The 49th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals will take the spotlight at Indianapolis Raceway Park this weekend as it has done so since 1961 when the most prestigious event on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing schedule moved to Indiana after brief stops in Great Bend, Kan., Kansas City, Mo., Oklahoma City and Detroit.

The U.S. Nationals transcends points races, performance milestones and personal achievements. It's the one race that takes on a life of its own and any racer, regardless of age or experience, comes to Indy hoping to win the only national event that can instantly make you a star -- or a bigger star than you already may be. As it has often been said, the U.S. Nationals is the Super Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500 of drag racing.

What will be the big stories at "The Big Go" this year? Here's a class-by-class rundown.

Top Fuel

	Dixon

With Larry Dixon's commanding points lead (271 points) over second place Doug Kalitta, it will be Doug's cousin Scott who will get much of the attention in the category this time around. Scott Kalitta is a two-time Top Fuel champion and will debut a second team car this weekend with which he plans to run a full schedule next year. Joining the Kalitta team will be Rahn Tobler, who will be doubling duty as crew chief for his wife, Shirley Muldowney, the three-time champion who will be retiring at season's end.

There is much irony here. Muldowney and Scott's father Connie were companions throughout Muldowney's reign of supremacy in the late 1970s and early '80s. It was Connie Kalitta who Muldowney defeated in the final round of the 1982 U.S. Nationals for the most prized victory of her career, while Connie is the only Kalitta to have an Indy win, his coming in 1994.

To add to the speciality of the weekend, Muldowney's long-time rival, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits will also be at IRP this weekend, hoping to win his ninth U.S. Nationals trophy. Regardless of who ultimately wins the race, the historical backdrop in this year's Top Fuel class will be immense.

Funny Car

	Bazemore

Last year, while trying to chase down John Force for the 2002 championship, Whit Bazemore suffered a disastrous outing in Indy when he failed to qualify. That was one year after winning the U.S. Nationals for the second time in his career. This year, he is chasing Force's team driver Tony Pedregon and you can be sure Bazemore and his Schumacher Racing team will do everything humanly possible to avoid another DNQ.

Tony comes to Indy as the only Pedregon brother never to have won this race. He was low qualifier last year and had what many considered to be the strongest car, but it was his boss, Force, who went the distance. Pedregon, Bazemore and Force will command center stage again this year, but the emphasis will be more on Tony and Whit, who are both bitter adversaries and focused on winning their first career championship. But for Pedregon, an Indy win in and of itself would be a sweet success indeed.

Pro Stock

	Anderson

In an eight-year stretch, between 1992 and 1999, either Warren Johnson or Kurt Johnson were involved in a U.S. Nationals Pro Stock final -- a remarkable statistic -- combined with the fact WJ and KJ have tallied eight Indy victories between them. But this year, another former Indy champion, Greg Anderson, wants his share of the spoils when racing ends Monday afternoon. He is enticingly close to clinching his first career title in only his second year at the helm of his own team and as he has said himself, "Once you win Indy, you fight even harder to win it again to prove the first time wasn't a fluke."

Watch for Anderson to bring out his second team car driven by Jason Line this weekend, hoping to throw even greater interference between himself and KJ, who trails Anderson by 158 points for the POWERade points lead. It is truly a two-car scramble for this year's Pro Stock crown and Kurt Johnson will have to tap into his family's past dominance of this race if he hopes to gain ground on this year's winningest driver in the class.

Pro Stock Bike

	Savoie

Angelle Savoie came to Indy in 2001 never having won the sport's richest race. She has yet to lose at IRP since and this year needs a victory badly. Geno Scali continues to lead the points while Shawn Gann has now moved past Savoie into second place in the standings. Savoie has been winless since Joliet (Ill.) and is facing the prospect of relinquishing her crown for the first time since 2000. A win at Indy will revitalize her title outlook, perhaps move her closer to Scali (and back past Gann) and make the PSB championship battle much more wide open. A shaky outing by Savoie this weekend could make it a foregone conclusion that another rider will wear the No. 1 on their motorcycle next year.

Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.