The latest update as of November 4, 2023
Western Region - Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
The final regional/divisional event on the 2023 NHRA calendar is underway at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Following last week's NHRA Nevada Nationals, the track is hosting back to back national and regional races as has been the norm for a number of years. The package certainly works for the racers as many of them attend both events, even if there are no points earning capabilities or championship chances for them. A case in point is Top Alcohol Dragster with 17 cars on hand, but only one of them in the Top Ten, Taylor Vetter can earn any points. Even if she wins the event, she would still remain in the #9 position. Three other Top Ten racers are on hand, but they've already run the maximum number of regional events.
Top Alcohol Funny Car has two Top Tenners in attendance that could add to their points totals, Doug Gordon and Ulf Leanders. Gordon has already been crowned the world champion and can only gain points if he wins the event, but they won't be enough to give him a perfect (850 point) season, with the oildown penalty he received at the Texas FallNationals. Leanders has already moved up one position in the standings by qualifying, and if he can reach the final round, will gain an additional spot to #6. Other Top Ten attendees are Sean Bellemeur, Brian Hough and Chip Beverett.
Qualifying was completed yesterday and eliminations will run today, starting at noon. The dragster field ended up very tight, with the quickest bump spot of the season, a 5.295, with west coast A/Fuel racer Casey Grisel holding down that spot. He will have to face the quickest, and fastest, car in the field in the first round, and getting past Shawn Cowie could be a monumental task. Cowie's final qualifying session pass of 5.168 - 278.92 served notice to everyone that he's taking no prisoners in his final events of the season. He was runnerup to Jackie Fricke at last week's national event, and will be looking to change that narrative today as he continues his strong late season charge. With Cowie and Fricke on opposite sides of the ladder it could well be another final round matchup for them.
Over in Funny Car, it looks like it could be another Doug Gordon and "Team Estrogen" against Sean Bellemeur and the "Killer B's" battle again. They're on opposite sides of the ladder, so another throwdown matchup in the final is a definite possibility. Despite being eliminated from the championship conversation at the Texas Motorplex, Bellemeur and his team are going all out to finish the season on a high note. However, one racer in particular could get in the way of that final round pairing, and that's Chris Marshall in the Miner Brothers car, formerly driven by Jake Guadagnolo. It's a torque converter car, so it has very quick reaction times and Marshall qualified on top of the field at 5.452 and would face Bellemeur in the semifinals if they both get past their first round opponents.
The race today is being broadcast on NHRA.tv and live timing results will be running on the NHRA.com website, in addition to full coverage on DragRaceCentral.com. Plus, we'll have a synopsis of eliminations and a quick look ahead at next week's NHRA season finale at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. There's already 23 Top Alcohol Dragsters, and sadly, just 12 Top Alcohol Funny Cars on the pre-entry list. All the PRO categories have full fields, and the sportsman turnout will be large at the last big event of the year.
BONUS: Our Arizona photograher, "Big" Bob Snyder is packing his bags, and will head out to Pomona next Thursday to provide us with a big batch of photos for our last feature of the 2023 season.