Behind the Numbers: Torrence confident as Countdown to Championship winds down
Steve Torrence is ready to bounce back following wreck at AAA Texas 91°µÍř FallNationals wreck.
If Steve Torrence wins his first Mello Yello Top Fuel Championship, he’ll do it alone. Okay, I’m exaggerating; he’ll do it with co-crew chiefs Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana, along with the incredible Capco Contractors team that has helped Torrence…
Behind the Numbers: Anderson's going rounds to get back into championship hunt
Greg Anderson holds the Pro Stock points lead midway through the Countdown to the Championship thanks to a string of consistent performances.
Greg Anderson earned his third victory of the season by beating teammate Jason Line in a final round for the second time this season at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. That win came in Anderson’s fourth straight final-round appearance, but…
Behind the Numbers: Millican and Grubnic have taken a massive step forward
Clay Millican and David Grubnic have stepped up the performance of the Parts Plus / Great Clips dragster recently, and it's showing up on scoreboards across the NHRA Drag Racing landscape.
Clay Millican reset the national elapsed time record by nearly a hundredth of a second, the latest salvo (pow-pow) fired by crew chief David Grubnic as the Parts Plus/Great Clips-backed dragster continues to light up scoreboards wherever it goes.…
Behind the Numbers: Consistency makes Brittany, Courtney Force contenders in the Countdown
Brittany and Courtney Force lead Top Fuel and Funny Car in points acquired over the first two Countdown races thanks to steady performance.
To hear drivers and crew chiefs talk, the key to winning a Mello Yello Championship resembles boxing as much as it does racing. To alter the famous quote from legendary Raiders owner Al Davis: “just go rounds, baby.”
That worked out just…
Behind the Numbers: Krawiec and Hines are back with a vengeance
Krawiec and Hines showed brief vulnerability when they brought out their new Street Rods. Those days are over. The Harley-Davidson team is back just in time to chase another championship.
When Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines brought out their new Harley-Davidson Street Rods at Englishtown, the competition licked its lips. For a moment, two of the most competitive riders in Pro Stock Motorcycle were vulnerable. Debuting new bodies and…
Behind the Numbers: How Funny Car drivers can clinch at the Big Go
The wild Funny Car regular season comes down to the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, where three spots in the Countdown for the Championship are still up for grabs. Here's how the field shapes up ahead of the Big Go.
It all comes down to the Big Go. One of the wildest Funny Car regular seasons since the Countdown to the Championship came into being wraps up at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals with everything on the line. Ron Capps remains the favorite to…
Behind the Numbers: DeJoria's long journey back to the winner's circle
A look at how co-crew chiefs Tommy DeLago and Nicky Boninfante helped get Alexis DeJoria back to the winner's circle for the first time in more than a year.
The party in Austin, Texas, might still be going on. Alexis DeJoria is the ninth Funny Car winner of the season, the second out of Kalitta Motorsports, and now holds a tenuous grasp on 10th place with only one race to go in the "regular" season. It…
Behind the Numbers: Winners and losers of the Western Swing
The back-to-back-to-back grind of the Western Swing is over, and with just two races left in the regular season it’s time to take stock of how racers performed over one of the season’s most famous stretches
The back-to-back-to-back grind of the Western Swing is over, and with just two races left in the regular season it’s time to take stock of how racers performed over one of the campaign’s most famous stretches. Since Pro Stock Motorcycle only…
Behind the Numbers: How Steve Torrence turned around NHRA’s most lopsided rivalry
Steve Torrence and the Capco Boys have (finally) turned the tide against Antron Brown. Here's how they did it.
You know who got real tired of hearing about Antron Brown kicking Steve Torrence’s butt in Top Fuel drag racing? Steve Torrence. So, he did something about it. It took some time, as one might expect when looking for an antidote to the poison…
Behind the Numbers: Diving into a very weird Funny Car season
The Funny Car season has been unprecedented on both ends of the table. Let's take a look at why the flopper category has been so strange.
