2025 15th Annual FABO NHRA "Pick 'Em" Game - I Can't Wait!!!

[Budnicks]

Thanks to a little weather intervention by "Mother Nature", 'ocdart' (FABO) managed to have the highest score for the 2025 season-opening NHRA Gatornationals Top Qualifier title with a total of 30.5 bonus points. He picked the #1 qualifiers in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, the #2 qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle and the #3 qualifier in Pro Stock.
'TT5.9mag' (FABO) was right behind with 29.5 bonus points.
The top FBBO qualifier was 'Outlawd' with 26.0 bonus points.

More great picks!

We have 15 players to start the season this week and 14 different driver combos made up of:
* 5 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.
* 5 different Funny Car drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. There is a possibility of one head-to-head matchup in Round 2 if both drivers survive Round 1. One Funny Car driver pick did not qualify for Sunday eliminations.
* 4 different Pro Stock drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. There is a possibility of one head-to-head matchup in Round 2 if both drivers survive Round 1.
* 2 different Pro Stock Motorcycle drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. The only possibility of a head-to-head matchup would be in the final round of eliminations if both drivers survive through the first three rounds of eliminations.

Good luck all!

Congrats @ocdart top qualifier

 

[Budnicks]

Nice Job OC and Bud !!

1st race I'm going on the blind squirrel theory
yea ha !! 0.5 point back in #2

I'd done better "IF"
3 picks in the finals & 2 winners, 1 runner up
sort of surprised P/S Greg Anderson blew of the tires in the final
KB Titan team still won

JFR Jack Beckman also did well, should have figured that one too
lost in finals IIRC

yeah F/C Austin Prock/Jimmy Prock Crew Chief & family sort of surprised me
shocked really, not being able to get down the track,
& the breakage set them back
grenade'd that rear end, only Top Fuels cars were doing that prior

 

[64BEL]

Nice qualifying, Outlawd! And congrats oc and Bud!

 

[GTXDAN]

This came down to who did the best job of reading the track. The Force camp failed on this except for fast Jacks team. Gave everybody a wake up call at the first race.

 

[ocdart]

Announcement on nhra.com today that Robert Hight has stepped down as President of JFR saying, "...being out of the car last year made me realize there are other things I want to do, especially with my wife, Leslie, and my family."

 

[GTXDAN]

Hmmmm !

 

[ocdart]

It's time for the 'Tuesday before the race' notice for the 40th annual Arizona Nationals, March 21-23, at Firebird Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ.
Please post your picks before Pro Stock and Nitro 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 5:00pm EDT (2:00pm PDT) on Friday.
As of this morning nhra.com currently shows the following entries:
15 Top Fuel
20 Funny Car
22 Pro Stock

Pro Stock Motorcycle will not compete at this event.

Check to make sure your drivers are racing since there has been some last minute changes.
Keep your fingers crossed because the weekend weather forecast shows:
* Friday should be sunny with a high of 81F
* Saturday shows a high of 84F
* Sunday shows a high of 86F

The current television schedule for the Arizona Nationals...
* Qualifying Show 1: 8:00-9:30pm EST (5:00-6:00pm PST), Saturday, March 21 on FS1
* Qualifying Show 2: Noon-1:30pm EDT (9:00-10:30am PDT), Sunday, March 23 on FS1
* Final eliminations: 6:30-9:30pm EDT (3:30-6:30pm PDT), Sunday, March 23 on FS1

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

Don't miss out!

 

[Budnicks]

I'll stick with my locked in picks for now...

 

[Outlawd]

Arizona nats

TF=Doug Kalitta
FC=Fast Jack
PS=Erica Enders

Good luck everybody!

 

[alsant]

Stick with my locked in picks

 

[GTXDAN]

TF Brittany Force
FC Austin Prock
PS Greg Anderson

 

[Nick2317]

Ill go with

TF Steve Torrence
FC Hagan
PS Enders

 

[GTXDAN]

News from NHRA today, the TF cars can run without the mud flaps on the sides for the next 4 races while they reassess their need. Force camp ran Brittany's car without them in testing in FL, and they made the fastest pass ever in the 1/8 mile at over 302 mph. They must run a body side panel to cover the frame. This could be interesting.

