The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series made its way west to Las Vegas for the second to last event of the season. The NHRA Nevada Nationals kicked off with some stellar performances and some wild rides.
Pro Mod racer Kris Thorne lost control during his first-round race; as his car was coming to the finish line the car made a hard turn and smacked the retaining wall and flipped upside down and slid to a stop in the shutdown area. Thorne climbed from his wrecked Camaro and was uninjured in the incident.
In Top Fuel, Mike Salinas of San Jose, CA made a huge move to get back into the points battle. On his fourth and final qualifying attempt he captured the number one spot. In round one Salinas took his Valley Services/Scrappers dragster to low elapse time of the round with a 3.695 @ 334 mph to defeat Rob Passey. Eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher would be Salinas’s next opponent. Salinas put up the second-best run of round two with a 3.688 @ 334 mph to Schumacher’s 3.867 @ 313 mph. In the semifinal round Salinas took down Josh Hart with the quickest pass of the event at 3.663 @ 333 mph to Hart’s 3.745 @ 325 mph. This would send him to the final round against Justin Ashley, who had won six races prior to countdown to the championship but has struggled during the six-race playoff. Salinas made quick work of the tire smoking Ashley with his second-best run of a 3.673 @ 333mph to capture the victory and move him closer in the points. Salinas moved to the fourth position 76 points behind leader Steve Torrence. With Doug Kalitta 15 points out of the top spot and Leah Pruett 34 points out, the teams next head to Pomona for the season finale.
In Funny Car, three-time champion Robert Hight and his Cornwell Quality Tools team dominated all weekend long. In qualifying they ran the quickest run each of the first three rounds and was second quickest to Bob Tasca in the final qualifying round. During a post run inspection Tasca’s PPG Ford Mustang failed a tech inspection and his final run was disqualified thus handing the pole to Hight. In the opening round Hight put up the quickest run in the modern non swept back headers era with a 3.816 @ 332 mph. The run would advance him to the second round where he would take down Alexis DeJoria with another solid 3.859 @ 333 mph. In the semifinal round Hight put a 3.868 @ 330 mph to end Blake Alexander’s day. The final round would be Hight and Tasca, number two and three in the points chase. Hight posted a 3.851 @ 326 mph as Tasca’s car lost traction shortly before the 330 ft. mark and could only watch as Hight scored the victory. Hight came into this race 69 points behind leader Matt Hagan but with the win he now sits 17 points behind Hagan and two points behind Tasca.
In Pro Stock it was five-time and current defending champion Erica Enders picking up the win. She stretched her points lead heading into Pomona for the final race. Enders qualified in the number two position and motored her way to the final taking out Mason McGaha in round one, Troy Coughlin Jr. in round two and Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the semifinal round. She would then match up with her biggest rival, four-time champion Greg Anderson. Coming into the final round Anderson had lane choice but as soon as he let the clutch out the car broke traction and Enders sailed her Camaro down the quarter mile to score the victory.
Gaige Herrera scored his tenth victory of the season in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Herrera has dominated all season long and Vegas would be no different. He ran low elapse time every round and defeated his teammate Eddie Krawiec in the final. As for the points, Herrera only needs to make a qualifying pass in Pomona to mathematically lock up his first ever Pro Stock Motorcycle title.
