NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

As per usual, the No. 8 and No. 9 qualifiers are the first pair down the track in Top Fuel, and Austin Prock, with lane choice, takes the left, but it doesn’t work out as the Montana Brands car is up in smoke right away and Antron Brown cruises to a 3.682 victory.

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Unfazed by that, crew chief Neal Strausbaugh keeps Leah Pruett In the left lane and she goes right down with a 3.678 and it’s Shawn Langdon up in smoke in the right lane. Just shows that you can get down both lanes and smoke ‘em in both lanes.

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Right behind that mixed message, Billy Torrence’s team decides it also wants the lane that Pruett just blasted down and moves the black-over-white Capco car into the left. It’s a wise choice as Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in Texas Motorplex history, smokes the tires and Billy-Billy goes low e.t. of the round so far with a 3.664 and into the next round.

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And yet, with lane choice, David Grubnic keeps Brittany Force in the right lane against Spencer Massey. She makes it off the line clean but smokes them 300 feet out and Massey takes Pat Dakin’s car into the next round with a 3.71 and will face fellow Texan Billy Torrence there. It’s Force’s second straight first-round loss and puts the team in a hole trying to win another championship as she’ll leave her about 200 points out of the lead.

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The right lane also bites Josh Hart and points leader Doug Kalitta puts another 20 points into the bank with a 3,68, but he won’t have second-round lane choice against Pruett.

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Low qualifier Steve Torrence and Buddy Hull give us our first side-by-side race of the round, with Steve-o taking the win, 3.66 to Hull’s career-best 3.73. Torrence has won here twice in Top Fuel and once in Top Alcohol Dragster and always gets up fpr the home race.

“I have so much history here at this racetrack,” Torrence told us last night. “I've grown up racing here from Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Alcohol, and fuel. So there's a lot of expectations when you come here; you want to do well in front of the hometown crowd, you want to go out and do well in front of the fans because I take pride in being from Texas, but we haven't had the success here in the last couple of years.”

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Mike Salinas keeps his hat in the championship ring despite drifting perilously close to the centerline and turns on the win light ahead of Doug Foley with a 3.68.

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A bit of a dagger into the championship hopes of Justin Ashley as he loses traction at midtrack and Clay Millican runs an early-shutoff 3.78 to get the win. Ashley is the only one of the top six to lose in round one and he’s already 100 points out of the lead and it could get worse depending on how far Kalitta and Torrence go.

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Top Fuel second-round matchups (lane choice first): Steve Torrence vs. Antron Brown; Billy Torrence vs. Spencer Massey; Leah Pruett vs. Doug Kalitta; Mike Salinas vs. Clay Millican

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Crew chief Aaron Brooks decides to put low qualifier Bob Tasca III in the first pair of Funny Car to guard against rising track temperatures, and they get away with one here as the Motorcraft Ford gets a little loose downtrack, flirts with the centerline, then mashes the gas to stay ahead of Jack Wyatt with an off-pace 4.24 after qualifying passes of 3.87, 3.82, 3.85, and 3.84.

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And a huge upset that’s very popular with the Texas Motorplex crowd, longshot Lone Stater Terry Haddock, who had a big win in the Stampede of Speed earlier in the week, defeats Robert Hight, putting a bit of a dent in the three-time champ’s hopes for a fourth crown. Hight came into the round just 13 points behind Tasca but is now in danger of falling further behind depending on how BT3 does the rest of the day.

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John Force, who made a career-best run Saturday night to qualify No. 2 with a 3.823, fires off a 3.83 this time to easily wipe out “the Surfer,” Jeff Diehl.

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Another big upset follows as reigning world champ Ron Capps strikes the tires 100 feet into the run and Texan Alex Laughlin wins a round for the third straight race in Jim Dunn’s car, sponsored at this event by Havoline.

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Matt Hagan avoids the woes that befell Hight and Capps and advances past Paul Lee with a 3.89. The victory moves Hagan past Hight and into second place in the standings.

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J.R. Todd shows that the pink-hued DHL Toyota is in the hunt with a solid 3.88 to defeat Blake Alexander and earn himself second-round lane choice over Terry Haddock.

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Cruz Pedregon and Chad Green go wire-to-wire, side-by-side with a 3.93 to 3.93 race that goes the way of Pedregon. It’s “the Cruzer’s” first round-win of the Countdown after three straight first-round losses. Green, who still sits a lofty fifth in points, is in danger of losing multiple spots with J.R. Todd and John Force breathing down his neck.

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Tim Wilkerson works his way past Alexis DeJoria into a second-round battle with Tasca and, incredibly, Tasca will have lane choice despite his 4.24 pass. Wilk charted just a 4.41 in beating DeJoria’s traction-plagued pass.

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Funny Car second-round matchups (lane choice first):  Bob Tasca III vs. Tim Wilkerson; Matt Hagan vs. Alex Laughlin; John Force vs. Cruz Pedregon; J.R. Todd vs. Terry Haddock

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Matt Hartford was determined to make up for what he described as a self-inflicted error in St. Louis with a clean run to open eliminations when he coupled a respectable .028 light and a 6.509 to get the best of Fernando Cuadra and maintain his spot in the Top 5.