 

[ocdart]

2025 40th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals qualifying leaders:

Q1
Weather: n/a
TF: Brittany Force, 3.768 @ 329.10
FC: Bob Tasca III, 3.927 @ 326.48
PS: Greg Anderson, 6.550; Dallas Glenn @ 210.28

Q2
Weather: 76F, 15% relative humidity, barometer 29.86", adjusted altitude 2,640', track temp. n/a
TF: Doug Kalitta, 3.688; Antron Brown @ 333.82
FC: Bob Tasca III, 3.863 @ 333.82
PS: Matt Hartford, 6.509; Dallas Glenn @ 210.28

Q3
Weather: n/a
TF: Doug Kalitta, 3.688; Antron Brown @ 333.82
FC: Bob Tasca III, 3.863 @ 333.82
PS: Matt Hartford, 6.509; Dallas Glenn @ 210.28

 

[ocdart]

Ill go with

TF Steve Torrence
FC Hagan
PS Enders

@Nick2317, I just noticed Steve Torrance is not racing at the Arizona Nationals.
You can pick a different Top Fuel driver and still get any elimination round win points earned, just no qualifying bonus points for your substitute Top Fuel pick.
You need to post your substitute Top Fuel pick before eliminations scheduled start time of 2:00pm EDT (11:00am PDT).
If you do not pick a replacement Top Fuel driver prior to the start of eliminations, per the game rules your replacement driver will be your Top Fuel pick from the most recent completed NHRA event (Brittany Force). You will be eligible for elimination round points, but not qualifying position bonus points.

 

[ocdart]

Congratulations to 'stroked340' (FABO) for winning the 2025 NHRA Arizona Nationals Top Qualifier title with an outstanding total of 23.0 bonus points. He picked the #1 qualifier in Top Fuel and the #2 qualifier in both Funny Car and Pro Stock.
'cuda20' (FABO), 'GTXDan' (FBBO) and 'Yunick13' (FABO) were right behind with 22.5 bonus points each.

More great picks!

We have 15 players again this week and 14 different driver combos made up of:
* 7 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.
* 5 different Funny Car drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. There is a possibility of one head-to-head matchup in Round 2 if both drivers survive Round 1. One Funny Car driver pick did not qualify for Sunday eliminations.
* 4 different Pro Stock drivers with no Round 1 head-to-head matchups. There is a possibility of one head-to-head matchup in Round 2 if both drivers survive Round 1.
Good luck all!

 

[Nick2317]

can I sub Force in TF please

 

[ocdart]

can I sub Force in TF please

Got it. Elimination round win points only (see post #55).

 

[ocdart]

Congratulations to 'stroked340' (FABO) for winning the "Top Picker Eliminator" title for the 2025 40th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals with a very nice total of 128.0 points. He picked the class winner in Pro Stock and both his Top Fuel and Funny Car picks lost in the final round of eliminations. He was also helped with ET bonus points in Top Fuel.
'Yunick13' (FABO) was right behind with 117.5 points.
'GTXDAN' was the top FBBO player with 112.5 points
Way to go!

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

Top Fuel
E.T. - Doug Kalitta, 3.688 during qualifying
Speed - Antron Brown, 333.82 during qualifying

Funny Car
E.T. - Bob Tasca III, 3.863 during qualifying
Speed - Bob Tasca III, 333.82 during qualifying

Pro Stock
E.T. - Matt Hartford, 6.509 during qualifying
Speed - Dallas Glenn, 210.57 during Round 1 of eliminations

Here are the game point standings after the 2nd event of the 2025 season:
276.0 - ocdart (FABO)
266.5 - Budnicks (FBBO)
254.5 - alsant (FBBO)
251.5 - stroked340 (FABO) +1
230.0 - TT5.9mag (FABO) -1
214.5 - GTXDAN (FBBO) +1
203.5 - 64BEL (FBBO) -1
187.0 - Yunick13 (FABO) +4
176.0 - cuda20 (FABO) +4
164.0 - Back in Time (FABO) -1
159.0 - johnnycuda (FABO) -3
154.5 - Outlawd (FBBO) -2
152.5 - memike (FABO) +1
87.0 - Nick2317 (FBBO) +1
81.0 - MomsDuster (FABO) -4

No rest for any of us since the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals is next weekend, March 27-30, at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, CA.
nhra.com does not yet show class entries for this event.

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

 

[Budnicks]

Congrats to @GTXDAN , good picks