A Gibsonia man who has been going to drag strips since he was six weeks old is headed to the biggest race of his life. Nick Bowman has qualified for the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge, set for The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from October 30 through November 1, and he says there's nowhere bigger to go from here.
A Career Built From the Starting Line Up
Bowman has competed in drag racing for 23 years, according to TribLIVE.com, and has raced on a large-scale stage since 2010. His father and two uncles introduced him to the sport, and the Las Vegas Nationals will mark his most premier event to date. “I don't think you can go any bigger than this,” Bowman said.
The car getting him there has a story of its own. Bowman bought a six-cylinder 1970 Plymouth Duster with 43,000 miles on it back in 2007, and the car — which he nicknamed Nadine — was fully off the road by 2011 as he converted it into a dedicated racer. It still carries an AM radio, working odometer mileage and functional lighting, though its turn signals remain unhooked, a detail the outlet's report on his family's racing history also notes.
A Strong Run Through 2026
Bowman arrives in Las Vegas on a hot streak. He won the 2026 points title at Keystone Raceway and advanced to the NHRA Summit ET Racing Series North Central Division Finals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, in September, where he ultimately won the division finals. Earlier in 2026, he also won the World Footbrake Challenge, a field where he outlasted more than 500 footbrakers to capture the Thursday $20,000 victory, according to DragChamp.
That win built on a resume that already included a points championship and nearly $25,000 in cash from the 27th annual No-Box Bonanza in Norwalk, Ohio, Bowman told TribLive Community. Bowman races quarter-mile distances at about 130 mph and eighth-mile distances at about 106 mph, numbers that sound modest next to the fuel classes but matter enormously in his discipline, where races can be decided by ten-thousandths of a second.
Why Bracket Racing Comes Down to Math, Not Horsepower
Bowman estimates that success in his form of racing comes down to roughly 50% car and 50% driver, a split that reflects how elapsed-time bracket racing differs from the fuel classes headlining the weekend. Victory in that format depends more on driver skill than on a team's budget or a car's outright speed, per the same account from TribLive Community. “A lot of people don't realize how detailed and mathematical we end up being,” Bowman said.
That dynamic is central to the Summit Series world championship also unfolding in Las Vegas, where 32 competitors across Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Motorcycle categories will chase titles. NHRA Sportsman Manager Jason Galvin called it the top of the ladder for racers like Bowman, saying, “When it comes to bracket racing within the NHRA, this is the pinnacle,” according to lvms.com. Winners in each Summit Series category will take home $6,000, with runners-up earning $2,000 and semifinalists $500.
A Weekend That Could Crown Four Champions
The Las Vegas Nationals is the fifth of six races in NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoffs and the 19th of 20 events in the 2026 season, as reported by Motor Sports NewsWire. The event guide schedules Summit ET National Championship time trials and eliminations alongside the pro categories, according to app.nhra.com. The weekend could determine world championships in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, per lvms.com's event listing.
Shawn Langdon currently leads the 2026 Top Fuel class with eight event wins, including victories in the first three Countdown playoff races, Motor Sports NewsWire reports. Fans can expect 340-mph, 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars sharing the same quarter-mile strip where Bowman will run his Duster. Last season's Las Vegas race crowned Brittany Force in Top Fuel, Matt Hagan in Funny Car, Dallas Glenn in Pro Stock and Gaige Herrera in Pro Stock Motorcycle, according to the same Motor Sports NewsWire report.
