FULL THROTTLE COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP HITS MIDWAY POINT

With half of the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoff races complete, only three events remain and it is becoming critical for title challengers to make a move at one of the three upcoming events, the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals, Oct. 4-7 at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, Oct. 25-28 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the Auto Club NHRA Finals, Nov. 8-11 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. At the midway point, in Top Fuel, leader and playoff top seed Antron Brown holds a 21-point edge over teammate Spencer Massey. Seven-time world champ Tony Schumacher and Al-Anabi Racing’s Shawn Langdon are well within striking distance with, as history has shown, two very capable teams. In Funny Car, top seed Ron Capps holds a 30 point lead over teammate Jack Beckman, while Mike Neff is 99 points back in his Castrol Ford Mustang. The biggest mover in Funny Car has been Tim Wilkerson, who has jumped from 10^th to fifth in the first three playoff events. Another top seed, Pro Stock’s Allen Johnson holds a 109-point lead over defending world champ Jason Line. Johnson has advanced to the final in all three Countdown events, winning once. Erica Enders has some momentum from her win last weekend in St. Louis which moved her to third in the standings. In Pro Stock Motorcycle, defending world champ and top seed Eddie Krawiec earned his seventh victory of the season in St. Louis and increased his series lead to 33 over teammate Andrew Hines.