NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

News and Notes from final eliminations day at the Texas NHRA FallNationals. Notes, quotes, photos, videos, and more!

UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

josh Hart scored a fortunate round-one win as he continues his pursuit of the rookie of the year crown. Facing Leah Pruett, his parachute deployed at halftrack but, fortunately for him, the engine in her DSR Performance dragster went silent about the same time.

The remarkable thing is that Hart’s R&L Carriers dragster still went 3.75 towing the ‘chutes through the lights, but he’ll give up second-round lane choice to Mike Salinas, who ran 3.72 in beating Krista Baldwin.

***

First-round losses by Leah Pruett, Antron Brown, and Shawn Langdon – Nos. 6, 7, and 8 in points – widened the gap between the top five and the rest of the field as that top five – Steve Torrence, Brittany Force, Mike Salinas, Billy Torrence, and Justin Ashley – all advanced.

Tenth-place Doug Kalitta beat Brown in a crazy race in which both engines dropped cylinders and both cars lost traction as the drivers fought for control to the stripe, where Kalitta won, 4.50 to 4.55.

***

John Force beat Alexis DeJoria on a holeshot, 3.916 to 3.893, in round one of Funny Car by just .007-second to collect some important points, and he was quick to admit that deep-staging probably got him the win.

“I never try to kid anybody at my age. I know that [Del] Worsham can put her right down that racetrack, so I rolled it [in deep] to beat her. Just getting those couple of inches because we were neck and neck in the lights.”

The downside of a deep stage is that it costs you e.t., and Force will cede lane choice to Cruz Pedregon in round two after "the Cruzer" posted a 3.898 in defeating Terry Haddock.

***

With just two round wins in the first three races of the Countdown, Robert Hight in seventh place, 148 points out of the lead, but qualifying No. 1 here gave him a mental boost after double-stepping the throttle in round one in St. Louis two weeks ago.

“We've dug ourselves a hole, and we've got to win from here on out if we want a chance to win a fourth championship,” he admitted. “We've had some performance, but no consistency. I screwed it up in St. Louis. Jimmy and Chris have not forgot how to race. 

“I'm not looking at it as pressure, I'm looking at it is a challenge. It’s gonna be fun. We're gonna have to throw down every run. There's only 16 more runs in eliminations the rest of the year, so I'll predict right now, if we can win 12 of those we’re the champs.”

He got one of those 12 in round one, beating Jeff Arend with a 3.95.

***

With only eight winners advancing from round one, it was obvious that at least two Top 10 Funny Car drivers would take it on the chin, and that turned out to be No. 8 Tim Wilkerson, who lost a Top 10 vs Top 10 battle with fifth-place J.R. Todd, as well ninth-place DeJoria, who fell to Force, and 10th-ranked Blake Alexander, who was upset by Paul Lee.

***

J.R. Todd’s first-round run, a 3.867, was low e.t. of the meet, not bad for a team that had to bring out a new car after the car brushed the left wall during Friday night qualifying.

That was a big morale boost; it’s been up in our pit this weekend,” said Todd. “It’s just me struggling driving -- it’s still going left on me – but that was a helluva run by Todd Smith, Jon O., and the Yella Fellas.”

Wilkerson’s 3.886 would have beaten every other winning driver out there except Bob Tasca III’s 3.84.

***

By earning six qualifying session bonus points and qualifying No. 1, Greg Anderson increased his lead over Erica Enders from 17 points to 21 points, or more than a round of racing. There’s still a lot of racing to go, but Anderson covets those so-called “little points.”

“Those ‘little’ points make a difference at the end of the year,” he said. “If you go out and qualify and you earn those little points, you beat your chest, you feel great, but you realize how easy that is to lose a round on the starting line on Sunday, so it's an advantage. Anybody can beat anybody, anybody who lets the clutch off the clutch first on Sunday can win the race because everybody's that close, so I'd rather have that much of an advantage than not have it.”

***

For the first time in four tries this season, Chris McGaha beat his son, mason. The old man was ready for the kid, cutting a .011 light and then driving to a .6.65 to 6.66 win. As the result of a pre-race bet, that means Mason has to drive the rig home (fortunately it’s a short trip to Odessa, about five hours).

Mason’s loss allowed his dad to switch places with him in the standings – seventh and eighth – and he could lose another spot if Matt Hartford can beat Greg Anderson in round two.

