2026 16th Annual FABO NHRA "Pick 'Em" Game - New Tracks, Lot's of Team Changes, Here We Go!!!

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@memike, I initially posted the picks mentioned in your Post #36 for the Arizona Nationals.
I will change them to your picks in Post #49, but neither your revised Funny Car and Pro Stock picks will be eligible for event bonus points since they were posted after Qualifying began.
Your Top Fuel pick is the same in both Post #36 and Post #49 so it will remain eligible for event bonus points.
Thank you, I know I can be a pain brother
 
This post isn't related to the "Pick 'Em" game. It's just some information...

I was checking Amazon Prime to confirm the broadcast start time for the NASCAR practice and qualifying from Darlington and was surprised to see the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series eliminations from Benson, NC, were being shown live.
It was also interesting to see they are racing 1/8-mile and 8-car fields in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.
FYI, the Top Fuel and Funny Car entries include:

Top Fuel
David Borowski
Lee Calloway
Craig Haddox
Lex Joon
Chuck Lofton
Scott Palmer
Gary Pritchett
Jasmine Salinas
Kyle Satenstein

Funny Car
Jody Austin
Bobby Bode
Dale Creasy Jr.
Dave Gallegos
Robert Gilbertson
Joseph Haas
Terry Haddock
Jacob McNeal
Paul Smith
Del Worsham
Jack Wyatt

I know there are multiple reasons that some teams may have decided to tow to North Carolina rather than Arizona, but it's too bad IHRA and NHRA don't coordinate their race event dates so we could possibly eliminate short fields.
 
That ol' blind squirrel that pops up from time to time came back this week...'ocdart' (FABO) somehow managed to pick the #1 qualifier in Top Fuel, the #2 qualifier in Funny Car, and the #3 qualifier in Pro Stock to pick up a total of 22.5 bonus points.
'62Dodge_' (FBBO) and 'TT5.9mag' (FABO) were right behind with 22.0 bonus points each.

More great picks!

We have 16 players again this week and 16 different driver combos made up of:
* 7 different Top Fuel drivers with one Round 1 head-to-head matchup between #7 qualifier Justin Ashley (3 picks) and #10 qualifier Josh Hart (4 picks). There is a possibility of two head-to-head matchups in Round 2 if all four drivers survive Round 1.
* 8 different Funny Car drivers with two Round 1 head-to-head matchups: one matchup between JFR team mates #5 qualifier Jordan Vandergriff (1 pick) and #12 qualifier Alexis DeJoria (1 pick), and the other matchup between #8 qualifier J.R. Todd (1 pick) and #9 qualifier Austin Prock (5 picks). There is a possibility of two head-to-head matchups in Round 2 if all drivers survive Round 1.
* 4 different Pro Stock drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchup. There is a possibility of one head-to-head matchup in Round 2.

Good luck all!
 
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That ol' blind squirrel that pops up from time to time came back this week...'ocdart' (FABO) somehow managed to pick the #1 qualifier in Top Fuel, the #2 qualifier in Funny Car, and the #3 qualifier in Pro Stock to pick up a total of 22.5 bonus points.
'62Dodge_' (FBBO) and 'TT5.9mag' (FABO) were right behind with 222.0 bonus points each.

More great picks!

We have 16 players again this week and 16 different driver combos made up of:
* 7 different Top Fuel drivers with one Round 1 head-to-head matchup between #7 qualifier Justin Ashley (3 picks) and #10 qualifier Josh Hart (4 picks). There is a possibility of two head-to-head matchups in Round 2 if all four drivers survive Round 1.
* 8 different Funny Car drivers with two Round 1 head-to-head matchups: one matchup between JFR team mates #5 qualifier Jordan Vandergriff (1 pick) and #12 qualifier Alexis DeJoria (1 pick), and the other matchup between #8 qualifier J.R. Todd (1 pick) and #9 qualifier Austin Prock (5 picks). There is a possibility of two head-to-head matchups in Round 2 if all drivers survive Round 1.
* 4 different Pro Stock drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchup. There is a possibility of one head-to-head matchup in Round 2.

Good luck all!
Congratulations OC !! And the other players .
 

Reference Post #52, there will also be direct conflicts between NHRA and IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series on the following dates:

* April 9-11 - NHRA Winter Nationals in Pomona, CA, and IHRA in Dinwiddie, VA
* July 23-25 - NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, WA, and IHRA in Leicester, NY
 
Somehow, 'ocdart' (FABO) ended up with 107.5 points for the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals with his picks of the class winners in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock. His Funny Car pick lost in the opening round of eliminations. He was also helped with ET bonus points in Top Fuel.
'memike' (FABO) grabbed the runner-up spot with 93.0 points.
The top FBBO score was '62Dodge_' , second week in a row, with 77.0 points.
Way to go!

Here's where the bonus points were earned if you picked the right drivers:

Top Fuel
E.T. - Shawn Langdon, 3.783 during qualifying
Speed - Doug Kalitta, 331.94 during Round 1 of eliminations

Funny Car
E.T. - Spencer Hyde, 3.979 during qualifying
Speed - Dave Richards, 324.12 during qualifying

Pro Stock
E.T. - Greg Anderson, 6.532 during qualifying
Speed - Chris McGaha, 209.39 during Round 1 of eliminations

Pro Stock Motorcycle did not compete at this event

Here are the game point standings after the 2nd event of the 2026 season:

192.0 - ocdart (FABO) +6 change in the position standings
186.0 - Back in Time (FABO) no change
185.0 - memike (FABO) +2
174.0 - johnnycuda (FABO) -3
167.0 - cuda20 (FABO) -1
164.0 - TT5.9mag (FABO) -3
164.0 - 62Dodge_ (FBBO) -1
155.0 - GTXDAN (FBBO) +1
143.0 - stroked340 (FABO) -1
137.0 - Outlawd (FBBO) +1
125.0 - Budnicks (FBBO) +1
101.0 - alsant (FBBO) +3
99.5 - MeMikieJr (FABO) -3
93.0 - Yunick13 (FABO) -1
73.5 - 64BEL (FBBO) -1
70.5 - Pecos Bill (FBBO) no change

The next race, the 66th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winter Nationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, CA, scheduled for April 9-12, is the 3rd event of the 2026 NHRA season.
nhra.com currently shows the following class entry early numbers:

14 - Top Fuel
17 - Funny Car
19 - Pro Stock

Pro Stock Motocycle will not compete at this event.

