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The latest update as of October 29, 2023


NHRA Nevada Nationals logo

2:30 PM UPDATE

We've finally completed the second round of Nitro eliminations, after a very slow first round set the day's schedule back nearly an hour. That follows on from Saturday evening's early cessation of racing, due to a sudden wind/sand storm. That stopped Top Alcohol eliminations halfway through the first round of Funny Car, and the complete second round for the alky cars. That situation caused NHRA to juggle today's schedule, and the alcohol cars won't even do their semifinals before the PRO cars finish eliminations. A closer look at the schedule reveals that the Legends (Nostalgia) Funny Car semifinal and final rounds have been deleted also.

Interestingly, the original event schedule showed the second round of Top Alcohol scheduled for 9:00 am today, with Sportsman semifinals starting at 8:30 am. Presumably, not running early in the day was based on the wind conditions, and they continue blowing strongly even though the sand is staying off the track and the wind is blowing directly down the track to the starting line, not in a cross-wind condition. So while it is cool and windy, the conditions are fine for racing.

We're still waiting for photos to arrive from Saturday's final qualifying sessions, but we're thinking they won't arrive until tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll update what is happening today during eliminations, and start filling in the details for all of Friday's qualifying sessions. We've just received a text from our other photographer, Dale Fackler, who's shivering in the stands but has managed to capture some great photos from the 600' mark. Expect them to arrive in the next day or two.

3:30 PM UPDATE

The list of possible contenders - those not mathematically eliminated - for the four PRO world championships has shortened considerably since the NHRA Nevada Nationals commenced. Of the 51 racers that entered the Countdown To The Championship eight weeks ago, only 18 remain after the second round of eliminations. Of that number, just two riders are left standing in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and in the #2 spot, Eddie Krawiec championship hopes are hanging by a slim thread. If Krawiec loses or points leader Gaige Herrara wins, then the crown goest to Herrara.

Pro Stock sees the top three contenders advancing to the semifinal, with #2 Greg Anderson facing #3 Matt Hartford in that round. Leading the points is Erica Enders, who pairs up with returning veteran Jeg Coughlin Jr., who's making his first appearance in Pro Stock since this event in 2020. In addition to the top three, there are three other racers that still have a remote chance of overtaking Enders, but they have all lost in eliminations today, and will all be mathematically eliminated if Enders takes the event win.

The nitro classes are quickly losing contenders also, with Funny Car now down to just four racers with any chance of the title, and that number could drop to three if points leader Matt Hagan can win the event. That would eliminate defending world champion Ron Capps from contention, and open up a gap on the other two racers, Bob Tasca III, and Robert Hight, competing for the championship.

In Top Fuel, there's five racers within 150 points of leader Steve Torrence after the second round of eliminations. Closest to Torrence is Doug Kalitta, just 15 points behind, and first round loser Leah Pruett, still only 34 in arrears. Below them, the other contenders are at least 100 points below the top and will have a tough time catching up before the clock runs out in Pomona, especially if Torrence can continue to ignite the winlight(s).

4:30 PM UPDATE

There were some surprises in the nitro categories, with the points leader in both, Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, and Matt Hagan in Funny Car, falling in the semifinal round. Justin Ashley took out Torrence on a holeshot, and is now only 82 points out of first place, with 20 more points available in the final round. His opponent in that all-important race will be Mike Salinas, who blasted out a new low e.t. of the meet 3.663 - 333.82, and has closed the gap to the leader to 96 points.

In Funny Car, Hagan lost to Bob Tasca III and saw his points lead shrink to just 15 points ahead of Tasca. Taking the other semifinal win was Robert Hight, who rebounded from his first round exit in Texas, and now has closed the gap to only 37 points behind Hagan. Sitting in fourth place in the standings is Ron Capps, and the worst he can be heading to Pomona is 144 points out of first place.

The Pro Stock class saw the rich get richer, as the top two racers in the standings, leader Erica Enders, and #2 Greg Anderson, both advanced to the final round. That eliminated Troy Coughlin Jr., and Aaron Stanfield from the chase, and if Enders wins the event, #4 Dallas Glenn will also be gone. That would leave just Matt Hartford, in the #3 spot, with any chance of overtaking Enders or Anderson for the championship.

The situation in Pro Stock Motorcycle is much simpler: just two racers left in the chase, with leader Gaige Herrara holding an almost insurmountable lead over challenger Eddie Krawiec. They will meet in the final, and if Herrara turns on the winlight, then the 2023 championship will be his.

Stay tuned for the final round update, coming in around 5:30 pm.

6:00 PM UPDATE

In the first PRO final, the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship was determined when season-long points leader Gaige Herrara took the win, his TENTH national event win in 2023, over Vance & Hines team-mate Eddie Krawiec. The only way Herrara can lose the championship is if he fails to appear at the season ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. And just to add a litle icing to the cake, Herrara re-set the track e.t. record with a 6.755 - 198.32 in the final round.

Over on the Pro Stock side, Erica Enders won her second consecutive event with a dominating performance, taking out arch-rival Greg Anderson in the final, and simultaneously eliminating Dallas Glenn from the championship event. With today's win she goes into the final race of the season 114 points ahead of Anderson, and 155 points up on Matt Hartford. It might not take long for Enders to eliminate those two challengers, as she can wrap up the championship by advancing past the first round of eliminations in Pomona.

The nitro classes feature the closest points battles, and the Funny Car battle got closer than ever when Robert Hight won the final round over Bob Tasca III. That brought Hight to 17 points behind the leader, Matt Hagan, and only TWO points behind #2 Bob Tasca. Amazingly, after losing in the first round at three of the five races so far in the countdown, Ron Capps still has a mathematical chance of defending his championship, but he's 139 points behind and can't let any of the racers above him get past the first round at the finals.

Wrapping up the PRO side of eliminations was Top Fuel, and Mike Salinas tightened things up in the points with his win over a resurgent Justin Ashley. With that result, there's still six racers remaining with a chance to take the championship. Five of them are 82 points or less behind the leader, Steve Torrence, and even #6 on the list, Antron Brown is 146 points and needs a lot of help to mount a serious challenge to Torrence. Closest to the leader is still Doug Kalitta, only 15 points back and Leah Pruett, 34 points behind. Both are close enough to Torrence to overtake him if he can't keep turning on winlights in Pomona.

We're hoping to have our ace photographer, BIG Bob Snyder on hand in Pomona for the NHRA Camping World series finale, providing us with the photos that tell so much of the story. Updates on that situation will follow by the end of next week. Stay tuned!

9:00 PM UPDATE

Here's the first of what we hope are quite a few photos taken from the grandstands at The Strip during the NHRA Nevada Nationals by our Colorado correspondent, Dale Fackler.

He was leading Alexis DeJoria (far lane) early, but the engine starting going sour in Tim Wilkerson's car before the 660' markers. Then the engine exploded, sending a large chunk of the body over the guardwall onto the return road. Needless to say, DeJoria won the round with a very good 3.923 - 326.16, while Wilkerson limped across the finish line at 4.17 - 164 mph for the loss.