***

Kyle Koretsky came into eliminations in third place but suffered a devastating first-round loss to Troy Coughlin Jr., allowing Dallas Glenn to pass him for third. Koretsky could fall even further, as he's now in the sights of Aaron Stanfield, who also advanced to round two.

***

There’s no doubt that Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader and low qualifier Steve Johnson is on a tear, and it’s not just the performance of his Suzuki that’s doing it, he’s also riding well … er, I mean, “driving” well, as he’ll be the first one to admonish you.

“There's a big difference between driving a Pro Stock Motorcycle and riding one,” he asserted. “It’s two different stories. You ride a bull, you drive a Pro Stock Motorcycle. Oh sure, you can ride a motorcycle, like a big ol’ Harley going down the highway, but when you ride a Pro Stock Bike you go into the wall, you don't throw your body forward on the launch, you miss shift points. You might as well be in the backseat. So, when you drive, you're in control, you're proactive, and I feel like we did a good job this weekend.”

Johnson drove it well in round one, too, beating Jianna Salinas with a 6.840 that was low e.t. of the round until Matt Smith bashed out a 6.79 on a bye run when Michael Ray was a no-show.

***

For the first time in the last 12 races, Angie Smith beat Eddie Krawiec and handed the multi-time world champ a huge setback. Smith's Denso EBR ran 6.93 while Krawiec's bike bogged badly. Krawiec was the only Top 5 rider to lose in the opening stanza but the damage may be limited from behind. Only Scotty Pollacheck can pass him for fourth place and would need to reach the final to do that, but Krawiec's chance of catching the top three -- Steve Johnson, Angelle Sampey, and Matt Smith took a hard hit.

***

Justin Ashley scored a huge round-two win in Top Fuel, defeating Billy Torrence on a 3.75 to 3.749 holeshot to take over fourth place from the senior Torrence. Ashley was .030 on the Tree to Torrence’s .091. Things got even better for Ashley a few pair later when Josh Hart defeated No. 3 points man, Mike Salinas, allowing Ashley to climb into third place.

Ashley can climb no further in the standings,  even if he wins the race. Here's the current points:

Steve Torrence: 2453
Brittany Force: 2421
Justin Ashley: 2312

***

John Force Racing went 0-for-2 in the right lane in the second round of Funny Car as third-ranked John Force got loose and moved to the centerline to lose to Cruz Pedregon and low qualifier Robert Hight went up in smoke early and couldn’t chase down J.R. Todd, who lost traction further downtrack.

By beating Force, Pedregon moved past him into third place and Todd could drop him to fifth if he wins in the semifinals.

Current points standings:
Matt Hagan: 2429
Ron Capps: 2376
Cruz Pedregon: 2336
John Force: 2334 (out)
J.R. Todd: 2315

***

The Pro Stock standings got another shakeup in round two when Aaron Stanfield beat second-place Erica Enders on a holeshot, 6.67 to 6.65 after a .006 reaction time.

After points leader Greg Anderson beat tire-shaking Matt Hartford, Chris McGaha gave him even more breathing room when he upset No. 3 points man Dallas Glenn.

Current points standings:
Greg Anderson: 2480
Erica Enders: 2439 (out)
Dallas Glenn: 2337 (out)
Kyle Koretsky: 2334 (out)
Aaron Stanfield: 2304
Troy Coughlin Jr.: 2274

***

Angelle Sampey’s bid for a fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship took a dent when she lost to Angie Smith, then lost her second position to Matt Smith, who beat Chris Bostick. Points leader Steve Johnson advanced to the semifinals after besting Scotty Pollacheck.

Current points standings:
Steve Johnson: 2360
Matt Smith: 2328
Angelle Sampey: 2315  (out)

***

It’s not often that a Pro Mod gets sideways, then backwards, then takes flight that the driver is able to keep the car in one piece, but that’s what happened to Jeff Jones in round two when his Imperial Construction Corvette got loose against Chad Green. The back end of the car actually started to kite but then came down with Jones facing the wrong way. Jones was disqualified for crossing the centerline, but otherwise got off easy.

***

Justin Ashley did himself and points leader Steve Torrence a huge favor by beating second-place Brittany Force on a semifinal holeshot, 3.740 to 3.727 to reach his third final of the year. The margin of victory was a slim .007-second.