As always, please check to verify your picks are participating before posting your picks.
GOOD LUCK!
 
TF-Justin Ashley
FC-Matt Hagan
PS-Dallas Glenn
PSM-Matt Smith

Next Picks( over my locked in picks)
 
:BangHead:
Friday
A slight chance of rain after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Friday Night
A chance of rain and thunderstorms, mainly after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Saturday
A chance of rain and thunderstorms, then rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66.
Saturday Night
A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Sunday
A chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 66.
Sunday Night
A slight chance of rain. Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
 
Here's your 'Tuesday before the race' notice for the third event of the 2026 NHRA season, the 66th annual Lucas Oil Winternationals, April April 9-12, at the iconic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, CA.
Please post your picks before Pro Stock qualifying starts so you will be eligible for all event bonus points. The first of the scheduled four rounds of Pro qualifying is scheduled to start at 4:30pm EDT (1:30pm PDT) on Friday.
This is the third race event of the season and it looks like we are going to have our second short field in Top Fuel because nhra.com currently shows the following entries:
15 Top Fuel
18 Funny Car
19 Pro Stock

Pro Stock Motorcycle will not compete at the Winternationals.

Check nhra.com to make sure your drivers are racing since there may be some last minute changes as NHRA revised the withdraw deadline to Wednesday because of the weather forecast.
To add to 'Post #65 by 'Unconventional', the weekend weather forecast currently shows:
* Friday forecast is for mostly sunny and 72F when Pro qualifying starts at 1:30pm local time, and 71F when Q2 starts at 4:00pm local time.
* This may be a two-session qualifying event because Saturday shows about a 45% chance of rain starting at 2:00am and continuing through the morning and afternoon to 4:00pm local time which would wash out Q3 and Q4. The forecast high for Saturday is 64F.
* Sunday forecast shows about a 45% chance of some rain ending about Noon and then mostly cloudy with a high temp of 62F for the remainder of the day.


The current television schedule for the Winternationals...
* Qualifying Show 1: 11:30am-1:00pm EDT (8:30-10:00pm PDT), Sunday, April 12 on FS1
* Final eliminations: 6:30-9:30pm EDT (3:30-6:30pm PDT), Sunday, April 12 on FS1

All television coverage will also re-air at later times. Check www.nhra.com.

The Mission 2Fast2Tasty matchups as part of Saturday qualifying may get washed out by weather and postponed to a future event for a bonus purse and bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs:
* Top Fuel will have Arizona Nationals winner Shawn Langdon take on his Gators semifinalist opponent Maddi Gordon, and Arizona runner-up Leah Pruett take on Doug Kalitta
* Funny Car will feature Arizona winner Ron Capps against Paul Lee, and Arizona runner-up Spencer Hyde against Matt Hagan
* Pro Stock has Arizona winner Dallas Glenn up against Greg Stanfield, and Arizona runner-up Cody Coughlin will run against his uncle Jeg Coughlin Jr.


Don't miss out!
 
Like Post #52, this post isn't related to the "Pick 'Em" game. It's just some information...

IHRA is running a conflicting event in Dinwiddie, VA, against the NHRA Winternationals with the following drivers entered:

Top Fuel
Lee Calloway
Lex Joon
Chuck Lofton
Dan Mercier
Scott Palmer
Bernie Plourd
Gary Pritchett
Jasmine Salinas
Kyle Satenstein

Funny Car
Jody Austin
Phil Burkart
Jon Capps
Dale Creasy Jr.
Dave Gallegos
Bob Gilbertson
Joey Haas
Terry Haddock
Daniel Hix
Jacob McNeal
Joe Morrison
John Smith
Del Worsham

Again, I know there are multiple reasons that some teams may have decided to tow to Virginia rather than SoCal, but we sure could have better shows if IHRA and NHRA could coordinate their race event dates so we could possibly eliminate short fields.
 
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Winternationals weather update (04/09/26):

* Current Friday forecast is still for mostly sunny and 72F when Pro qualifying starts at 1:30pm local time, and 71F when Q2 starts at 4:00pm local time.
* The Saturday forecast has improved and this will more than likely be a normal four-session qualifying event. The weather forecast for Saturday now shows partly cloudy conditions throughout the day with high temps between 64-66F
61-69F.
* The current Sunday forecast shows about a 45-60% chance of some light rain ending about Noon and then mostly cloudy with a high temp of 61F for the remainder of the day
throughout the day ending at 6:00pm.

This weather forecast says we may see some really quick and fast racing at Pomona.
Let's hope the weather forecast continues to improve and we get the Winternationals in on time and on schedule.
 
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Rolling the dice again
TF - Shawn Langdon
FC - Jack Beckman
PS - Dallas Glenn
 
Carrying over my Gators and Arizona picks to the Winternationals...
TF Shawn Langdon
FC Jack Beckman
PS Dallas Glenn
 
TF-D.Kalitta
FC-J.Beckman
PS-G.Anderson

Good luck everyone and let’s hope the rain holds off. My forecast still shows thunderstorms and a heavy chance of rain.
 
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