REASONS
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REASONS
YOUNG DRIVERS, MULTIPLE WINNERS, INTENSE COMPETITION HEADLINE NHRA PRO STOCK
BY JOSH HACHAT
Remember when we were already preparing the obituary on Pro Stock? Sixteen races and eight-car fields, I think it was? Yeah, no. This supposedly dying class has apparently received some shock treatment in the past 10 months or so, and we like it.
PHOTOS: NHRA / NATIONAL DRAGSTER
Ever since the possibilities of smaller fields and a reduced schedule were brought up, things have slowly but surely picked up for the sport’ s beloved factory hot rod category. Suddenly, there appears to be signs of life thanks to a flurry of parity and a number of young guns running rampant in the class – not to mention a handful of team owners that were prepared to take matters into their own hands.
The 2018 NHRA Pro Stock season opened with eight different winners at the first nine races, a wildly impressive statistic that gets even more remarkable when longtime class standouts Greg Anderson and Jason Line weren’ t on that list. Anderson has added to the winner’ s list, but parity remains a strong point this season.
Previous winners and young talents like Drew Skillman and Alex Laughlin haven’ t reach the winner’ s circle yet, meaning the class could easily have 12 winners in 2018. That doesn’ t seem like a class that’ s going away anytime soon and that’ s a great thing for the sport.
Also great is the amount of young talent in the class. Three-time 2018 winner and reigning NHRA rookie of the year Tanner Gray just turned 19. Vincent Nobile, who has two wins this year, hasn’ t cracked 30, while other young standouts include Erica Enders, Deric
Kramer, who grabbed his first career Pro Stock win this year, Skillman and Laughlin. None of that quartet has hit 35, leaving the class with a bevy of young talent. Heck, even defending world champion Bo Butner is only in his third full season in the class, and he’ s one of many who is passionate about the class.
“ I’ m extremely proud of what we’ ve been able to accomplish as a class this season,” says Richard Freeman, owner of the Elite Motorsports operation that houses four top-flight Pro Stock teams.“ We made a commitment to NHRA that we’ d have full fields in 2018, and we’ ve held up our end of the bargain. I’ ll say that not only do I think Pro Stock has turned the corner this year, I believe this is a class that might just be on the upswing. We know we’ ve got new cars coming next season, and the fact that there are over a dozen legitimate race-winning teams in competition right now doesn’ t hurt.”
There are certainly issues that need to be solved- cars other than Camaros and meaningful qualifying rounds for starters- but full fields are far better than the alternative, and the racing is as good as it has ever been.
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