NHRA's inaugural Countdown to the Championship starts its first leg of the
two-race championship round, the Countdown to 1, at this weekend's ACDelco Las
Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, three of the four drivers
eligible for Pro Stock's Countdown to 1 in Pro Stock will be in GM-branded cars as
Pontiac driver Greg Anderson and Chevrolet drivers Dave Connolly's and Jeg Coughlin begin their championship hunt.
"We're going to continue to test
all the way until we get up to Vegas," Connolly said. "We're going to try to
have the best race car possible when it comes down to that Countdown to 1. If we
have the success we did with the Countdown to 4, we're looking pretty good.
We're going to take it one round at a time just like we have all season. With
the pressure of Las Vegas, there's going to be a little added pressure, but
we're going to deal with it the best we can, and whatever happens, happens. It's
definitely not going to be lack of effort by no means."
The 24-year-old
Connolly enters Las Vegas on a historic winning streak, winning all four races
of the Countdown to 4 first-round playoff races behind the wheel of his Torco
Racing Fuels/Seelye Wright Chevy Cobalt and five straight races overall. The
Ohio native has a class-leading eight race wins on the season and has put his
name on a pretty elite list of drivers to have won five consecutive Pro Stock
races, joining the legendary Bob Glidden (9 consecutive wins), Ronnie Sox (5)
and Greg Anderson (5). Connolly enters the Countdown to 1 as the class leader
with 3,030 points and is looking for the first POWERade championship of his
young career.