The six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs kicks off September 18-20 at US 131 Motorsports Park for the first time for the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals.
This is a press release from NHRA…
It’s playoff time in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, and the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs will determine who wins the championship during NHRA’s special 75th anniversary season.
It all begins with this weekend’s inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by Mopar at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, the first of two inaugural events in the playoffs. The six-race Countdown is loaded with storylines, including the challenge of who will perform best at two first-time facilities on the national event schedule.
There’s plenty more storylines as the Countdown to the Championship features events in Rockingham, North Carolina, St. Louis, Dallas and Las Vegas, which all leads into the finale, the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals on November 12-15 at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Can Gadson go Back-to-Back?
A regular-season championship was the latest example Richard Gadson provided that last year’s world title wasn’t a fluke. He’s been remarkably consistent, confident, and proven time and time again that the moment is not too big for him. There’s no chance he gets rattled in the playoffs, which will make matchups against the likes of his teammate, Gaige Herrera, Matt Smith, and Angie Smith very interesting.
“Winning the regular-season championship was definitely big,” said Gadson. “Gainesville was one stamp, but the regular season championship was the period at the end of the sentence. People could say I got saved by the Countdown, but not this time. At the same time, I know it’s not finished. You enjoy it for a short period of time, and then you have to funnel your energy and focus into the Countdown and continue doing the same things that kept you in front.”
The Drive for Seven
After defeating his wife, Angie, in the final round in Indy, Matt Smith made it clear his sole focus is getting a seventh world title to break the tie with Andrew Hines and Dave Schultz. Fully healthy again, Smith was on another level in Indy. After three straight years of dominance from Vance & Hines, this appears to be both Matt and Angie’s best opportunity to win a title since Matt took the crown for the sixth time in 2022.
To purchase tickets to the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR, fans can visit www.NHRA.com/tickets. Children 12 and under are free in general admission areas with the purchase of an adult ticket.
For more information about the NHRA, visit www.nhra.com.
