Hall faced the toughest draw—V&H/H-D rider Eddie Krawiec, the three-time national champ. (Richard Muir photo)

Connecticut resident Hall and New Jersey native Krawiec first started racing against each other many years ago at Englishtown before they both started touring with the AMA/Prostar series. Both competed in the hotly contested, factory-based Supersport class. And in all that time, from the local track to the AMA and now NHRA Pro Stock, Hall had never beaten Krawiec.

And Krawiec—now an Indianapolis resident and comfortable with his new home track—oozed confidence after rising from 11th to second in the order on Sunday. And why shouldn’t he be? His team did the best job of adapting to Sunday’s changing weather and now he faced his old whipping boy Hall. And so it was a stunning turn of events when 15th qualifier Hall turned the winlight on against his old rival.

Securing the final four Countdown positions on Monday were Eddie Krawiec, rookie Adam Arana, Tonglet, who advanced to the semifinals to move from 11th into the ninth position, and Shawn Gann. Hector Arana Jr., who has a class-best four wins, will start the Countdown from the No. 1 position, though Hall takes plenty of momentum into the final six races of the season.

“We just went for it and I was lucky enough to get the win,” Hall said. “It felt great to get that second Wally and this is huge for Viper Motorcycles. Everybody out there is tough and you have to be on top of your game to win one of these.”

Luckily the bikes and their riders don’t take up much room when looking for a bit of shade.  (Richard Muir photo)

Countdown to the Championship
Top 10 point standings following the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the 18th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Top Fuel
1. Shawn Langdon, 1,488; 2. Spencer Massey, 1,273; 3. Tony Schumacher, 1,238; 4. Doug Kalitta, 1,086; 5. Khalid alBalooshi, 1,074; 6. Antron Brown, 1,035; 7. Clay Millican, 979; 8. Morgan Lucas, 968; 9. Steve Torrence, 893; 10. Bob Vandergriff, 821.

Funny Car
1. Matt Hagan, 1,297; 2. Ron Capps, 1,183; 3. Johnny Gray, 1,125; 4. John Force, 1,115; 5.Jack Beckman, 1,110; 6. Cruz Pedregon, 1,099; 7. Courtney Force, 1,071; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 1,023; 9. Robert Hight, 1,015; 10. Del Worsham, 948.

Pro Stock
1. Mike Edwards, 1,667; 2. Allen Johnson, 1,446; 3. Jeg Coughlin, 1,352; 4. Vincent Nobile, 1,145; 5. Shane Gray, 1,088; 6. Jason Line, 1,066; 7. Greg Anderson, 1,053; 8. V. Gaines, 978; 9. Erica Enders-Stevens, 779; 10. Rodger Brogdon, 755.

Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Hector Arana Jr., 849; 2. Matt Smith, 741; 3. Michael Ray, 652; 4. John Hall, 647; 5. Hector Arana, 620; 6. Scotty Pollacheck, 599; 7. Eddie Krawiec, 504; 8. Adam Arana, 493; 9. LE Tonglet, 472; 10. Shawn Gann, 462.