The final round of the Mopar Express Lane Nationals produced the match-up every NHRA Top Fuel fan wanted to see Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway in suburban St. Louis.

And in the stinging cold, Doug Kalitta heated up the chase for the championship.

Tommy Johnson Jr. knew his dreams of winning his first nitro Funny Car NHRA Mello Yello Series world championship were fading – fast.

He needed a win in a bad way to keep his championship hopes alive.

Camping World, the nation’s largest retailer of recreational vehicles (RVs), RV accessories, and RV-related services, has partnered with the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body to become the sponsor of NHRA’s premier professional series, which will be known as the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.
 
“I look at NHRA and I see a growing and loyal fan base,” said Marcus Lemonis, chairman and CEO of Camping World. “NHRA recognizes the product it has in the sport of drag racing and its responsibility to serve its fans. We at Camping World look forward to this new relationship.”

For a handful of drag racers, the recently completed NHRA Midwest Nationals was a costly affair. Not only were some left to pick up the pieces of crashed race cars, and others had their classes postponed to a later date.

Significant accidents transpired in three of the four NHRA professional categories.

Leah Pruett’s first-round accident started a chain-reaction of sorts, headlining multiple incidents on race day.

Tony Schumacher returned to the driver’s seat in July for the first time since the season-ending race in November of 2018.

The Sarge’s return has been far from a celebration.

Sometimes being the championship points leader has perks before the season ends. Saturday at the NHRA Midwest Nationals outside of St. Louis, the Pro Stock racers, both the four-wheel and two-wheel versions, benefitted from being at the head of the pack.

NHRA race officials awarded Jason Line and Matt Smith No. 1 qualifier status based on their current championship points standings. Rain had delayed qualifying into later in the night, making running the Pro Stock vehicles an unsafe proposition.

Mother Nature didn’t want to cooperate Saturday at the ninth annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil.

When the rain finally stopped the Pro classes did get in one qualifying session and Paul Lee couldn’t have been happier.

Eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher powered to his first No. 1 qualifier since 2018, breaking the track speed record during Saturday’s ninth annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Paul Lee (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the eighth race of the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Only one run of qualifying was completed in Top Fuel and Funny Car on Saturday due to weather.

Final round-by-round results from the ninth annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil at World Wide Technology Raceway, the eighth of 11 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series: