ESPN NHRA

CLERMONT, Ind. -- Add Craig Treble to the list of drag racers converted to the gospel of the Countdown to the Championship.

No surprise here, not after the Pro Stock Motorcycle veteran went from nearly 400 points out of first to 70 with the NHRA POWERade Series' Countdown cutoff kicking in after 11 PSM races. And certainly not after he won at the 53rd Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Monday to vault from eighth in the standings to second, 51 marks shy of leader Matt Smith.

"I'm all about it," Treble said.

First it was Doug Herbert in Top Fuel being the face of the Countdown, having won his way into the top eight at Maple Grove Raceway when anything less than the race title would have ended his championship hopes. Now, or at least until the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis in two weeks, Treble is Exhibit A for how the new format can turn a driver's season around.

Treble had not so much as won an elimination round since July, and he had gone out in the first round in four of five races leading up to Indianapolis. When he lost in the first round to Chris Rivas at Redding, Pa., Countdown hopes fell out of Trebel's hands. Rivas had control, with his Countdown ticket punched if he could make the finals at Maple Grove. He lost in the semis instead, and Treble backed into the playoffs.

Over Labor Day weekend, he took his new life and ran with it, beating fellow Countdown drivers Andrew Hines and Smith en route to a win at the Big Go from the 10th qualifying spot in the weekend's most surprising bracket.

"Today, I guess I just sucker-punched everybody," the Valparaiso, Ind., native said

A few drivers' hopes sustained body blows over the weekend in the new Countdown to Four. The U.S. Nationals was the first of four races pitting the top eight contenders in each class. That number will be whittled down to four in each class after three more playoff events, and the remaining competitors will chase titles in the series' final two races at Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif.

The sense of urgency was greatest at O'Reilly Raceway Park for those at the bottom of the eight, who needed to qualify and pick up round wins to begin climbing toward the top four.

Yet only Treble made a big move from the bottom. In Top Fuel, Herbert's Cinderella run was derailed in the first round by "Hot Rod" Fuller, who earned revenge after a final-round setback at Maple Grove. At least he earned qualifying-position points, which was more than J.R. Todd and Whit Bazemore managed in failing to make eliminations. Each of those dragsters will need to regroup quickly at Memphis, with the top four in Top Fuel unchanged after Indy.

Also hoping to regroup will be Warren Johnson, picking the wrong time to see his Pontiac GTO miss the show at Indy. "The Professor" had run at the U.S. Nationals 31 consecutive times, but in missing this weekend fell from seventh to eighth in Pro Stock points, trailing Larry Morgan, who qualified but went out in the first round.

Johnson's son Kurt climbed from sixth to fourth in PS by making the semifinals at Indy, and he'll hope to hold on to that spot along with third-place Allen Johnson. Dave Connolly beat Greg Anderson in Monday's final, and with those two owning 13 of the 18 race titles this season, it would be a shock for them not to hold onto their top two spots within the top four. In one race they opened up a 67-point gap on third, that being Anderson's margin over Allen Johnson.

Shocks abounded at the U.S. Nationals in Funny Car. Ron Capps went from the points leader to a number-cruncher himself after being eliminated in the first round by a holeshot from Kenny Bernstein, racing as an out-of-Countdown spoiler.

"It's the part of the excitement not only for me but the fans as well -- they're probably counting the points like I am in the lounge," Capps said. "I'm in there looking at every single point we've got, trying to figure out the worst-case scenario where I'll leave in the points."

As it turned out, that spot was fourth, 51 points behind new leader Robert Hight. Mike Ashley was the big winner in FC, riding a U.S. Nationals title from the sixth to second spot in points. He'll be an interesting driver to watch in the Countdown -- he leads all Countdown drivers in all classes with four DNQs, but had three wins.

"We'll take the home runs to strikeouts if they add up to a championship at the end of the year," Ashley said. "I want to say 'unbelievable,' but it's believable. I think I've got the team to be able to contend for this championship."

The same would have been said a few days ago for John Force, having recovered from his early-season struggles in the wake of Eric Medlen's death to rally into the Countdown. But as hot as he was, he went cold at Indy with a DNQ, dropping him out of the top four and into sixth. Force is now 44 points behind Capps for the fourth spot.

He'll have to prove himself again at Memphis, but that's where the format is forgiving -- at least for now. There are three races remaining, and 100-plus-point swings are available each week for winners. That can be enough to further solidify a top-four spot or jump back in from outside.

"If you go out and win Memphis, you go out and win Dallas [in three weeks], now all of a sudden it's a different ballgame. I feel we can do that," said Gary Scelzi, who stayed seventh in FC points after a first-round loss at Indy. "We knew coming into here it would be a different situation -- look at Force. No one would have expected that."

No one would have expected Craig Treble either, but get used to it. The craziness of the Countdown is only beginning.

John Schwarb is a freelance journalist covering motorsports and a contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at johnschwarb@yahoo.com.