NHRA Las Vegas Nationals: The Finals Are Set at The Strip, and Pro Mod's Last Race Is Winner-Take-All for the Championship
Sunday eliminations at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway have reached their final pairings. Justin Bond and Mike Stavrinos meet in a Pro Mod final that decides both the event win and the series championship, Spencer Hyde pedaled his way past Paul Lee in a wild Funny Car round, and Justin Picillo stands one win light from the Super Stock world title.
The last rounds of the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals are set at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and no final carries more than Pro Mod's. Justin Bond beat Billy Banaka on a holeshot in the semifinals — 5.678 seconds at 251 mph against Banaka's quicker 5.667 at 252 — and Mike Stavrinos advanced when J.R. Gray red-lit. Bond leads Stavrinos by 13 points, and the results file read by the desk states the stakes exactly: the final is winner-take-all for both the race win and the NHRA Pro Mod series championship.
Funny Car supplied the day's wildest ride. In the FS1 footage reported by FOX, Spencer Hyde and Paul Lee both lost traction early in their matchup, and Hyde pedaled his car back under him to win with a 4.209-second run at 316.67 mph. In the alcohol classes, the finals pair Sean Bellemeur against Annie Whiteley in Top Alcohol Funny Car — Bellemeur ran 5.437 at 264 mph, low elapsed time of the weekend, while Whiteley's 5.461 at 266 was her best run of the event — and Melanie Johnson against Jackie Fricke in Top Alcohol Dragster, after Fricke's 5.257 beat points leader Jamie Noonan's 5.342 and Johnson ran 5.276.
One championship can be settled in the sportsman ranks: Justin Picillo beat Scott Burton to reach the Super Stock final against Carl Youngstrom and, per the championship watch in the results file, is one win light away from clinching the 2026 Super Stock world championship. The desk is not calling the professional class winners — Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle finals were still to be decided in the sources read this cycle — and the event recap files when those results are official.
