As the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series competitors prepare for the final three races of the regular season, the leaders – and any of the challengers who have a mathematical and realistic chance to overtake them – are eyeing the first bonus cash payouts to the top seeds heading into the Countdown to the Championship.

On another level, those not in contention for the regular-season championship need not worry. If they’re in the top 10, they will get a boost when the sanctioning body resets the points to bunch everybody up. Points – which are awarded at a 1.5 rate at the Countdown-field-setting U.S. Nationals – are reset at the start of the six-race playoffs.

And yes, it spoils all of the hard work those racers have done since the season began in March. Such is the deservedly maligned Countdown.

Or for those racers who didn’t register championship-material results, never fear. In the sport’s “Everybody gets a prize” mentality, each driver who has entered every race through the U.S. Nationals will get a free pass into the Countdown. Again, such is the deservedly maligned Countdown.

The strategizing will start to swirl more seriously, and maybe more desperately in some cases.

But looks and statistics can be deceiving. Drivers who haven’t seemed to wow this year well aren’t write-offs, by any means, and could be in a strong position to assert themselves down the stretch.

So, here’s a glance at what’s happening in each pro class just past the halfway mark of the 2025 calendar.

 TOP FUEL

“Wally” trophies have gone to seven different racers so far this season, so any number of scenarios could happen among the top six or even eight. Toward the close of the regular season, the fight has appeared to be among Shawn Langdon, Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley, and Doug Kalitta. But with points reset, Brittany Force, Antron Brown, Clay Millican, and Steve Torrence could zoom to the front at the most opportune time.

Four-time champion Torrence, who opted out of the Phoenix and Seattle races, remains in the top 10, partly because he won at Bristol and had two semifinal finishes. He knows he won’t make the Countdown via the “perfect attendance” rule – and doesn’t want what his racer dad Billy dubbed a “loser-participation trophy,” anyway. So that indicates he has faith in his Capco team – “them Capco Boys” – that they can win a fifth title without going to every race. He said at the start of the season that he was going to do what makes him happy, and on occasion, he has chosen to stay home with wife Natalie and daughters Haven Charli, and Harper Sloan instead of being totally consumed by drag racing. He even used the word “Candyland” in conversation. But when he comes to the races, he means business. “We don’t show up to participate,” he said online.

Tony Stewart has had his bumps in the road, but he has gotten in his characteristic winning groove, earning two victories and two runners-up and commanding the standings for five races this summer.

Meanwhile, some key drivers are struggling, but don’t count them out.

Justin Ashley didn’t get a lot of traction at the beginning of the season, but he has a pair of victories (though one came from Shawn Langdon’s post-race DQ on a tech infraction at Virginia). Ashley went to the final round at five of the first 10 races and was 21-9 through 11 events. So, he’s making the most of his opportunities and building up some momentum.

Antron Bown ended the first half of the season with three straight opening-round losses, but he’s a four-time champion and undoubtedly will rebound when it counts. And speed demon Brittany Force has worked her way through the standings from 10th to sixth. She has put on an enviable display of horsepower, notched her 300th round-win (at Epping), set track and national records, and Sunday at Seattle finally swiped from John Force Racing (JFR) teammate Austin Prock the distinction of being the fastest driver on the planet’s fastest sport. Her 341.85-mph speed during eliminations overtook Prock’s 341.68 in the Funny Car class. But she needs to parlay those accomplishments into more victories if she is to claim a third championship.

Drivers continue to pop in and out of the mix, and that could shake up things a bit.

Tony Schumacher will be returning soon with Rick Ware Racing as a teammate to Clay Millican. Maybe Jasmine Salinas will find some funding. Shawn Reed, who suffered a hand injury that required amputation of his index finger, two broken ribs, and a destroyed race car in a high-speed accident at Seattle, has an uncertain timetable for when he will be able to return to the track. So, he isn’t expected back this season. Dan Mercier, Doug Foley, and Ida Zetterström have the ability to show up and make some waves.

With Reed out indefinitely, it’s uncertain who’ll earn the No. 10 berth. Mercier, the “giant killer” from Quebec, is a decent bet, depending on his schedule and performance at Indianapolis.

FUNNY CAR

This class had seven different winners in the first 11 races, but Austin Prock remains the odds-on favorite to capture a second consecutive Funny Car crown.

His JFR teammate, Jack Beckman, who ended up finishing second to Prock as a fill-in for injured John Force last season, has put up a noble fight with victories at the Winternationals and at Chicago and a second-place finish to Prock at Richmond. But after 11 races, Beckman is 140 points off Prock’s pace. And third-place Matt Hagan, eager to score his fifth championship and first with first-time crew chief Mike Knudsen, is 166 behind Prock.

Again, the picture will shape up differently once the Countdown begins. However, their best strategy is to hope Prock stumbles. Prock has had a few hiccups during the first half, but he’s a pro and knows how to correct – and so does his all-star crew chief father Jimmy Prock and the seasoned Cornwell Tools team.

Spencer Hyde has been a pleasant surprise in Jim Head’s Mustang this year, making a strong case to be named the NHRA Rookie of the Year. He, Buddy Hull, and Dave Richards are below the top-10 cutoff line, but they have been to every race.

Maybe the biggest surprise this year has been the struggle for Bob Tasca III. He dropped from the top 10 as the second half of the calendar kicked off. He was eliminated by the second round eight times in the first 11 events, including five first-round defeats. Throw in his failure to qualify at Pomona, and Tasca has to be monumentally aggravated. The positive news for him is that he is a serious racer who’s dedicated to proving the supremacy of Ford. So, chances are decent he could salvage a respectable finish.

PRO STOCK

Only Cory Reed, at Norwalk, has broken through the wall Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn have built between themselves and the rest of the field. And Reed is in the KB Titan Racing family with Anderson and Glenn.

Anderson and Glenn have traded victories and the points leads throughout the year. One or the other has been in every single final round, and five times so far, they have faced each other for the event trophy.

By contrast, Elite Motorsports has put up little fight – no victories, no number 1 qualifying positions, and no points leaders. The best the multicar team has been able to muster is a runner-up finish at Epping for Erica Enders and a runner-up showing at Seattle for Jeg Coughlin Jr. That’s along with two of its drivers posting top speed of the meet (Greg Stanfield at the Gainesville season-opener and son Aaron Stanfield at Bristol).

As the second half of the season kicked off, six-time champion Enders fell from the top 10 to 13th and 87 points behind No. 10-ranked Greg Stanfield.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Crown Gaige Herrera now? Well, not just yet.

So far, he has held off Vance & Hines teammate Richard Gadson and Matt Smith. But they’re within 138 and 143 points, respectively, with three more events remaining in the regular season. Gadson and Smith could get hot, but of course, Herrera would have to falter.

And that isn’t likely, considering he just set an NHRA record for reaching 25 victories quicker than anyone else, doing it in 43 races and breaking Bob Glidden’s Pro Stock achievement of 25 wins in 52 starts. He headed into Sonoma with a 22-4 eliminations record, and a career mark of 123-16. He has been perfect in first rounds since he joined the Vance & Hines program, and in his 35 events with the sport’s premier organization, Herrera has led the field 26 times and advanced to the finals 29 times.

Just past the halfway point of the season, the class has made only six appearances, and Herrera has four victories. Peculiarly, though, the class has more parity than it has since Herrera burst onto the full-time scene – Smith won at Charlotte, Gadson at Bristol, and John Hall at Norwalk.

But it would be a surprise to no one if Herrera earns the series title for a third straight time.