Drag Racing: Some different names on top of NHRA points standings

JOLIET – As the National Hot Rod Association kicks off the second half of its season this weekend at the 20th annual Fallen Patriots Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, there’s a lot of new faces on top of the division standings.

Antron Brown, the two-time defending champion in Top Fuel, is in third place while eight-time champion and career Top Fuel race winner Tony Schumacher is in fourth place. This year’s top-two drivers in that division are Steve Torrence with 1,071 points and Leah Pritchett, who has collected 1,021 points.

Torrence already has more victories than he picked up last season, when he had three. He’s won two of the last three events, finishing first two weeks ago in Norwalk and also claiming top honors at Englishtown on June 11. Earlier, he won consecutive races at Charlotte and Atlanta. He is seeking his seventh-straight appearance in the Countdown playoffs.

Pritchett, who claimed her first victory and made her initial Countdown playoffs a year ago, got off to a great start this season. She won the first two events, at Pomona and Phoenix, and then also claimed a win in the fifth event, at Houston, on April 23.

Brown, the defending champion in the event at Route 66 Raceway, is 81 points behind Torrence in the standings. He has wins at Las Vegas and Topeka to his credit this year.

Schumacher is 215 points off the pace, Doug Kalitta is 290 points back in fifth place, Brittany Force ranks sixth in the division, 337 points behind the leader, and Clay Millican is seventh, 376 points off the pace.

In Funny Car, there’s a little more familiarity since defending NHRA champion Ron Capps leads the way with 1,095 points, while Matt Hagan is second with 946 points. Jack Beckman, who won last year’s event in Joliet, is in third place, 240 points in back of Capps.

Capps, who captured five victories during his title season of 2016, last won at Bristol on June 18. He also won four races in a row from April 23-May 21 at Houston, Charlotte, Atlanta and Topeka. Hagan, the 2014 NHRA champion and a four-time winner last year, claimed early victories at Pomona and Phoenix and won more recently at Epping on June 4.

Other leaders in Funny Car this season are Robert Hight (fourth, -286), Tommy Johnson Jr. (fifth, -356), Courtney Force (sixth, -381) and 16-time champ John Force (seventh, -412).

In Pro Stock, Bo Butner leads the way with 1,067 points, while Greg Anderson ranks second with 941 points and Tanner Gray is in third place, 180 points behind Butner.

Butner, who made his first trip to the Countdown playoffs a year ago, won the last event at Norwalk and has also picked up victories at Houston and Atlanta.

Anderson, who won at Chicago a year ago for one of his eight victories before settling for second place to champion Jason Line, has won at Phoenix and Englishtown this season. Gray, a newcomer to the division, has victories at Las Vegas and Topeka to his credit.

Other top drivers in the Pro Stock division this season are Jeg Coughlin Jr. (fourth, -247), Jason Line (fifth, -286), 2014 and 2015 NHRA champ Erica Enders (sixth, -377) and Vincent Nobile (seventh, -397).

And in Pro Stock Motorcycle, LE Tonglet leads the way with 480 points while Eddie Krawiec is in second place with 389 points.

Tonglet, who only picked up one victory a year ago in his first full season in the division, already has three wins under his belt this year with firsts at Norwalk, Atlanta and Charlotte.

Krawiec, a five-time winner a year ago who settled for second place in the playoffs to Jerry Savoie, won the first event of this season at Gainesville.

Other top drivers in Pro Stock Motorcycle this year have been Scotty Pollachek (third, -155), Jerry Savoie (fourth, -158), 2014 and 2015 NHRA champion and 2016 Joliet winner Andrew Hines (fifth, -163), Hector Arana Jr. (sixth, -166) and Joey Gladstone (seventh, -202).