{"id":105080,"date":"2026-10-22T20:44:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T20:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/epic-championship-duel-set-for-nhra-pro-mods-in-vegas\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T20:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T20:44:02","slug":"epic-championship-duel-set-for-nhra-pro-mods-in-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/epic-championship-duel-set-for-nhra-pro-mods-in-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"EPIC CHAMPIONSHIP DUEL SET FOR NHRA PRO MODS IN VEGAS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n

EPIC CHAMPIONSHIP DUEL SET FOR JBS EQUIPMENT NHRA PRO MOD SERIES IN LAS VEGAS<\/strong><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 22, 2026) \u2013 A thrilling season and championship race in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports is now down to one race. With all eyes on Las Vegas for the finale, an incredible showdown awaits between an impressive group of standout contenders as part of the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 29-Nov. 1.<\/p>\n

It is the final event of the 11-race season and the Road to the Championship playoffs, and it\u2019s a duel that could very well come down to the final pass of the year, especially with the points-and-a-half format in place at the finale.<\/p>\n

The top four in points \u2013 leader Justin Bond, Mike Stavrinos, Derek Menholt and reigning world champ J.R. Gray \u2013 are separated by just 67 points and with 30 points on the line during each round during eliminations, this could be a finale for the ages. To add to the moment, Gray is the only one in the group to have won an NHRA Pro Mod world championship, which only adds to the magnitude of the moment and what\u2019s on the line in Vegas.<\/p>\n

Bond heads west as the points leader thanks to four appearances in the final round this year. He won in Phoenix and has been solid in the postseason thanks to finals appearances in Indy and Rockingham. Another runner-up doesn\u2019t guarantee a world title, but a victory to close out the season and clinch his first world title is his sole focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve fought hard all season to put ourselves in this position,\u201d Bond said. \u201cSeventeen points isn\u2019t much in Pro Mod, so nothing is guaranteed. We\u2019re heading to Vegas with one goal \u2014 win the race and bring home the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Of course, several other drivers have different ideas. Should he qualify well and not find the lead grow to more than 30 points entering eliminations, Stavrinos, who is currently 17 points behind Bond, can have his own winner-take-all weekend in Vegas.<\/p>\n

A first-round loss in St. Louis bumped him out of the points lead, but he\u2019s performed well down the stretch otherwise, winning in Rockingham. He also won the 4-Wide race in Charlotte, along with a runner-up in Bristol in the loaded field. That\u2019s given Stavrinos confidence he\u2019ll be able to rise to the occasion with everything on the line in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve proven we have a championship-caliber car and we\u2019re only one good round away from changing everything,\u201d Stavrinos said. \u201cThe team knows what\u2019s at stake. We\u2019re going to Vegas ready to fight for every point and finish what we started.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Menholt trails Bond by 54 points, which means keeping it under 60 points (or two rounds) will be vitally important. He\u2019s also proven championship-worthy all season long, leading the points for five of the first seven races. Along the way, he won the season-opener in Gainesville and added a Chicago victory during his impressive 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

The playoffs haven\u2019t been quite as kind, including a first-round loss in St. Louis, but Menholt did have an incredible blast of 5.603-seconds at the event, which means the performance \u2013 and confidence \u2013 is there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had the car to beat anybody all year and we\u2019re not going to Vegas to settle for third,\u201d Menholt said. \u201cThere\u2019s still plenty of racing left and anything can happen in Pro Mod. We\u2019re going after every round and letting the championship take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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That leaves the only driver in the top four with a championship in Gray, who has already enjoyed a magical Vegas moment, winning the race and the championship last year at the event. In a winner-take-all final round in 2025 against Billy Banaka, who is currently fifth in points and 100 points behind Bond, the reigning champ clinched the win and the title with a pass of 5.749 at 250.04 mph.<\/p>\n

He has some work to do this year, sitting 67 points behind Bond, but if he can get it under 60, Gray will certainly be a threat to repeat. He won the world\u2019s biggest drag race \u2013 the U.S. Nationals in Indy for the first time \u2013 so another championship would be a terrific capper to another standout season for the veteran.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what it takes to win a world championship and we\u2019re not giving up this title without a fight,\u201d Gray said. \u201cVegas is where it all gets decided. We\u2019ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, and we\u2019re coming to race.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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The JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports features two qualifying rounds at 12:15 and 5:45 p.m. PT on Friday and the final two rounds of qualifying at 11:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Saturday. The first round of eliminations is slated for 9 a.m. PT on Sunday.<\/p>\n

A qualifying session on both Friday and Saturday, and a round of eliminations will be broadcast for free on NHRA\u2019s YouTube page. Fans can subscribe to the channel to be notified when the class goes live on NHRA\u2019s YouTube page.<\/p>\n

To purchase tickets to the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, call 800-644-4444<\/a> or visit LVMS.com. Children 12 and under are admitted free in general admission areas with a paid adult. For more information about NHRA, visit NHRA.com.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The post EPIC CHAMPIONSHIP DUEL SET FOR NHRA PRO MODS IN VEGAS<\/a> appeared first on Drag Racing List<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 EPIC CHAMPIONSHIP DUEL SET FOR JBS EQUIPMENT NHRA PRO MOD SERIES IN LAS VEGAS LAS VEGAS (Oct. 22, 2026) \u2013 A thrilling season and championship race in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports is now down to one race. With all eyes on Las Vegas for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}