Torrence then added to his lead by stopping his new best buddy, rookie Josh Hart, in the other half of the semifinals, 3.76 to 3.79.

Ashley can’t catch Force for second, but can pull to within 70 points of second if he beats Torrence in the final.

Current points standings: 
Steve Torrence: 2473
Brittany Force: 2421
Justin Ashley: 2332

***

Matt Hagan is assured to leave the race with the points lead after both he and his second-place Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps advanced to the final round.

Capps defeated Cruz Pedregon on a holeshot, 3.92 to 3.90, while Hagan got a freebie after J.R. Todd double-stepped the throttle then smoked the tires in the DHL Toyota.

“Just a long light and a loss of focus,” Todd admitted. “We’ve got a tall mountain to climb after that.”

Current points standings:
Matt Hagan: 2469
Ron Capps: 2416
Cruz Pedregon: 2336 (out)    
John Force: 2334 (out)            
J.R. Todd: 2315 (out)    

***

The news just kept getting better for Pro Stock points leader Greg Anderson as fifth-place Aaron Stanfield was felled by Chris McGaha and Anderson went to the final after Troy Coughlin Jr. shook the tires.

McGaha’s win was especially notable as he was .013 on the tree after earlier lights of .011 and .005.

“We’ve been coming here since the place opened,” said McGaha. “We stunk it up for years so to even done what we’ve done today is special. It’s been two years since I’ve been to a final so I might not even remember how to do it.” 

McGaha's last final-round appearance was at the Norwalk event in 2019, where he certainly remembered how to win.

Current point standings:
Greg Anderson: 2500
Erica Enders: 2439 (out)
Kyle Koretsky: 2334 (out)            
Dallas Glenn: 2337 (out)        
Aaron Stanfield: 2304 (out)

***

Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Steve Johnson was unable to get his Suzuki started to face Hector Arana Jr. in the semifinals, opening the door for reigning world champ Matt Smith to retake the points lead.

Smith defeated his wife, Angie, in the other semifinal and would leave with an eight-point lead if he can beat Arana in the final.

Current points standings:
Steve Johnson: 2360    
Matt Smith: 2348

LUCAS OIL SERIES AND OTHER WINNERS

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Jackie Fricke, 5.204, 275.73 def. Matthew Cummings, 5.240, 271.79.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.517, 267.22 def. Brian Hough, Camaro, 5.562, 262.69.

Competition Eliminator -- Don Thomas, Dragster, 7.074, 178.19 def. Keith Mawhee, Chevy Cavalier, 7.777, 175.48.

Super Stock -- Jimmy Hidalgo Jr., Pontiac Firebird, 9.787, 135.69 def. Harvey Emmons III, Chevy Cavalier, 9.724, 129.87.

Stock Eliminator -- Brenda Grubbs, Chevy Camaro, 10.018, 131.52 def. Jerry Emmons, Camaro, 10.242, 128.59.

Super Comp -- Steve Evans, Dragster, 9.777, 146.65 def. Jeromy Hefler, Dragster, Broke - No Show.

Super Gas -- Austin Williams, Chevy Camaro, 9.937, 166.91 def. Jerry DeBusk, Ford Probe, 9.948, 164.83.

Super Street -- Scooter Wilkins, Chevy Nova, 10.945, 141.22 def. John Leibham, Chevy Camaro, 10.903, 150.90.

Top Sportsman presented by Vortech Superchargers -- Jimmy Lewis, Pontiac GXP, 6.529, 192.47 def. Darian Boesch, Chevy Camaro, 7.296, 183.52.

Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers -- Ross Laris, Dragster, 6.285, 183.64 def. Wayne Landry, Dragster, 6.397, 218.72.

Pro Modified -- Lyle Barnett, Chevy Camaro, 5.894, 251.20 def. Justin Bond, Camaro, 5.829, 244.65.

Top Fuel Harley -- Chris Smith, Weekend, 6.338, 221.63 def. David Larson, Harley, 12.460, 73.53.

    
CAMPING WORLD SERIES FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

Top Fuel: Justin Ashley upsets points leader Steve Torrence for second Top Fuel victory
Funny Car: Ron Capps scores points-crucial victory in dramatic Funny Car final in Dallas
Pro Stock: Perfect day for Greg Anderson: Pro Stock history and an expanded points lead
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Matt Smith retakes points lead with huge Pro Stock Motorcycle in Dallas