CLERMONT, Ind — The 69th edition of the Dodge Power Brokers US Nationals is upon us. The Super Bowl of the NHRA Championship Drag Racing Series has a lot on the line as the annual Labor Day weekend is the biggest will set the Countdown fields for the postseason run.

$2-million in cash and prize money is on the line. Here are the top five storylines to watch.

Force’s Turn?

The “Big Go” is huge for the Force family. They’ve combined to have 10 US Nationals crowds between them or their extended family. John Force has won 5 of these himself. Ashley Force Hood has won 2. Robert Hight is married to one of John Force’s daughters. He’s won 3 times. Is this now Brittany Force’s turn?

She’s been so close before. She was the No. 1 qualifier in each of the last 2 years but lost in the finals in each. 2021 to Steve Torrence. 2022 to Antron Brown.

After being so close so many times, is this her year?

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Big Winners

The big track just minutes to the east here picks its winners. It’s pretty clear the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals at IRP picks its winners too. Just look at the most recent ones.

Last year, Antron Brown, Ron Capps, Greg Anderson and Matt Smith were victorious. At the time, Brown had won 70 times in his NHRA career. That was 6th best. Capps just won his 71st career NHRA win. That was 5th best. Greg Anderson topped the century club joining just John Force (155) as drivers to win at least 100 times in NHRA history. Matt Smith’s 35 wins at the time ranked him 5th most in Pro Stock Motorcycle history.

The year prior, Steve Torrence, Tim Wilkerson, Erica Enders and Eddie Krawiec took home the Wally’s at Indy. At the time, it was Torrence’s 48th career win. He had won 4 straight Top Fuel titles too. Wilkerson’s win was his 21st ever, Enders’ 32nd with Krawiec’s 49th.

The year before that was big but 2019 even bigger.

2019 saw Doug Kalitta and Alex Laughlin emotionally score their 1st US Nationals victories. It also saw John Force nearly being brought to tears after earning his 1st US Nationals win since 2002. Jerry Savoie also was emotional after his win as well.

The Big Go brings big emotions.

With winners paying their dues here, does this year’s new crop of dominance buck the trend?

Justin Ashley has won 6 of the 14 Top Fuel races this season including 2 of the last 3. He’s winless at Indy. Dallas Glenn has won 4 of the 14 Pro Stock events. Gaige Herrera has won 6 of the 8 Pro Stock Bike races. Can any of these points leaders walk away with a Wally or do they need to pay more dues?

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Capps 2 Straight?

Ron Capps no longer has to answer the question on when he’ll win a US Nationals. After 25 years of being asked that, he finally won last September. Now he’s back. The new question is, can he win 2 in-a-row after starting off 0-25?

The Funny Car division has had 9 different winners in the last 11 years here, and 6 straight races on the season with a different winner, so it would be a massive feat if he could. Capps is the current Funny Car points leader and hopeful of not only a second straight Big Go, but a second straight championship as well. A win on Monday would also mark the second straight win on the season too as he was victorious the last time out in Brainerd.

An Indy win would be a big boost in the momentum category.

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No. 100 For Hight

Robert Hight will forever be a legend of this sport. The last time out, he scored his 99th career final round appearance. The next time he gets to the starting line with a win in sight, it will move him to the century mark. Maybe that happens on Monday.

Hight has made the final round in 7 of his 18 years of trying here. 3 of those were wins with the other 4 runner-ups. One of those second place finishes came just last year to Ron Capps. Can he get redemption on Monday afternoon?

Hight sits third in points. He had 2 wins in the first 5 races but none in the last 9.

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Countdown

A Big Go is a massive feat but so is a championship. In order to win a championship, you first have to be playoff eligible. Right now, there’s some room left in the Top Fuel Countdown.

Austin Prock (+137), Mike Salinas (+109), Doug Kalitta (+101), Clay Millican (+64) and Josh Hart (+63) are each in. Shawn Langdon (-63), Tony Schumacher (-162) both want in. Langdon won this event in 2020. Schumacher is an 8-time series champion and all-time winningest driver in Top Fuel history.

For Funny Car, 9 of the 10 spots are taken. 1 spot is left. Cruz Pedregon leads Blake Alexander by 100 points for that position. Alex Laughlin is 149 back.