Each and every year our team here at DRAGZINE makes its predictions for the coming season’s NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series champions, and we do so if, for no reason other than the fun of it and to see just how well we evaluated and analyzed the capability of each and every team in the five pro categories. We’ve never gotten them all correct — even in categories with 10-15 full-time regulars who could contend for a title, that’s still a statistical unlikelihood — but we’ve had some good picks, and some miles off the mark.
With the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals cued up this week, it’s time for us to clock in with those picks, let ’em ride, and then watch how the next 21 races unfold and see how we did.
Top Fuel: Doug Kalitta
The class of 2024 in Top Fuel is going to be, arguably, one of the strongest in the history of the sport, with as many as 14 full-time teams lined up, Billy Torrence making a go at a full pull, Clay Millican’s performance on the rise, Brittany Force seeking redemption, Tony Stewart making his debut, and several strong part-time runners making moves and positioning themselves to come in and wreck the whole thing.
But right now, it’s hard to choose against Doug Kalitta. In last year’s Countdown, Kalitta and renowned tuner Alan Johnson finally gelled and powered fan-favorite Kalitta to his long-awaited first championship. They then rolled into the PRO Superstar Shootout last month and won the whole deal, assuring the Top Fuel contingent their chemistry hadn’t waned in the offseason.
Predicting a Top Fuel champion in 2024 is without a doubt the toughest of the five categories; with so many great cars, no one team is going to dominate, and in the final six races you’ll likely be able to throw five names in a bucket and draw one out, as one mistake might prove to be all the the difference.
Top 5
- Doug Kalitta
- Steve Torrence
- Billy Torrence
- Mike Salinas
- Tony Stewart
Funny Car: Austin Prock
Courtesy Auto Imagery/John Force Racing
You could argue we’re going out on a limb choosing a rookie to the class, but this one’s really not out-there at all. Austin Prock has proven himself a hell of a driver, and he’s plenty hungry. The only thing that stood between him and championship frontrunner status in Top Fuel was not having a consistently dominant car during a period where a consistently dominant car was needed. But now,…
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