It is safe to say that 2020 has been a bit of an odd year.

Race cancellations, shortened race weekends, a shrunken NHRA schedule, nothing has been as it seems. So with one race remaining before closing the book on an NHRA season unlike any other, Ron Capps desperately wanted to finish the year strong. More specifically, he wanted to top the Funny Car field - for the first time all year.

In a departure from tradition, the NHRA awarded the 2020 Rookie of the Year trophy to Top Fuel racer Justin Ashley during a break Saturday from qualifying for the Dodge Finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Saying, he was “just really excited and going to cherish this moment,” Ashley, 25, Plainview, N.Y., insisted that “I'm fortunate enough to win rookie of the year, but it's far from an individual award. It's a team award. It's because of Aaron Brooks, Dustin Davis, all the team members, top to bottom, who contribute daily to get us out here doing this.

With one race to decide a championship, things couldn’t have been scripted any better for the KB Racing Pro Stock team to take a stab at the title.

Sitting third and fourth in the championship standings, the duo of Jason Line and Greg Anderson entered this weekend’s NHRA season finale needing great races - and a little luck - to contend with their rivals. On Saturday, they got both as Anderson and Line paced the field, while the top two drivers in the standings struggled, nudging the door open just a bit at the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Just one week after snapping a more than two-year winless drought with a win at the SpringNationals in Texas, Eddie Krawiec is again the toast of the town in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Limping through much of the first half of the season, Krawiec finally put it all together at Houston Raceway Park just six days ago with his first win since 2018. On Saturday, he continued that momentum with a spot atop the ladder at the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Steve Torrence just couldn't let it pass. The defending two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion had to respond. His reasoning probably wasn't what most of his critics might expect.

A race fan had dropped an email to CAPCO contractors questioning why they would sponsor a driver who was essentially a p-word, b-word who "didn't deserve nothing."

Torrence handed the email over to the company's IT manager, who provided the author's contact information by the end of the day.

Billy and Steve Torrence powered to the top two spots in Top Fuel on Saturday during qualifying at the 20th annual Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, bringing S. Torrence a step closer to his third straight world championship.

Ron Capps (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also No. 1 qualifiers at the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil, which is the final race of the 2020 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Tony Schumacher understood the reality of peaks and valleys early on in his career. As a first-time Top Fuel racer at the 1996 NHRA U.S. Nationals, he qualified No 16 and was scheduled to meet the epitome of what an independent Top Fuel driver should be in Blaine Johnson.

Schumacher scored his milestone first career round win on a single, as Johnson lost his life a day earlier while making the No. 1 qualifying run. A lot has changed for the second-generation driver since that Labor Day weekend 24 years ago.

At 85 career NHRA Top Fuel wins, Schumacher now stands as the winningest driver in the dragster division.

A point-and-a-half format, one race remaining in what has been unorthodox, two of three competitors facing an uncertain future make for what could be a championship battle race fans have clamored for since what many consider the good old days. A fourth driver remains a longshot, but while Bob Glidden proved longshots can win in 1980, he didn't have to battle with three other drivers, just one.

Sunday's final eliminations at the NHRA Las Vegas will pit teammates Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Jack Beckman in a slugfest where 43 points separate the trio. Ron Capps is mathematically alive at 163 points, while only 183 remain available.

In the accelerated points structure, the 43 points now amount to a just over a round win. A driver who can sweep qualifying can earn 18 points. The three points front runners have all qualified No. 1 this season, Hagan with five, Johnson with three, and Beckman with one.

Headquartered not far from the Jim Dunn Racing team shop in Southern California, Kindness General Contractors (KGC) of Cypress will be the team’s primary sponsor at NHRA’s final race of the season this weekend in Las Vegas.  The Funny Car team has experienced a stronger tune-up of late, with consecutive runs over 310 mph in qualifying at recent races in Dallas and Houston.  Their goal is to have the most competitive outing this season for KGC as well as other season-long sponsors including Cattleman’s Cut Beef Jerky, DiPinto International Logistics, and Blaze Technical Services.

Oftentimes when a motorsports facility changes hands, it is redeveloped for other commercial purposes or as residential subdivisions.

Not so with Rock Falls Raceway, an NHRA-sanctioned drag strip located in the rolling hills just outside Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Acquired in 2015 by and Jim Greenheck, a Wisconsin businessman and 2018 NHRA Division 5 Competition Eliminator Champion, the track is enjoying a renaissance due to the commitment of Greenheck. That commitment includes significant facility improvements, and a dedication to provide racers and spectators in the region with the "Best Drag Racing in The Midwest".

First, some Rock Falls Raceway history.