The exciting final round of racing for Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week 2010 happens tonight at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio. After a grueling week that saw all manner of breakage, close calls with natural disasters, and the skuzziest ambulance the world has even known, there is a mixture of relief and anticipation amongst the racers. Several of the classes are in dog-fight mode even now, at the bitter end.

Let’s take a look at the leaders going into tonight’s finale.

Unlimited:

Larry Larson rolls into Columbus as the man leading the insane Unlimited category over the resurgent Jeff Lutz who matched Larson’s Thursday effort at Pittsburgh to the hundreth of a second. Both men are capable of hitting the magical six second Drag Week home run, but with the weight of their cars and the notoriously short shut down in Columbus, we may not see it this year.

As it stands now, Larson has averaged 7.10/195.94mph for the week, and Lutz in his brutal ’57 Chevy has averaged 7.20/194.45mph. We’re talking a tenth amongst cars capable of going tenths quicker than they have so far. It would take a total hero performance by Lutz combined with some issues from Larson to win, but the last day always has some weirdness involved. This one is by no means over, but it is a long shot for Lutz.

Pro Street Power Adder:

Eric Yost in Jeff Pearley’s turbocharged 1982 Firebird leads this class by a monsterous six tenths of a second over Mike Roy’s awesome 1971 Monte Carlo. Yost has averaged 8.066/169.36 for the week with the hard charging Roy in at 8.63/155.77. Assuming that Yost makes it to the track and leans on the car he should be leaving with a jacket.

Pro Street Naturally Aspirated:

The class with only two cars in it has a wide spread. The two cars couldn’t be more different. There’s the beautiful 1973 Vega of Darrin Page that has been deep into the ten second zone all week pulling off an average of 10.71/125mph. His lone competiton is the massive 1970 Sport Fury of Radar Watkins. Watkins, in the USS Mopar has averaged 12.27/112.57mph this week.

Modified Power Adder:

Todd Maschmeier’s 1968 Camaro is currently the class of the field in Modified Power Adder. The “street legalized” drag radial car is running a motor that the guys literally yanked out of a boat and plugged into the car. His average of 8.16/172.04mph has given him a lot of real estate in front of Rick “Doc” Fox’s Corvette which has lived in the 8.70s and 8.80s all wee for an average of 8.80/154.89mph. A late hotel arrival for the Camaro has some thinking that trouble may be afoot. Only time will tell!

Modified Naturally Aspirated:

This class is uncontested.

Big Block Power Adder:

Rick Prospero’s 1965 Chevy Nova wagon has been one of our favorites this week. Ithas also been the quickest car in the big block power adder class, averaging 8.57/163.77mph with another Nova, the 1971 of Shannon Carnathan chasing him with an average of 8.92/155.59mph. At Drag Week nothing is as easy as it seems, so despite the fairly wide margin between the two racers, we think that this race is still wide open.

Big Block Naturally Aspirated:

The first class where two somewhat “new” cars are going at it for the win is big block naturally aspirated. The 1999 Camaro SS of Collin Williams leads the 1990 Mustang of Gary Satterlee, a former Drag Week class champion, by a shade under three tenths coming into tonight’s finals. Never count a former champ out, especially on the last day where desperation often leads to some wild stuff happening!

Small Block Power Adder:

This is the true barn burner of the event. The top two cars are separated by one one-hundreth of a second. The two men who will be staring each other down tonight are Tom Franks, the current class leader in his 1993 Mustang LX and Jamie Hacking in his gear bangin’ 1968 Camaro. Franks is in the books with a 10.11/133.18mph average while Hacking is nipping at his bumper with a 10.12/130mph tally. With the track open from 4pm to 9pm for the finals tonight, these dudes may be hot lapping to see who can out run who. This is the one to watch!

Small Block Naturally Aspirated:

Five-speed shifting Mopar hero Mike Crow is in the driver’s seat of the small block naturally aspirated class. With more than two tenths of a second lead, he just needs to get the car down the track cleanly and keep a keen eye out for any glory seeking performances from the like of Tom Taylor, the man closest to him. Crow’s week-long average is 10.48/131mph where Taylor is at 10.73/125.54mph.

Stay tuned tonight as we’ll be posting final results minutes after the winner’s are tabulated!!!