Every year, the DRAGZINE team puts its predictions on the line for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series champions. It’s a mix of analysis, evaluation, of course some guessing, and a little bit of fun—seeing how well we can gauge the competition in the five pro categories. We’ve never nailed them all—predicting champions in fields stacked with talent and unpredictability is a long shot—but we’ve had our share of solid picks and a few that didn’t age well (we got two last year).

With the NHRA Gatornationals once again kicking off the season in a few short days, it’s time to make our calls, lock them in, and let the next 20 races tell the story.

TOP FUEL

The competition in Top Fuel has arguably never been better, and that’s certainly reflected in the makeup of the championship hunts. Following four consecutive years of dominance by Steve Torrence and a wire-to-wire Countdown performance by Brittany Force in 2022, the last two titles have come not as a result of regular season dominance, but rising to the occasion with late-season consistency. Doug Kalitta began his 2023 championship from the sixth spot, and Antron Brown his 2024 title from fifth. The one constant those two seasons has been Justin Ashley, whose average starting position in the Countdown is 1.5. Arguably the best leaver in the category and with a great car under him, Justin is a championship waiting to happen, and if he can just put it all together in the final six races, it’s his to take.

DRAGZINE’s Top 5

1. Justin Ashley
2. Brittany Force
3. Doug Kalitta
4. Antron Brown
5. Clay Millican

FUNNY CAR

The “Prock Rocket” trio of driver Austin, crew chief Jimmy, and assistant crew chief Thomas, have been downright disrespectful to the rest of the Funny Car category over the last 12 months. The quickest run of all-time, the fastest speed of all-time, 17 number one qualifiers if you count the two PRO Superstar Shootouts, a win at the inaugural PRO Superstar Shootout in 2024, a 40 percent win rate (eight wins), and 60 percent final round appearance rate (12 finals in 20 races) in NHRA competition, a 53-12 NHRA round record, and a 66-point margin in the Funny Car championship that was arguably closer on paper than it was in reality. 

Not only is the Cornwell Tools Funny Car unequivocally the strongest entry in the field, but it does so with lethal consistency. Prock’s car and the John Force Racing Funny Car program is in a class of its own right now, and selecting Prock to repeat feels about as certain as predicting that the sun will rise tomorrow.

DRAGZINE’s Top 5

1. Austin Prock 
2. Ron Capps
3. Jack Beckman
4. Bob Tasca III
5. Matt Hagan

PRO STOCK

The KB-Titan fleet of cars goes into 2025 with a slight, albeit hotly-contested performance edge, and when combined with the driving talents of team leaders Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn, that might position them as favorites. However, it’s a long season, and if Pro Stock is anything, its back-and-forth performance supremacy is highly unpredictable but generally likely to sway the other way every season or so.

In his first season back in full-time competition, five-time Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin notched a fifth-place points finish. Coughlin is still one of the best in the game, strong in the face of adversity and pressure, and only needs a consistently fast car to match his starting line wits to make a title run. Fresh off what may have been the first blemish in one of the most squeaky-clean driving records in all of motorsports — a shocking dust-up with the guardrail at the PRO Superstar Shootout in February — we predict Jeggie will be hungry to seek retribution and put together one of the great zero-to-hero stories in recent memory.

DRAGZINE’s Top 5

1. Jeg Coughlin
2. Dallas Glenn
3. Aaron Stanfied
4. Greg Anderson
5. Erica Enders

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Much like Prock in Funny Car, there’s not much to suggest that Gaige Herrera’s dominance in the two-wheeled. category is going to wane just yet, although we predict you’ll see a continual closing of the gap between the rest of the field and the two-time and reigning champion. Last season Matt Smith came up 89 points short of the title, while the rest of the field wasn’t even in earshot. Gaige will win a third title, but expect that points chart to look much tighter top to bottom than it has the last two seasons.

DRAGZINE’s Top 5

1. Gaige Herrera
2. Matt Smith
3. Angie Smith
4. Richard Gadson
5. Chase Van Sant

PRO MODIFIED

With just a four-race Road to the Championship format, Pro Modified is arguably more prone to a surprise late-season hot streak than any other category; it also means one costly mistake could derail an otherwise stellar season, leaving a driver without enough margin to make up for it. Case in point, Jordan Lazic started last season’s playoff in the tenth position; the year prior Kris Thorne was dusting off his tuxedo but stumbled at the finale and allowed Mike Castellana a come-from-behind shocker for the crown. Adding to the unpredictably is the ever-present nature of party adjustments and replacement drivers in various cars.

With wins at the U.S. Street Nationals and Lights Out 16, door-car veteran Ken Quartuccio could end his season now and already have one of the most successful years of any driver, but with driving consistency that marks him among the all-time door-car greats and a great car operated out of hungry camp, if Ken and the Tidwell team run the entire campaign we like their chances.

DRAGZINE’s Top 5

1. Ken Quartuccio
2. Kris Thorne
3. Justin Bond
4. Kevin Rivenbark
5. J.R. Gray