The 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals will serve as the halfway marker of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs. With only four races remaining to make a move for a world championship, fans will be in for some of the most intense drag racing of the season Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at Maple Grove Raceway.
Drivers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle will battle side-by-side in an attempt to continue their momentum from the first two races. Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Chris McGaha (Pro Stock), Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year's winner of the event that will be televised for the first time on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).
Antron Brown
Jack Beckman
Jason Line
Andrew Hines
In 2015, Brown increased his Top Fuel Countdown to the Championship round record to 12-0 with a victory over teammate Tony Schumacher at Maple Grove Raceway. The win was the 2015 Top Fuel world champion's third consecutive and marked the best start in the history of the Countdown.
Brown, in his Matco Tools dragster, is the current points leader and is in the perfect position to mimic last year's playoff run, but in the competitive class there will be plenty of rivals hoping to prevent a repeat of 2015.
Beckman raced his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T to his seventh Funny Car victory of the season last year when he defeated Chad Head in what was at the time the quickest Funny Car final in history.
Until last weekend in St. Louis, where he won, the 2016 season hasn't been as kind to the 2012 world champion. Beckman had one win in Chicago with three runner-up finishes but currently sits third in the points. After finishing second in the points last year, though, Beckman will have all the motivation he needs to chase his second world championship, but it won't be easy, especially with the dominating performance of current points leader Ron Capps, who is competing for his first world championship and is currently the NHRA's winningest driver without a world title.
McGaha defeated Greg Anderson for his third Pro Stock win of the season last year at the Keystone Nationals. McGaha, winner of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, currently sits in sixth place.
Dominating the new era of Pro Stock, which features electronic fuel injection, a 10,500 RPM rev-limiter, flattened hoods and shortened wheelie bars, are Jason Line and Anderson in their Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaros and sit 1-2 in points two races into the Countdown.
Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hines won over Chip Ellis at Maple Grove Raceway last year for his third victory of the season on his way to his fifth world championship. The win was his second in the Countdown and he would go on to win again in Las Vegas.
Hines is competing for his third consecutive world title and fourth win at Maple Grove. Teammate Krawiec, first in points and last year's championship runner-up, is looking for his fourth Reading title and fourth world title.
Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 2:45 and 5:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 1:45 and 4:15 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15.
To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, call 610-856-9200. Tickets also are available online at www.maplegroveraceway.com. Kids 12 and under are free in general admission areas with a paid adult.