The latest update as of October 1, 2024
TOP ALCOHOL Championship Standings
We're a little late on this item, but it's time to post the latest points standings for the Top Alcohol categories. There's still at least ten contenders for the Dragster title, but for the Funny Cars.... it's a done deal, with Sean Bellemeur and the "Killer B's" reclaiming the championship after two seasons on the outside, looking in.
The graphics below show the current points total, the possible points total and which national events the racers have entered. The entries are as of this morning, so they are obviously subject to change. We'll post updated figures after next week's Texas NHRA FallNationals. At this writing, there's three national and four regional events remaining on the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series schedule.
NOTES: Fields that have XXX filled in are events that are not possible to attend for the racer. Point numbers in red are waived races.
NOTE: The graphic above was correct at the time of posting, but since then Julie Nataas, Karen Stalba and Megan Smith have entered the Dallas event. That means that the entire Top Ten in the standings will be in competition together. That could have some serious consequences to the standings.
It's a fairly close race for the championship at this point with everyone in the top ten with a mathematical chance to overtake the leader. However, there is a regional event at St. Louis this weekend and the NHRA Texas FallNationals at Dallas next weekend and the results from those two events should give us a clearer picture of just who is a contender for the Top Alcohol Dragster crown. With 19 cars already on the entry list and nine of them in the Top Ten there could be some serious movements in the standings.
Despite holding down the #2 spot in the standings, Mike Coughlin is most susceptible to being overtaken by most of the other racers on the list. And at the bottom of the pack in #10, Megan Smith would have to win three consecutive national events and a regional race to squeak ahead of points leader Hunter Green. Frankly, that is not going to happen. Green is somewhat vulnerable as Dallas will be his last points earning national event, but he has two regionals left to claim points if he's willing to travel. The next two weekends will be critical to everyone in the Top Ten as the results from those races could go a long way to determining the 2024 champion.
The defending Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series TAD champion, Julie Nataas, in her last year of A/Fuel competition is not yet entered for any more events and looks unlikely to mount a charge to the championship. Perennial contender Shawn Cowie has had an eminently forgettable season, starting with not qualifying at the Winternationals, and three first round losses, one of which was on a bye run at Seattle. A persistent electrical gremlin caused the car to lose fire at the end of the burnout, and it bit him at the second regional race at Woodburn before the Northwest Nationals. Without all that bad luck he would have a solid lead in the standings.
There's a couple of darkhorses on the list, with Angelle Sampey able to accumulate the most points of anyone in the category. Again, it's going to take some travelling and hard racing to make up the 85 point gap between her and Hunter Green. The other racer with much to gain, if he enters the last three national events and two of the regionals, is Matt Cummings and he could make a big leap up the standings if he runs at St. Louis and does well there and at Dallas.
NOTE: The graphic above was correct at the time of posting, but since then five more have entered the event, meaning that the Top Nine racers in the standings will be competing at Dallas. While it won't have any effect on the top spot, there could be some shuffling lower down in the standings.
It's a mystery to me why Sean Bellemeur has not been crowned the World Champion in Top Alcohol Funny Car for 2024. He's got an insurmountable lead in the standings, with even #2 racer, Maddi Gordon unable to catch him after two consecutive first round losses at Brainered and Indy. Up until the Labor Day weekend she had a longshot chance to overtake Bellemeur for the points lead, but that chance is gone.
With declining participation in the Funny Car category, evidenced by only 32 racers entering a national event this season, and not a single full field at the first 10 races on the tour, there's less drama in the class. Yes, there are a bunch of cars that consistently produce great performances, but not enough to make for exciting competition at every event. Sometimes it seems that the finalists are almost a foregone conclusion by the end of qualifying. While the NHRA has tried to increase participation in the class by adding an A/Fuel option, so far, only two racers have appeared with an injected nitro engine and only has run at a national event.
As the season winds down, the largest field of the 2024 series will be on hand at Dallas next week, with 15 cars on the pre-entry list. Entries for the final two events of the season are very few so far but the sportsman racers tend to enter much closer to the deadline than the pro classes.