91°µÍø

Adrenaline is high as drivers in all four professional categories arrive at World Wide Technology Raceway, a fan-favorite facility that sits in the shadow of the famed St. Louis Arch. With just a few days separating each of the first three events in the 2024 Countdown to the Championship playoffs, there hasn't been much time to take a breath – let alone freshen engines or test equipment – but momentum has been building and the home stretch is in sight.

For incoming points leaders Antron Brown, Austin Prock, Dallas Glenn, and Matt Smith, the task will be gathering as many points in qualifying and on raceday as possible in order to protect their coveted positions as the sand slips through the hourglass. No one is feeling particularly safe, and competitors are baring teeth and pulling fiercely against chains that are barely holding them back.

Top Fuel

Brown and his Matco Tools Toyota dragster have posed in front of flashing cameras in the winner's circle at each of the last two races, and starting the Countdown with back-to-back wins has pushed the three-time world champion to the top of the pack and the lead over Justin Ashley by 53 points. Brown has five previous wins in St. Louis, the most recent of which was in 2015. Scag Power Equipment campaigner Ashley, who held the points lead for a brief moment after the first race of the Countdown, has three wins on the season.

Shawn Langdon, the 2013 world champion who is currently No. 3 in the Top Fuel standings in his Kalitta Air Careers rail, has won St. Louis twice before and is the only driver to have claimed victory there in both Top Fuel (2016) and Funny Car (2019). His Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Doug Kalitta, is working to defend the No. 1 he has flown all year long on the wing of his Mac Tools Toyota. With a semifinals performance last weekend in Charlotte, Kalitta is No. 4 in the championship standings as he arrives at the facility where he has four times before been victorious. Langdon is 62 points out of first, while Kalitta is 67 marks back.

Defending event champion Clay Millican, No. 5 in the Top Fuel points, is still churning after a win at the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals to close out the regular season. Four-time St. Louis winner Steve Torrence is No. 6.

Funny Car

The points leader in Funny Car hasn't let his foot off the throttle all season long, and Austin Prock and his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet have a strong 129-point lead over Bob Tasca III and his Dark Horse Motorcraft Ford. Much of Tasca's strength has shown in speed, and his three wins on the season show he and his team have a car that contend. Tasca has reached the semifinals at each of the first two races of the Countdown. Prock, who this season got behind the wheel of the Funny Car previously driven by Robert Hight, has seven victories so far in 2024 – including at both of the Countdown races so far in the books. Neither driver has won in St. Louis yet.

Jack Beckman, holding place and gathering points for John Force as he recovers from a crash and resulting traumatic brain injury suffered in Richmond, reached the final round two weeks ago in Reading and is seven points behind Tasca. Ahead of the event on the NHRA Insider podcast with Brian Lohnes, Beckman stated that he was competing in the latter portion of the season with the intent to win a 17th world championship for Force, but the triumph of gathering race wins at this point in his career would be exceptionally meaningful.

Reigning Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan and his American Rebel Beer-branded Dodge/SRT Hellcat Funny Car enter the event No. 4 in the standings and as the defending event champion. Hagan, who defeated Ron Capps in the final round last season, has claimed two wins in five final rounds this year. The Charlotte low qualifier and finalist enters the Midwest Nationals with a bit of momentum. Capps, No. 5 in the standings in his NAPA Toyota, has four wins in St. Louis, more than any other driver in the category.

Pro Stock

St. Louis has, historically, been a very strong event for defending Pro Stock champion Erica Enders. Her six wins here are more than any other driver in a professional category, and after a final-round finish to teammate Aaron Stanfield in Reading and a semifinals finish in Charlotte next to Dallas Glenn, she's hoping to get the final win light at one of her favorite racetracks to reset her championship chase.

Enders was No. 1 qualifier last week in her Elite Motorsports-powered JHG/Melling Performance Chevrolet Camaro, but it was Glenn and his KB Titan Racing-powered RAD Torque Systems  Chevrolet Camaro that raced to the top of the pack. Glenn, who led the points through the majority of the season, was back on top with his Charlotte win – but he's only eight points ahead of JHG/Melling/Janac Brothers-backed Stanfield, who has won five of the last seven events. After back-to-back wins at the U.S. Nationals and in Reading, Stanfield was at the top of the points briefly and still holds a threatening stance that no one is taking lightly.

While six-time champion Enders is 53 points out of the lead, the most winning driver in the history of Pro Stock enters the event 74 marks back from the top spot. Three-time St. Louis winner Greg Anderson – the Midwest Nationals defending event champ – and his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro have shown consistency with three semifinals performances in each of the most recent three events. Anderson is seeking his 106th Pro Stock win and a sixth series title. Jeg Coughlin Jr., a two-time winner at World Wide Technology Raceway, is No. 5 in the standings, 166 points out of the lead with three races remaining.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

The Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead changed hands for the first time all season when Matt Smith drove his Denso Buell to a final-round victory in Reading. Reigning world champion Gaige Herrera and his Vance & Hines Mission RevZilla Suzuki were knocked 25 points out of the top spot, but the defending event winner surely intends to make up ground when the rain clears here in St. Louis.

His Vance & Hines teammate, Richard Gadson, could be just as much of a threat as Smith, though, as he reached the final round last week for the second consecutive event and now stands just 27 marks back from first in the No. 3 position. Hector Arana Jr.'s Reading win has him in the No. 4 position, 115 points from the lead. Chase Van Sant, who won his first race in Seattle with a brutally honest final-round defeat of Herrera, is No. 5 and 154 points away from first.

While Herrera is the defending event champion and Smith has five victories in St. Louis – the most of anyone in the class – Arana Jr. has one (2015), and recently returned Geno Scali has one (2003).

EVENT STATISTICS

2023 EVENT WINNERS: Clay Millican, Top Fuel; Matt Hagan, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST VICTORIES: Antron Brown, 6, TF; Ron Capps, 4, FC; Erica Enders, 6, PS; Matt Smith, 5, PSM

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel – 3.631 seconds by Clay Millican, Sept. '17; 338.43 mph by Brittany Force, Oct. '22

Funny Car – 3.830 seconds by Robert Hight, Sept. '17; 338.60 mph by Hight, Sept. '17

Pro Stock – 6.492 seconds by Greg Anderson, Sept. '15; 213.47 mph by Jason Line, Sept. '12

Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.701 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Sept. '23; 203.40 mph by Matt Smith, Sept. '23

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, Sept. 27
TBD - weather pending

SATURDAY, Sept. 28
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:00 a.m.; Factory Stock Showdown qualifying at 2:00 p.m. and eliminations and 5:30 p.m.; MISSION FOODS SERIES qualifying at 12:00 and 2:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, Sept. 29
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:30 a.m.; pre-race ceremonies, 10:00 a.m. MISSION FOODS SERIES eliminations at 11:0 a.m.

TELEVISION

FRIDAY, Sept. 27
FS1 will televise qualifying coverage at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, Sept. 29
FS1 will televise qualifying coverage at coverage at 2:00 p.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, Sept. 29
FS1 will televise coverage at 3:00 p.m. (ET)

TICKETS

To purchase tickets to the NHRA Midwest Nationals, click or call 800-884-6472