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

[TT5.9mag]

Looks like they better get to the Finals on Saturday

My guess is they’ll run it Monday.

 

[ocdart]

2026 66th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals qualifying leaders:

Q1
Weather: n/a
TF: Shawn Langdon, 3.798 @ 332.59
FC: Jason Rupert, 4.247; Austin Prock @ 278.46
PS: Greg Anderson, 6.583; Dave Connolly @ 209.85

Q2
Weather: n/a
TF: Leah Pruett, 3.724; Shawn Langdon @ 338.51
FC: Jordan Vandergriff, 3.951; Alexis DeJoria @ 328.30
PS: Greg Anderson, 6.544; Dave Connolly @ 210.01

Q3
Weather: n/a
TF: Leah Pruett, 3.724; Shawn Langdon @ 338.51
FC: Jordan Vandergriff, 3.951; J.R. Todd @ 330.63
PS: Greg Anderson, 6.516; Dave Connolly @ 210.01

Q4
Weather: n/a
TF: Leah Pruett, 3.724; Shawn Langdon @ 338.51
FC: J.R. Todd, 3.896 @ 335.32
PS: Greg Anderson, 6.516; Erica Enders @ 210.41

 

[Unconventional]

I was top Qualifier with our 80 Aspen SS/NA 318 Low Performance
Superstocker at this years Winternational today.


Stock Compression / Thermoquad 1980 318 Combo that weighs 3600 Lbs.
and can run 10s @ 120 + MPH.

Former Larry Harrold/ Paul Rossi Racecar that I bought from Larry's widow for
$3,500 with three engines after it sat for 30 years.

Proudly Sponsored by Glendora Performance ( Formerly Glendora Dodge ) that has
helped us for the best part of 50 years. Matt who has been the Parts Manager for
decades is the most knowledgeable Mopar parts guy that I have ever meet.


Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior today and for Eternity!

 

[ocdart]

Congratulations to 'cuda20' (FABO) and 'Back in Time' (FABO) for sharing the NHRA "Pick 'Em" game Top Qualifier title for the third event of the 2026 season, the 66th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winter Nationals with an almost perfect total of 23.5 bonus points each. They each picked the #1 qualifiers in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock, and the #2 qualifier in Funny Car.
'62Dodge_' (FBBO) and 'GTXDAN' (FBBO) were right behind with 22.5 bonus points each.

More great picks!

We have 16 players to again this week and 13 different driver combos made up of:
* 6 different Top Fuel drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. There is a possibility of two head-to-head matchups in Round 2 if all four drivers survive Round 1.
* 6 different Funny Car drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. 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 matchups. The first possibility of any head-to-head matchup would be in the semi-final round of eliminations if both drivers survive through the first two rounds of eliminations.
Good luck all!

 

[Unconventional]

Well, they got qualifying in with no weather issues. May not be so lucky today.

 

[TT5.9mag]

Well, they got qualifying in with no weather issues. May not be so lucky today.

Looks like it’s all gone now. I’m 5 mins from the track and it’s sunny. We’re heading over there soon.

 

[Unconventional]

NWS says one of Pomona's neighbors just got a 1/4" of rain at 10:00.

 

[Unconventional]

Looks like it’s all gone now. I’m 5 mins from the track and it’s sunny. We’re heading over there soon.

Kool

 

[TT5.9mag]

Kool

Haven’t heard a peep from NHRA on their plans.

 

[Unconventional]

Haven’t heard a peep from NHRA on their plans.

I read in their news this morning that they were going to start nitro eliminations at 10:00. Weather may have changed their minds, who knows?
PS.. They finished Sportsman eliminations yesterday. PS, Nitro, and Top Alcohol get the track today.

 

[stroked340]

Nitro eliminations start 12:15-12:30

 

[TT5.9mag]

We’re sitting at Norm’s coffee shop at the bracket field airport and we've started hearing cars.

 

[TT5.9mag]

 

[tjpatte]

Looks like we left too early. They were talking about a 2:00 start time after we got there at 10:00. Was still raining when we left at around 11:15 and rained all the way back to San Diego.

 

[TT5.9mag]

Looks like we left too early. They were talking about a 2:00 start time after we got there at 10:00. Was still raining when we left at around 11:15 and rained all the way back to San Diego.

We’re still here. Wondering if they’re gonna finish. Semi finals coming up.

 

[tjpatte]

We’re still here. Wondering if they’re gonna finish. Semi finals coming up.

We got burnt out on the delays yesterday. Two hours for Schumachers’s blown diff and all the delays between TF and FC rounds.

