NHRA Virginia Nationals Lucas Oil Sportsman Preview

2019 NHRA Virginia Nationals Lucas Oil Sportsman Preview

RICHMOND – After a week off, the NHRA traveling circus heads up the East Coast to Virginia Motorsports Park for the NHRA Virginia Nationals. The race is the eighth of the 24-race 2019 NHRA schedule.

NHRA Southern Nationals Lucas Oil Sportsman Results

For maybe the first time all season, racers shouldn’t have to deal with rain this weekend. The forecast shows only a small chance of showers throughout the weekend. Although rain shouldn’t be a problem, racers will deal with temps in the low 90’s.

The Virginia Nationals will showcase over 250 Lucas Oil sportsman racers competing in six different classes. The schedule includes Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster, and Factory Stock Showdown.

2018 NHRA Virginia Nationals Champions

Super Stock – Joe Tysinger

Stock Eliminator – Randy Parker

Super Comp – Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Super Gas – Charlie Kenopic

2019 NHRA Virginia Nationals Predictions

With each NHRA national event DragChamp’s sportsman preview includes an overview of each class. In addition, we select the DragChamp Picks to win the race. Here are this week’s picks.

DragChamp has successfully picked at least one Lucas Oil sportsman winner at each of the last five NHRA national events. At the last event, the Southern Nationals, we picked two winners and one runner up.

Super Stock – 54 Car Field

DragChamp blogger Brittany Boltz will be in action this weekend driving her ’91 Firebird. Joe Tysinger will be looking for a repeat of last year’s victory and Joe Lisa would love to improve on his 2018 runner up.

Class racing is alive and well in Division 1. With a ton of heavy hitters on the entry list, there will be some great racing to watch.

DragChamp picks to win:

Marion Stephenson – Cooled off after a hot start, a win this week would put him right back in the points chase.

Anthony Bertozzi – Always a great pick because all he does is win, win, win!

Joe Lisa – Looking to improve on his final round loss in 2018.

Stock Eliminator – 52 Car Field

The 52 car field in Stock includes some serious contenders. Defending champ Randy Parker is not on the entry list so there will be a new champion crowned on Sunday.

Gene Monahan came oh-so-close last year before breaking just off the line in the final round. Recent National Open champ Lenny Williams will look to make it two in a row this weekend.

DragChamp picks to win:

Anthony Fetch – It seems everytime I pick this guy he goes to the finals!

Joe Santangelo – Another guy that always seems to be in or near the final.

Allison Doll – Talented driver should be killer on the tree since she sells practice trees for a living.

Super Comp – 45 Car Field

Division’s 1 & 2 finest 8.90 racers are on hand this week. The entry list is loaded with top drivers such as Labbous, Coughlin, Hanley, Robilotto, and more.

After Jeggie won last year, we’ll see if Samantha can follow his lead and match his amazing performance. Chris Garretson will give the class fits with his top-end throttle stop entry. Chris runs 120+ mph which makes it tough for the 180 mph cars to judge the stripe.

DragChamp picks to win:

Jason Kenny – You gotta love Jason’s style, he holds a ton and knows how to use it at the big end. Always seems to be in the late rounds.

Mike Robilotto – Mike had a huge season in 2018, would love to start another run.

Christina DiBartolomeo – Talented racer that can get it done.

Super Gas – 49 Car Field

Defending champ Charlie Kenopic leads the talented field in Virginia. He’ll face tough competition from names like Adcock, Sawyer, Sisko, Furr, and more.

Talented Super Street racer Keith Mayers and his Porsche drag car is entered in Super Gas this week.

DragChamp picks to win:

Mike Sawyer – In his second season with a new car, look for Mike to make some noise in 2019.

John Labbous – Has had a hot hand in the Corvette for a couple of months now. A national event victory seems inevitable.

Tom Stalba – Class star made a late season charge in 2018. The momentum should carry over to 2019.

Top Dragster – 26 Car Field

Another week, another short field in the 6.10 index class. I’m not sure why we’ve seen so many short fields this season in Top Dragster. With qualifying drama eliminated, I guess we’ll discuss who might win.

DragChamp picks to win:

Dan Fletcher – Making a rare appearance in the class but don’t let that fool you. With over 100 national event Wally’s, he’s a threat.

Lauren Freer – Multi-time national event champ is always a threat.

Factory Stock Showdown – 26 Car Field

The most interesting class in sportsman drag racing is back in action at Virginia. The Skillman team and their Cobra Jet’s have been dominate so far in 2019. We’ll see if the recent NHRA parity adjustments can slow down the juggernaut. Can the Mopar’s get in the mix, will the COPO’s catch the Ford’s? We’ll see soon enough.

DragChamp pick to win:

Stephen Bell – While I believe the Skillman team will still be the team to beat, I fully expect one of the Stanfield-prepped cars to steal one this weekend.

Visit DragChamp daily for daily Lucas Oil sportsman updates.