“We have to have a long day today, I made the biggest mistake a driver can make in St. Louis and we have to make up for it,” said Hartford. “If we can make the final here it will be huge for us.”

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Reigning and five-time champion Erica Enders delivered a strong message in round one win against Eric Latino. Enders drove to the quickest run not only of race day but also the entire evet with a 6.467 to keep pace with Greg Anderson, Matt Hartford, Dallas Glenn, Aaron Stanfield and Troy Coughlin Jr., who also advanced.

“I’d say that’s pretty hateful,” Enders said. “All through qualifying we were just a little bit off on one area or another. We finally put everything together. This race is so special  to me and I’d love nothing more than another win here in my home state of Texas.”

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Troy Coughlin Jr. doesn’t appear to be going anywhere in the battle for the Pro Stock title and he appears to have the car to do it. Coughlin, the No. 2 qualifier, and the fifth-ranked driver in the points, made what was easily the second best run of the round with a 6.476 to easily get past Mason McGaha. Coughlin needed the win as the top five drivers ahead of him in the standings all turned on the win light.

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Pro Stock Round two pairings (lane choice first): Erica Enders vs. Cristian Cuadra; Greg Anderson vs. Aaron Stanfield:: Dallas Glenn vs. Camrie Caruso; Troy Coughlin Jr. vs. Matt Hartford.

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Hector Arana Jr. finally unleashed the sort of run that most had expected from the GETTRX Buel when he rode to a 6.728 at better than 203 mph to take a one-sided win against Malcolm Phillips Jr. Arana, the defending Dallas winner, came into Dallas facing a 126-point deficit in the Camping World Standings to it’s fait to say he’s a title contender. Arana is also the defending winner of the upcoming Las Vegas race.

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Gaige Herrera continues to shred the Pro Stock Motorcycle record books. Following his 6.657, in round one, Herra now owns the three quickest elapsed times and eight of the top ten. The only other rider on the top ten list is Karen Stoffer, with her 6.684 and 6.682 runs in Gainesville in 2021.

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Racing as part of Matt Smith’s team, Joey Gladstone tried to play the “ladder game” in qualifying in an effort to drag leader Gaige Herra early in eliminations. The MSR team took off the training wheels in round one and Gladstone responded with an impressive 6.73 to 6.76 against Kelly Clonts, who made what was easily the second most impressive run of the weekend with a 6.70 in qualifying.

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Round two pairings: (lane choice first: Gaige Herrera vs. Chris Bostick; Hector Arana Jr. vs. John Hall; Joey Gladstone vs. Marc Ingwersen; Eddie Krawiec vs. Matt Smith.

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Mike Salinas is late against Clay Millican to kick off round two of Top Fuel and pays for it as Millican, winner two weeks ago in St. Louis, runs his streak to six straight rounds on a 3.70 to 3.66 holeshot. Millican climbs to sixth in points and can get as high as fourth place if he wins the event.

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Points leader Doug Kalitta smokes the tires against third-place Leah Pruett. It’s Kalitta’s second straight second-round loss after winning the first two races of the Countdown. Pruett will have semifinal lane choice over Millican in a rematch of the St. Louis final.

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Billy Torrence takes out fellow Texan Spencer Massey with a 3.71 to advance to the semifinals in his season debut and will face his son, Steve, in the final four after Steve drives around Antron Brown’s holeshot for the win. Steve will have lane choice and can take the points lead from Kalitta if he wins the event,, and the same goes for Pruett as her and Steve are on opposite sides of the ladder.

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Semifinal Top Fuel pairings (lane choice first): Steve Torrence vs. Billy Torrence; Leah Pruett vs. Clay Millican

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The upsets continue in Funny Car as Tim Wilkerson takes out points leader Bob Tasca III, who slows to a 3.92 and falls to the Scag driver’s strong 3.86. Robert Hight must suddenly feel better after his first-round loss but they’ll both be watching Matt Hagan’s progress.

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John Force and Cruz Pedregon square off for the 122nd time in their careers and Force adds to his lopsided total with a 3.84 to 3.88 win.

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For the fifth time since they tangled — literally — at the Winternationals, J.R. Todd will square off with John Force in the semifinals after a 3.92 win against Terry Haddock, They’re tied at 2-2 and both would love a round win to take advantage of the early downfall of the points leaders.

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Matt Hagan defeats Alex Laughlin, who bangs the blower and folds the body in half at the stripe. Hagan moves to within four points of Tasca’s lead. If he wins his semifinal clash with Tim Wilkerson, he’ll take the points lead. Wilkerson has lane choice by just .002-second.

