It was the 68th season of the National Hot Rod Association's top drag racing competition. The NHRA held 21 Top Fuel and Funny Car events, 18 Pro Stock events, and 15 Pro Stock Motorcycle events.
Schedule
Schedule released September 5, 2022.
2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Schedule[2]
^The Final round of the New England Nationals was postponed and held at Bristol due to inclement weather.
Additional rules for specially marked races
4 Lanes: The Nationals in both Las Vegas and Charlotte in the spring will compete with cars on four lanes.
All cars will qualify on each lane as all four lanes will be used in qualifying.
Three rounds with cars using all four lanes.
In Rounds One and Two, the top two drivers (of four) will advance to the next round.
The pairings are set as follows:
Race One: 1, 8, 9, 16
Race Two: 4, 5, 12, 13
Race Three: 2, 7, 10, 15
Race Four: 3, 6, 11, 14
Semifinal One: Top two in Race One and Race Two
Semifinal Two: Top two in Race Three and Race Four
Finals: Top two in Semifinal One and Semifinal Two
Lane choice determined by times in previous round. In first round, lane choice determined by fastest times.
Drivers who advance in Rounds One and Two will receive 20 points for each round advancement.
In Round Three, the winner of the race will be declared the race winner and will collect 40 points. The runner-up will receive 20 points. Third and fourth place drivers will be credited as semifinal losers.
1.5: The U. S. Nationals and In-N-Out Burger Finals will have their race points increased by 50% . Drivers who qualify but are eliminated in the first round receive 30 points, and each round win is worth 30 points. The top four receive 10, 9, 8, and 7 points, respectively, for qualifying positions, with the 5–6 drivers receiving 6 points, 7–8 drivers receiving 5 points, 9–12 receiving 4 points, and 13–16 receiving 3 points. Also, the top four, not three, drivers after each session receive points for fastest times in each round (4-3-2-1).
MM: Pro Stock Car at this event is a non-championship race with the Mountain Motor formula, where cars can use carburetors or electronic fuel injection, do not have an engine displacement limit, and weighs a minimum of 2,450 pounds, compared to the NHRA Pro Stock formula that features electronic fuel injection, a 500ci (8193cc) engine displacement limit, and 2,350 pounds weight.
Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge
The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge is a collaboration between NHRA and Mission Foods, introduced in the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.[3] The challenge spices up Saturday qualifying schedule at regular-season events. Semifinalists from the previous race compete anew, culminating in a final during the last qualifying session. Winners gain a purse, as well as bonus points.
Bonus points are awarded as follows:
Winner (3)
Runner-up (2)
Quickest losing semifinalist (1)
Bonus points earned from the challenge will be added to a driver’s total points at the start of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
^ abcdefgVehicle class did not compete at this event.
^Pro Stock Car did not participate in the Challenge at Route 66 due to the Pro Stock All-Star Call Out taking place
^Due to weather, the finals were canceled. Clay Millican and Leah Pruett advanced to the finals in Top Fuel, with Millican collecting the biggest share of the bonus purse after making the quickest winning run in the first round of the bonus race. Leah Pruett qualified for the Top Fuel challenge as the second alternate after Chicago semifinalist T.J. Zizzo and quarterfinalist Jacob McNeal opted not to compete in Epping. In Funny Car, Ron Capps and Tim Wilkerson advanced to the finals, with Capps collecting the biggest share of the bonus purse after making the quickest winning run in the first round of the bonus race. No points were awarded in the challenge in Epping.
^There were no Top Fuel or Funny Car challenges since the Epping races were cancelled. Justin Ashley (TF) and Bob Tasca III (FC) won the first Bristol round and were retroactively given challenge points. In Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, the results of the Joliet round were used to determine participants.
^Pro Stock Motorcycle did not participate in the Challenge at Sonoma due to the Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Call Out taking place