J.R. Todd launched a salvo from the bottom half of the Funny Car table Sunday at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals, reminding the NHRA Drag Racing community the chase for a championship is just getting started. Well, sort of. Todd’s region of the…
Behind the Numbers: Who has the best chance of sweeping the Western Swing?
As the dust settles in the Mile-High City, and racers gear up for the short trek to the Toyota NHRA Nationals in Sonoma, let’s look at one of the toughest feats in NHRA drag racing: sweeping the Western Swing.
As the dust settles in the Mile-High City, and racers gear up for the short trek to Sonoma, let’s look at one of the toughest feats in NHRA drag racing: sweeping the Western Swing. Only seven drivers have done it between the three professional…
Behind the Numbers: Can anyone catch Tanner Gray in the rookie of the year race?
Tanner Gray has a big lead in the Auto Club Road to the Future Award race. Can any of his fellow rookies catch him? Let's go through the 2017 class as the Countdown to the Championship approaches.
With 11 races to go in the 2017 season (seriously? Where has the time gone?), now seems like as good a time as any to take a look at this year's rookie class. Let’s start with the obvious: It’s going to be very, very difficult for anyone to…
Behind the Numbers: Rahn Tobler and Ron Capps are doing something amazing
Beyond just winning a whole lot, Capps and Tobler go about their business a little bit different than everybody else. We take a look at how the NAPA team has picked up where it left off after winning the 2016 Funny Car title.
Funny Car driver Ron Capps, crew chief Rahn Tobler and the rest of the NAPA car team are enjoying an unprecedented season. That’s saying something: the crew is coming off Capps’ first championship in 2016; how do you top an inaugural title? By doing…
Behind the Numbers: Trying to pin down the very tight Funny Car race
It’s officially not too early to talk about the Funny Car points race. With just 26 points separating Cruz Pedregon in 10th from Alexis DeJoria in 14th, let's take a look at the battle for the Countdown.
It’s officially not too early to talk about the Funny Car points race. I know, I’ve been talking about it ever since Alexis DeJoria rejoined the fray in Epping (and truthfully, before that), but I’m a degenerate. Now I’m granting you permission to…
Behind the Numbers: The winners and losers of the "Eastern Swing"
With the “Eastern Swing” behind us and a rare weekend off, let’s take a moment to reset before the Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. To do that, we’re going to break down the winners, losers, and who broke even during the four in a row that started in Epping and ended last week in Norwalk.
With the “Eastern Swing” behind us and a rare weekend off, let’s take a moment to reset before the Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. To do that, we’re going to break down the winners, losers, and who broke even during the four in a…
Behind the Numbers: Erica Enders' car is finally catching up to her left foot
Erica Enders finally won this weekend, but her reaction times never failed her over the past season and a half of winless racing.
Erica Enders is finally back. The former Pro Stock champion picked up her first Wally since the fall Las Vegas race of 2015 when she defeated Tanner Gray at the NHRA New England Nationals for what was also her very first win in the fuel-injection…
Behind the Numbers: What does DeJoria have to do to still make the Countdown?
Let’s look at Alexis DeJoria's odds of chasing down a spot in the Countdown to the Championship with a little historical context in mind.
After missing three events attending to family matters, Alexis DeJoria returns to the NHRA circuit with 10 races left in the regular season and 208 points in the bag. She sits in 14th place, staring up at Jonnie Lindberg, Jim Campbell, Cruz Pedregon…
Behind the Numbers: Consistency is the name of the game in Funny Car points battle
John Force isn't just looking for faster speed and quicker elapsed times as he chases Ron Capps and Matt Hagan in the Funny Car standings; the legend is hoping to get down the track more consistently.
John Force sits in third place in the Funny Car standings after the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties, but the legendary driver isn’t comfortable with the way his car is running.…