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Semifinal Funny Car pairings (lane choice first): Tim Wilkerson vs. Matt Hagan; John Force vs. J.R. Todd

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“Now, I need a miracle,” said Greg Anderson as he faced the reality of his  quarterfinal loss to Aaron Stanfield. Anderson shouldered the blame for his loss as he ran a 6.488 but left season and lost to Stanfield’s 6.498. Aderson’s loss guarantees that Erica Enders will leave Dallas as the championship leader.

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The sole survivor for the elite team was Dallas Glenn, who kept his title hopes alive by defeating Camirie Caruso, 6.515 to 6.536. Glenn will now have the enviable task of taking out Troy Coughlin, who has had one of the quickest cars throughout the event.
 
Semifinal pairings: (lane choice first): Troy Coughlin Jr. vs. Dallas Glenn; Erica Enders vs. Aaron Stanfield.

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The marquee match of the second round featured title contenders Eddie Krawiec and Matt Smith. While it might a bit of a stretch to see either of them catching runaway leader Herrera, it remains an important round as far as the title is concerned. Krawiec won the match,6,73 to 6.58 to move to within two points of him for second place.

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Gaige Herrera does occasionally make a mistake, but for the most part, small miscues have not affected him this year. Herrera accidentally dislodged his handlebar kill switch before his round two race against Chris Bostick, but the Vance & Hines team was quick to rectify the problem and Herrera went on to post another 6.6-second run with a 6.656 after Bostick fouled.

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Semifinal pairings: (lane choice first): Eddie Krawiec vs. Joey Gladstone; Gaige Herra vs. Hector Arana Jr.

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Leah Pruett advances to her second straight final round by reversing the outcome of the St. Louis final over Clay Millican, who launched into a fair-sized wheelestand at halftrack. Pruett will take on 3.68 Steve Torrence in a final round that will give us a new points leader.

Steve beat his father by just .007-second after Billy left on him, leaving no doubt that there were no team orders at Camp Capco. Pruett will have lane choice doe to their respective semifinal winning times, 3.68 to 3.69.

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Hats off to Matt Hagan, who takes over the points lead from Bob Tasca III by beating Tim Wilkerson in the first half of the semifinals. His lead right now is just 16 points but he can boost it to more than a round if he wins the final.

John Force will be Hagan's final-round opponent but will have some work to do after hazing the tires, dropping cylinders, and backfiring the blower at the finish line. Hagan will have lane choice in Force’s 266th career final.

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Erica Enders will not only have a chance to extend her points lead in the Pro Stock final, she’ll also have a chance to make history. Advancing to her 79th career final, she can also pass Angelle Sampey as the sport’s winningest driver with her 47th victory. Enders easily won the semi’s with a 6.47, but most of the attention went to her opponent and teammate, Troy Coughlin Jr., who severely damaged an engine in a massive cloud of smoke. Enders will take on Dallas Glenn, who kept his title hopes alive by beating Aaron Stanfield with a 6.500 run.

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Vance & Hines teammates Gaige Herrera and Eddie Krawiec will battle for the Pro Stock Motorcycle title, but Krawiec understands that he’ll likely need a lot of good fortune in order to collect his long-awaited 50th NHRA Wally, Krawiec ran6.692 in his win against Joey Gladstone, but he’s going to need to find a few hundredths as Herrera continued to assault the record books with a 6.661 to stop Hector Arana Jr.

camping world series FINAL ROUND RESULTS: No Lone Star here: Enders, Pruett, Hagan, Herrera shine at Texas FallNationals

LUCAS OIL SERIES FINAL-ROUND RESULTS:

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Julie Nataas, 5.129, 279.76 def. Kirk Wolf, 9.048, 88.36.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.414, 271.12 def. Jim Whiteley, Camaro, 6.226, 163.75.

Competition Eliminator -- Jim Greenheck, Chevy Camaro, 7.163, 188.39 def. Shaun Vincent, Chevy S-10, 8.748, 118.66.

Super Stock -- Tyler Wudarczyk, Chevy Camaro, 10.367, 126.89 def. Victor Penrod, Chevy Camaro, Foul - Red Light.

Stock Eliminator -- Jerry Emmons, Chevy Camaro, 10.514, 113.36 def. Jimmy Hidalgo Jr., Pontiac GTO, 10.892, 107.05.

Super Comp -- Michael Holcombe, Dragster, 8.915, 173.22 def. Dave Long, Dragster, 8.924, 167.62.

Super Gas -- Trevor Larson, Chevy Corvette, 9.928, 161.38 def. Steve Collier, Chevy Vega, 9.941, 160.59.

Super Street -- Donnie Durenberger, Chevy Nova, 10.920, 146.44 def. Mark McCall, Pontiac Trans Am, 10.903, 144.76.

Top Sportsman -- Curt Fredrich, Chevy Camaro, 6.523, 211.08 def. David Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.113, 232.20.

Top Dragster -- Holden Laris, Dragster, 6.103, 205.62 def. Dane Ward, Dragster, Foul - Red Light.

Factory Stock Showdown -- Lenny Lottig, Chevy Camaro, 7.628, 172.42 def. Doug Hamp, Camaro, 13.736, 77.99.