How long was the delay for the second diff?

 

[Unconventional]

Rather nostalgic watching the Nitro cars run in the dark Fit right in with their anniversary celebrations.

 

[TT5.9mag]

We got burnt out on the delays yesterday. Two hours for Schumachers’s blown diff and all the delays between TF and FC rounds.

How long was the delay for the second diff?

Not sure. We were at the airport eating breakfast when a friend called and said he grenaded the diff and there would be an hour cleanup. So we ordered more coffee.

 

[TT5.9mag]

Some of the best racing I’ve ever seen, and in multiple categories. For some reason every driver showed up to race yesterday. And then there is that dude from another planet, Justin Ashley and his constant .025 lights in a fuel car. Wow just wow.

 

[Docmcg]

And then Tony Stewart ruined his (Ashley’s) day!

 

[ocdart]

Congratulations to 'stroked340' (FABO) for winning the third "Top Picker Eliminator" title of the 2026 NHRA season with a very nice total of 127.0 points for the 66th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winter Nationals. He picked the Pro Stock winner, his Funny Car pick made it the final round before losing, and his Top Fuel pick lost in the semi-final round of eliminations. He was also helped with both ET bonus in both Funny Car and Pro Stock and Speed bonus points in Top Fuel.
'Yunick13' (FABO) was right behind with 126.5 points.
The top FBBO score was 'GTXDAN' with 122.5 points.
Way to go!

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

Top Fuel
E.T. - Tony Stewart, 3.683 during Round 4 (E4) of eliminations
Speed - Doug Kalitta, 340.56 while losing during E3

Funny Car
E.T. - Ron Capps, 3.863 during E3
Speed - J.R. Todd, 337.16 during E1

Pro Stock
E.T. - Greg Anderson, 6.487 during E2
Speed - Greg Stanfield, 210.51 E1

Here are the game point standings after the 3rd event of the 2026 season:

299.5 - Back in Time (FABO) +1 in the game standings
281.5 - 62Dodge_ (FBBO) +5
280.5 - cuda20 (FABO) +2
277.5 - GTXDAN (FBBO) +4
271.0 - ocdart (FABO) -4
270.0 - stroked340 (FABO) +3
264.0 - memike (FBO) -4
263.0 - TT5.9mag (FABO) -2
259.5 - johnnycuda (FABO) -5
246.5 - Outlawd (FBBO) no change
219.5 - Yunick13 (FABO) +3
217.5 - MeMikieJr (FABO) +1
210.0 - Budnicks (FBBO) -2
178.5 - alsant (FBBO) -2
144.0 - 64BEL (FBBO) no change
116.0 - Pecos Bill (FBBO) no change

The next race is the 4th event of the 2026 NHRA season, the 16th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC, scheduled for April 23-26.
nhra.com currently shows the following class entry early numbers:

17 - Top Fuel
16 - Funny Car
18 - Pro Stock
13 - Pro Stock Motorcycle

As always, please check to verify your picks are participating before posting your picks.
GOOD LUCK!

 

[stroked340]

Was really cool that FS1 stuck with showing it all the way to the end I love watching/racing in the dark

 

[ocdart]

Was really cool that FS1 stuck with showing it all the way to the end I love watching/racing in the dark

Agreed!
IMO, FS1 did an outstanding job with the extended event televised coverage. They really stepped it up with the driver interviews and I thought the detailed between-round maintenance coverage was great for any new viewers who may not be aware of what is necessary to accomplish between rounds.
Being able to watch the races and the pit work in real time was wonderful.
I also enjoyed and appreciated the comments from Brian Lohnes and the other announcers/reporters about how special Pomona is. My first time at Pomona was in 1967.
I hope both Fox Sports and the NHRA get an overload of appreciative comments so they realize how good their broadcasts can be when they don't defer to stick-and-ball sports.
WELL DONE!

 

[stroked340]

Agreed!
IMO, FS1 did an outstanding job with the extended event televised coverage. They really stepped it up with the driver interviews and I thought the detailed between-round maintenance coverage was great for any new viewers who may not be aware of what is necessary to accomplish between rounds.
Being able to watch the races and the pit work in real time was wonderful.
I also enjoyed and appreciated the comments from Brian Lohnes and the other announcers/reporters about how special Pomona is. My first time at Pomona was in 1967.
I hope both Fox Sports and the NHRA get an overload of appreciative comments so they realize how good their broadcasts can be when they don't defer to stick-and-ball sports.
WELL DONE!

Just fired off a nice e-mail to NHRA

 

[Yunick13]

Carryover to the next round