On Friday after capturing the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the Nevada Nationals, Mike Salinas believed this was a race he could win – and he was right.

Salinas, from the No. 1 qualifying position, mowed down the competition to claim the title at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

In the finals, Salinas clocked a 3.673-second elapsed time at 333.16 mph to defeat Justin Ashley, who slowed to 5.796 seconds, 120.56 mph.

“Basically, we have been working on this car since Gainesville,” Salinas said. “We have had some real special things it has been doing, and it has showed signs of greatness, but the consistency has been evading us. As I was trying to get more consistent running these 60 numbers, today is the best day we have had all year. The car is showing amazing signs. If we can do what we are doing here it will be a great weekend in Pomona and that’s what we are looking at.”

Mike Castellana did his best not to end up in the asterisk category. The veteran Pro Modified driver of over two decades, and from Westbury, New York, didn’t want to join Rob Bruins and Eddie Krawiec as those NHRA professional drag racers who won a world championship despite not having won a race in the season. 

The accolades aren't finished for Erica Enders.

On Sunday at the NHRA Nevada Nationals, Enders scored career national event victory No. 48, beating Greg Anderson and put her in the driver's seat for a fifth Pro Stock world championship.  

At Dallas, Enders celebrated being the winningest female driver in drag racing. Yet, she was still tied with Angelle Sampey in professional drag racing wins. Now, she is the undisputed leader thanks to a weekend where she picked up her 10th career victory at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Life can change in a hurry.

A year ago, Gaige Herrera was asking for any help he could get to keep his dream alive in racing Pro Stock Motorcycle with Karen Stoffer. 

"As much as I hate to ask," the Facebook post from Herrera read. "Anyone interested in partnering/helping out for the last 2 NHRA races of the season? Vegas this weekend and Pomona in 2 weeks? Will be featured on Fox with hundreds of thousands of viewers and spectators at each event. Next season is looking very promising as well, not a full season at the moment unless I find some funding."

Then Herrera got the ultimate invitation to join the band. In January 2023, Herrera was named a rider for the iconic Vance & Hines team, replacing Angelle Sampey.

Point standings (top 10) following the 23rd annual NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 20th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series - 

Final round-by-round results from the 23rd annual NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 20th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

Robert Hight ensured the last race of the season, as close to his home base of Yorba Linda, Ca., will be the site of a great Funny Car battle. He scored a clean sweep of the division at the NHRA Nevada Nationals and in doing so pulled to within 17 points of the class lead.

Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the fifth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

In a battle of the top two seeded Funny Cars in the qualified field, Hight went 3.851 seconds at 326.79 mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro to defeat Bob Tasca III in the final round, earning his fourth victory of the 2023 season and the 65th in his career. He now trails Matt Hagan by 17 points with one race remaining, with Tasca just 15 points out of first.

Bob Tasca III was as calm as someone who could be for having his No. 1 qualifying run disallowed on a technical violation. His assessment of Saturday evening's disqualification was, "It's [NHRA's] basketball court."

Tasca's 3.842, 336.74 run was squelched when his headers were not deemed to violate the laid back header angle rules but instead had a width discrepancy.

"My problem with the whole situation is all weekend, there's been a witch hunt out here for header issues," Tasca said. "On Thursday, we brought all our headers down to NHRA, wanted to make sure all the angles were right. All our angles were correct, no issues. All our headers passed. The car runs great. Saturday night they [NHRA] decide to measure the overall width of the header."

Paul Lee didn't have the fastest Funny Car at the NHRA Nevada Nationals in qualifying. And he's okay with that. 

What he did have was one of the most consistent race cars on the property with his FTI Performance-sponsored entry. Lee had three runs between 3.915 and 3.929. His fourth run was a 3.955.

Lee said he will take this kind of performance all day long. 

Kyle Koretsky is likely out of the mix to win an NHRA Pro Stock world championship this season.

However, he did play his part as spoiler grabbing the No. 1 qualifying spot at the Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas Saturday.

Koretsky, who drives for the KB Titan Racing team, clocked a 6.589-second elapsed time at 205.66 mph in Q4 Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.