CLERMONT, Ind — The 69th edition of the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals has come and gone. Once again, it was a thrilling day. Ron Capps went from 0-for-25 to 2-for-2 in consecutive years. His biggest win was over top seeded Robert Hight in the semifinals. He beat JR Todd who had his brakes fail at the end of his semifinal win which was a story in and of itself.
Antron Brown went from barely making his way in to not only marching all the way to the finals but winning the Wally outright as the No. 15 qualifier. He beat four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence for his third Top Fuel US Nationals triumph.
Matt Smith beat Gaige Herrera in the semis while Matt Hartford scored his first career US Nationals win.
Here are my top 5 takeaways from NHRA’s Super Bowl.
Conditions Shaped Ladders
Last year, there were some unseasonably cooler temperatures over the course of the weekend for which saw some times improve as the weekend progressed. This year, it got hotter after each passing day. That’s why 8 of the top 9 times in Top Fuel and the entire top 9 of Pro Stock were set on Friday night. Same for Funny Car with 2 of the top 3 coming on the opening night.
That’s all due to the lights coming on and cooler conditions allowing for faster times.
Brown, Millican Close Calls
Antron Brown battled clutch issues all weekend and was on the outside looking in heading into the fifth and final qualifying round. He narrowly got back in by going 3.806 ET moving him from 17th to 15th. With Lex Joon and Buddy Hull going slower on their runs, last year’s winner was in.
Clay Millican also went from the bottom to 10th as he was 6.860 on Friday to 4.705 ET on Saturday’s first run. That took him from 18th to 16th. He went 4.589 ET on his second run on Saturday which had him last among the 19 qualifiers. Then on his first run on Sunday, he went 3.777 ET to bump his way back in.
Both not only got out of the first round, but they faced each other with Brown coming out on top and marching all the way to the finals.
A day prior, Tony Schumacher bumped his way in too. Schumacher went from the outside looking in, to even worse at 6.382 ET on his second run to 11th with going 3.784 ET on a clutch Q3 run to give him a nice cushion heading into the final day of quals on Sunday. He’d end up P12.
Force, Tasca III Still Winless Here
Brittany Force is a Top Fuel champion. She’s won 16 races. She’s also winless here. Would that change on Monday? She’s been the No. 1 qualifier in each of the last 2 years and lost in the final round in both. Now, she’s the No. 2 qualifier and was facing a rematch of last year’s finals with Brown in the opening round.
She unfortunately lost and is still winless.
Bob Tasca III is one of the best to not win here either as he was the No. 3 qualifier last year and No. 2 this time around. He lost on both occasions, last year in the semifinals and this year in the second round.
Rough Big Go For John Force Racing
They had 4 cars here and none got to the finals. In fact, 3 of the 4 were bounced in Round 1. Brittany Force as the 2 seed was upset by 15th seeded Antron Brown. 11th seed Austin Prock was defeated by sixth seeded Leah Pruett.
In Funny Car, No. 11 qualifier John Force was beat by Cruz Pedregon.
Robert Hight did get to the semifinals but the top seed was beat by Ron Capps ending his weekend earlier than expected too.
Hight called out Capps on Saturday as his opening round opponent for the Call Out. He backed his words up and beat him. He’d end up getting to the finals and winning the $80k all-star race on Sunday. He came one round short of sweeping the weekend.
Big Go Picks It’s Winners
Gaige Herrera is a perfect example of this. Despite being 29-2 this season, he was upset by Matt Smith in the semifinals ending his US Nationals hopes earlier than expected.
Herrera had 7 No. 1 qualifiers in 9 races and 6 wins in the first 8 tries. This was just the second time he didn’t make the final round all season.
Smith was 0-2 against Herrera but picked up a great time for his first career win.
Also, you get essentially the same winners in 2023 as 2022. Antron Brown, Ron Capps and Matt Smith go back-to-back.
Race Review Online 