With Angie Smith’s nasty season-ending injuries at St. Louis and Chase Van Sant’s knee damage that’ll sideline him until 2024, some have wondered aloud if thinner leathers are to blame for the serious nature of the wounds to Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors. Matt Smith, Angie Smith’s husband and reigning class champion, said he doesn't think they are. Cory Reed, who’s advocating for more comprehensive safety clothing, has a slightly different opinion.

Smith didn’t blame the thickness or quality of his wife’s leathers for her crash that broke eight toes and other bones in her feet and ripped the flesh from her forearm to the extent that she will need at least one more surgery to fix the road-rash damage.

Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chase Van Sant is out of competition for the rest of the year, his rookie-of-the-year hopes halted by an ugly knee injury he suffered in Friday qualifying for the Texas FallNationals that was almost undetectable by the Texas Motorplex crowd at Ennis.

The Trick Tools Suzuki rider from the White Alligator Racing team said he didn’t think many people saw the accident, which left him with “a golf ball-size hole that shows straight down to my kneecap.”

After more than 18 hours in a local hospital emergency room, Van Sant, 26, was back at the racetrack late Saturday morning, on crutches with his knee heavily bandaged, but in upbeat spirits.

Point standings (top 10) following the 38th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, the 19th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series -

Final round-by-round results from the 38th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, the 19th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

The secret is out: Gaige Herrera is pretty darn good.

Herrera blasted onto the scene in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category in March with a win, the quickest pass of the weekend and a No. 1 qualifier award all in his first time out in NHRA competition.

Seven months laters, Herrera has amassed eight wins and 12 top-qualifier awards in 13 races, and on Saturday, added a national record to his already sterling resume.

Is there anything he can’t do?

Being fast is one thing. Being fast against the quickest field in NHRA history? That is an entirely different challenge.

Greg Anderson added another notation to his well-established hall of fame career Saturday at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex, earning the 123rd pole of his career against the quickest field in NHRA Pro Stock history.

It had been nearly twenty years since Jim Murphy last visited the winner circle at the March Meet, with the most recent coming in 2004. In his final start in the highly revered race, Murphy went all the way on Saturday at the rain-delayed event, defeating Pete Wittenberg in the final round to claim his fifth March Meet title overall, tying the legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits for the most all-time in Top Fuel eliminator. 

"It's really special, I got to tell you," Murphy said. "We won it in 1998 and 1999. Won it again in 2003 and 2004, and we've been trying ever since to tie Garlits with five. I didn't know if it was ever going to come, and here it is at my last race. It's just awesome. It's a storybook ending."

The most significant gains in the final day of qualifying came from the Pro Stock divisions, as Greg Anderson set the pace for the quickest Pro Stock field in drag racing history and Gaige Herrera established a new world record in the Pro Stock Motorcycle division. 

Bob Tasca (Funny Car) and Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) remained at the top of the list for the nitro-burning divisions. 

Anderson, the five-time series champion, rocketed to the top of the Pro Stock field with a run of 6.480 at 211.76 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. The pace-setting run gives Anderson his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 123rd of his career. 

“Momentum is obviously worth a lot. You can’t quantify it, but it’s worth a lot,” Anderson said. “To get the No. 1 spot this weekend, this has probably been the toughest four rounds of qualifying that I can remember in my career. There has never been as many cars capable of driving the pole and being No. 1 through No. 10 in any order. Every thousandth meant everything, and that means to us, not only does that car have to be perfect every time down the racetrack, but you have to shift it perfectly.

When it comes to winning a championship, it’s the little points that matter.

One year after watching Ron Capps earn the NHRA Funny Car championship by a meager three points over Robert Hight, Bob Tasca realized that if he ever wanted to realistically challenge for a title of his own, he was going to have to savor those little points.

And this postseason, no one has earned more bonus points than Tasca, the driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang.