious shot at the championship. Below him the numbers really dive down to the bottom of the 16-driver countdown list, where Fernando Caudra Sr. sits 361 points out of first place, and all but mathematically eliminated from the race.


Countdown to the Championship PSM

The Pro Stock Motorcycle category is the only class with a very large margin between first and second, as Gaige Herrara earned his eight win of the season, in just 12 races to stretch his lead over #2 Matt Smith to 99 points. Hanging tough in the #3 and #4 positions respectively are Hector Aran Jr. and Eddie Krawiec, but both are well back, with Krawiec nearly 130 points behind Herrara. Below him, the next racer on the list, Chase Van Sant, is more than 200 points behind, despite consecutive semifinal finishes.

With serious contender Angie Smith out of competition for the season, following her unfortunate accident at St. Louis, the six riders below her in the standings are all well out of contention, with #7 Jianna Evaristo already 260 points behind, and at the bottom of the countdown list, Ryan Oehler is more than 400 points behind and already mathematically eliminated.


TAD Points Standings as of October 2, 2023

Two of the Top Ten racers competed at the Eastern Regional on the weekend, but only one Matt Cummings is still in contention for the championship. He took the event win at Virgina, gaining 21 points in the process, and closing the gap to leader Julie Nataas to 87 points. Next week's Texas NHRA FallNationals could be the pivotal event for the dragsters, with seven of the top eight in attendance. The only one not entered is Tony Stewart who can still claim points at two more national events, and may let the other contenders slug it out at Dallas.

As can be seen from the graphic, only seven racers are still in contention for the championship, and one of them, Jackie Fricke is hanging onto a very slim one point mathematical chance. Unless Nataas goes out early, the number of racers with a chance to overtake her could be seriously diminished going into the final two national and one regional event of the season.


TAFC Points Standings as of October 2, 2023

The big news for the Funny Cars was the Killer B's win at Virginia, as Sean Bellemeur gained enough points to move into a tie for the lead with Doug Gordon. Taking the runnerup spot was D.J. Cox Jr., but he's already been eliminated from championship contention. It's now down to a four-way race for the title, with the #3 (Bob McCosh, and #4 (Matt Gill), racers very close to the elimination precipice. All four of them will be in Dallas and unless Gordon and Bellemeur are eliminated in the first round, it's going to end up being a two-way race to the finish, with Gordon holding a slight edge. He has three claimable national events remaining, while Bellemeur has just two. Of course, Bellemeur will almost certainly be attending all three events down the home stretch.