The NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship Regular Season concludes Monday, Sept. 1 with the 54th running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
Below are the remaining clinching scenarios for No. 1 seeds and the final playoff berths. This year the top seeds will receive a 20-point bonus. When the playoffs begin Sept. 11-14 with the Carolinas NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway at Concord, N.C., and the points are reset. first place will have 2,090, second will have 2,060 and each of the remaining drivers in the Countdown to 1 will be separated by 10 points down to 1,980 for 10th place.
The Clinch Scenarios:
No. 1 seeds
— TOP FUEL: Tony Schumacher has clinched
— FUNNY CAR: Tim Wilkerson has clinched
— PRO STOCK: Greg Anderson is +37 over Kurt Johnson so will depend whether his lead is +/- 40 entering final eliminations so exact scenario cannot be determined until after qualifying. Will be updated Sunday night.
— PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: Matt Smith is +73 over Andrew Hines so he clinches the No. 1 seed with one round win OR if he qualifies and Andrew Hines does not win the race OR if he DNQ’s and Andrew Hines does not reach the final round.
Playoff Berths
— TOP FUEL:
(1) Dave Grubnic (736 points)/Doug Kalitta (732)/Morgan Lucas (726): If all three qualify, TF field cannot be set until race day and scenarios cannot be determined until after qualifying is completed because Doug Kalitta can move up to ninth or down to 11th during qualifying. (NOTE: If any two of these three qualify and one of them DNQs, the TF field would be set with the two qualifiers clinching the final two TF playoff berths and the DNQ being eliminated).
(2) Bob Vandergriff: Needs two of the three drivers ahead of him to DNQ AND he would need to win the race.
— FUNNY CAR:
(1) All 10 playoff berths clinched.
— PRO STOCK:
(1) Ron Krisher: Clinches by qualifying (Status will be updated Sunday night should he DNQ)
(2) Greg Stanfield: Clinches with one round win OR if he qualifies and Warren Johnson does not win the race OR if he DNQ’s and Warren Johnson does not reach the final round.
(3) Warren Johnson: Needs to win race AND have Greg Stanfield lose first round or DNQ (if Greg Stanfield DNQs, he would only need to reach the final round to clinch).
— PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
(1) Craig Treble: Clinches by qualifying (Status will be updated Sunday night should he DNQ)
(2) Steve Johnson: Can clinch during qualifying if he qualifies and EITHER of the following takes place: (a) He extends his lead over Karen Stoffer from 54 to 60 or 61 points; OR(b) Hector Arana and Karen Stoffer are on the same half of the draw (limiting one of the two to a maximum of two round-wins).
(3) Karen Stoffer: Needs to go at least as many rounds as Hector Arana.
(4) Hector Arana: Needs to go one more round than Karen Stoffer.
NOTE: The scenarios that have been outlined here are based on NO national records being set; there cannot be an national record in Top Fuel or Funny Car and the last national record (elapsed time) that was set at Indy in Pro Stock was 1986 and in Pro Stock Motorcycle was 1989. If a national record is set by trailing driver, obviously the threshold for passing the driver ahead of him/her would be one less round.
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