The high rollers of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series know what’s at stake at the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 27-30. As the second-to-last race of the 2016 season, the opportunity to win a world championship becomes slimmer and slimmer, and folding is not an option for drivers and teams.
Every pass, every point and every round is more crucial than ever at the lucrative event, which is the fifth of six races in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The first four races of the Countdown – the NHRA Carolina Nationals, AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, Dodge NHRA Nationals and AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals – will have set the tone for the penultimate race of the season, but anything can happen in the world of 330 mph, 10,000-horsepower NHRA Drag Racing.
This year’s edition of the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Sin City will feature intense side-by-side racing as drivers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle compete for vital Mello Yello Series points. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners of the event that will for the first time be aired on FOX Sports 1 this October.
Last year’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway also saw champions crowned, as two drivers dominated the Countdown in their respective categories.
Brown, who started the 2015 Countdown with a record 12 consecutive round wins, entered this year’s six-race playoff leading the Top Fuel points standings and sprinted to in Charlotte and Reading to gain a big lead in his Matco Tools dragster over his closest rival, Doug Kalitta. Kalitta, who was runner-up to Brown in Charlotte, is a three-time 2016 event winner but has not yet won a world championship.In Top Fuel, Brown claimed his second Top Fuel world championship when he advanced one round further than rival Tony Schumacher during eliminations, while in Pro Stock, Enders secured her second straight world championship crown when she won in the quarterfinals and rival Greg Anderson lost in the same round. Enders then raced to victory, her ninth of the season and fourth in a row at LVMS. Brown lost in the semifinals.
Making that championship push is no easy task for any driver, though, as the Top Fuel class is loaded with talent like Brown, Kalitta, eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, three-time event winner Brittany Force, St. Louis winner Shawn Langdon, first-time Countdown qualifier Leah Pritchett, Steve Torrence and J.R. Todd.
 Erica Enders |
So far in 2016 Countdown the Championship, the chips haven’t all fallen Enders’ way. Pro Stock was also shaken up this year as back-to-back world champion Enders hasn’t had the defense she had hoped for. The driver of the Elite Motorsports/Mopar Performance Dodge Dart, who won three of the six Countdown races last year, has made only two semifinal round appearances this season. She entered this year’s Countdown ninth in points then, shockingly, she did not qualify for the Carolina Nationals and she sits 10th in points.
Instead, the Ken Black Racing trio of Jason Line, Greg Anderson and Bo Butner has dominated the first year of the redesigned Pro Stock class. Two-time world champion Line is in first place and leads Anderson by 26 points with teammate Bo Butner in third.
Even though Line and Anderson have outperformed the rest of the competition, the Pro Stock championship is far from locked up. Alex Laughlin raced to his first career victory in his first ever final round appearance in St. Louis. Even though he didn’t qualify for the Countdown, he proved upsets are possible and the Pro Stock trophy is up for grabs at any and every race, especially with the likes of Denver winner Allen Johnson, five-time world champ Jeg Coughlin, Indianapolis winner Chris McGaha, two-time 2016 runner-up Vincent Nobile and Dallas winner Drew Skillman giving you a run for your money.
 Robert Hight |
 Andrew Hines |
In Funny Car, Hight powered to victory in Las Vegas last year by outlasting Tommy Johnson Jr. in the final. Hight, who won in Gainesville, Fla., is currently sixth in points and faces a tough battle in the high-performing Funny Car class.
Ron Capps, the winningest driver in NHRA history without a world championship, leads the category and is a four-time NHRA Toyota Nationals winner. He leads Tommy Johnson Jr. by 64 points and Dallas winner Matt Hagan by 88. John Force, a 16-time world champion and the most successful driver in NHRA history, will do all he can to stop Capps from winning the title, as will reigning world champion Del Worsham, Courtney Force, and Alexis DeJoria.
Pro Stock Motorcycle reigning world champion Andrew Hines hopes to repeat his Las Vegas success this year. He outlasted Louisiana alligator farmer Jerry Savoie at the event last year to claim his fourth victory of 2015 and later secured his fifth world championship at the Auto Club Finals in Southern California. Hines, a five-time 2016 winner, is second behind teammate Eddie Krawiec by 17 points. Dallas runner-up Savoie is 49 points out of first place.
The NHRA Toyota Nationals will also feature thrilling competition in the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series as well as the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, where the future stars of the sport earn their racing stripes.
