3 things to watch at NHRA Nevada Nationals at LVMS — SCHEDULE

Two races are left in the NHRA season, and all titles across the four top national classes could be close to decided this week in Las Vegas.

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host the penultimate event in the NHRA season with the NHRA Nevada Nationals. Qualifying begins at 11 a.m. Friday and continues Saturday. Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Across Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock Car, the championship leaders have significant point advantages. The title races could go from decided to still up for grabs after the weekend.

“You can’t help but keep an eye on (the point standings) and the different guys that are in the points deal with you,” Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta said. “At the end of the day, for me anyways, just shake all that off, have fun and try to get the win. That’ll take care of the rest.”

Here are three things to watch at this weekend’s NHRA Nevada Nationals:

1. Huge Top Fuel lead

Kalitta has the biggest advantage of all the championship leaders. He has a 141-point lead in the point standings over second-place Justin Ashley, and Shawn Langdon, driving for Kalitta’s team, is third (-159 points).

“We’re trying to stay in the points (lead), that’s definitely the main goal,” Kalitta said. “My mindset is to go there and plan on trying to win the race and let the points be where they end up.”

Kalitta, the 2023 Top Fuel champion, has four wins this year, but didn’t get his first win of 2025 until Sonoma (California) on June 27. He won the following week at Brainerd (Minnesota) and comes into Las Vegas as the winner of the past two events at Gateway (Illinois) and Texas.

“We definitely have some momentum going (into Las Vegas),” Kalitta said. “Alan Johnson, my crew chief, he’s been collecting all of the trophies from the last few races, keeping them in his lounge, so it’s a good reminder of what we’ve been accomplishing and to keep it going.”

2. Back-to-back in Funny Car

Austin Prock is on his way to winning a second straight Funny Car world title. Prock, driving for legendary driver John Force, has a 112-point lead over Matt Hagan in the Funny Car standings.

Prock is in his second Funny Car season with John Force Racing. He won his ninth race this season Oct. 12 at Texas. Prock has won seven of the past 10 races since June 22.

Last year, Prock won eight times to claim his first Funny Car title. It appeared this year’s Funny Car title race would be a little wide open after three different drivers won in the first three races.

Then, in the spring at LVMS, Prock claimed his first win of the season at the Four-Wide Nationals to begin his tear through the summer to be in a great spot to repeat. Prock’s teammate, Jack Beckman, is third (-131 points) in the standings, followed by Ron Capps (-149) and Daniel Wilkerson (-189).

3. Tight Pro Stock battle

The race is closer in Pro Stock Car. The title will come down to Dallas Glenn or Greg Anderson in Pro Stock.

Glenn has a 60-point lead over Anderson. Glenn has seven wins, including LVMS in the spring, and Anderson has six victories. Anderson won his second title last year, while Glenn is seeking his first title.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.