NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Shawn Langdon, denied in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge on Saturday, chalked up a first-round victory over Antron Brown, the last man to sweep the Western Swing (2009). Brown’s Matco Tools dragster had the parachute deploy at halftrack, slowing his effort.

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The John Force Racing intermural clash went to Brittany Force, representing the event sponsor Flav-R-Pac, who set new low e.t. with a 3.707 while Austin Prock ran the second quickest e.t. of the weekend in in a 3.73 losing cause. Force, who reset the track speed record to 334.73 on the pass, now owns a 2-1 advantage over her teammate this season.

"Our game plan was to turn things around," said Force. "We found a lot of air in the car last night, so we diagnosed everything, re-evaluated. We had a whole new game plan coming in today. It was going to be iffy, because we didn't have much to work with. But we needed that run for this flav-r-pac team, and just very excited about the run. We got beat last weekend early, so it feels good we're going to the next round today."

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On Saturday, Top Fuel low qualifier Mike Salinas, who had a bye due to the short field, told his team, which has been in test mode all season, “Guys, it's time to open up a can and let's go and see what we can do. We've been trying to let you do everything you want. Now it's time. There is no tomorrow. Because if we don't start now, and get our momentum going, we're not going to do too well.”

They responded by tuning him to his second No. 1 of the season and then a solid 3.76 on his solo pass to give him second-round lane choice over Langdon.

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Points leader Justin Ashley put another 20 points in the bank, bouncing back from a first-round loss last weekend in Denver to defeat defending event champ Tony Schumacher. Ashley clocked a solid 3.73 to earn second-round lane choice.

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Local favorite Ron Smith, making his per-usual lone appearance of the season, had a tough draw in Doug Kalitta in round one, and the Renton, Wash., racer was never really in the race as Kalitta roared to his best pass of the weekend with a 3.75.

Kalitta’s reward is a much-appreciated second-round bye to the semifinals due to the 13-car field.

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Saturday’s Mission Challenge winner Steve Torrence turned on another win light in a tough battle with Josh Hart, clocking a 3.73 to edge Hart’s 3.75.

It hasn’t been a great season so far for Torrence, but he never looks in the rear-view mirror and only admiringly at his Capco team.

"I'm not one of the guys that looks back on what we've accomplished," he said. "I look back and think you're only as good as your last pass. And I hadn't been that good. So we're thankful for all the partners that have stood behind us, but I've got the best team. I'll put my team toe-to-toe with any team in the history of the sport because we've done more and accomplished more in a shorter timeframe than anybody. And you got to remember that and you got to stand with the guys. You've gotta dance with the girl you brought to the dance. And that's what we're doing."

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Denver winner Clay Millican kept alive his hopes for a Western Swing sweep by defeating Norwalk champ Leah Pruett in a clash between the tour’s two most recent winners. Millican won 3.763 to 3.765, but the finish wasn’t that close as Millican got a substantial holeshot.

Millican’s season has been a real checkerboard. If he makes it past the first round, he wins the race, as he did in both Chicago and Denver.

Pruett’s loss probably won’t hurt her much as the third-place driver can only lose one position, to fourth-place Brittany Force if she wins in round two, as fifth- and sixth-ranked Austin Prock and Antron Brown also exited early.

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Second-round Top Fuel pairings (lane choice first): Mike Salinas vs. Shawn Langdon; Brittany Force vs. Steve Torrence; Doug Kalitta vs. bye; Justin Ashley vs. Clay Millican

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Cruz Pedregon, who hasn’t been to the final in Seattle since 2004, took a big step by getting past tire-hazing Robert Hight to kick off round one of Funny Car.

Pedregon actually came close to sweeping the Western Swing in 2015, winning in Denver and Sonoma and reaching the semifinals in Seattle before losing to eventual event champ Tommy Johnson Jr.

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Ron Capps, who scored his first of 74 career wins in Top Fuel in Seattle in 1995, got a fortunate break in his battle with Jeff Diehl. Diehl smoked the tires immediately and Capps broke traction downtrack and had to whomp the throttle to a 4.48 that most times would have been a first-round loser.

"I was a crew member most of my life before I got a chance to drive these," said Capps. "Jeff Diehl and I used to work on different alcohol dragsters in Division 7, so we hung out as crew guys. So you never know, lane choice could be a factor, but guys like that are the runs I used to root for as a kid, the big underdogs. You wanted to see them overstep these big guys. Now that we are the big guys, you have to be on your toes. I thought I heard them yakking on me on the radio to shut it off, but I didn't have to worry about Jeff Diehl coming around me."

With points leader Matt Hagan losing later in the round, Capps can take the points lead with a second-round win.

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John Force, who stole the pole Saturday night with a 3.91, certainly didn’t take it easy on his first-round solo, meting out a 3.92.

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Bob Tasca III missed pre-race introductions as he and his team battled a reported clutch-controller problem in the pits, and whether or not it played a hand in his 4.14 to 4.32 loss to Norwalk champ Blake Alexander is tough to say as both cars ran into issues downtrack.

Alexander will get a second-round bye due to the 13-car field.

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Some real drama prior to the J.R. Todd vs. Alex Laughlin duel as Todd’s DHL team was apparently having problems with its remote starter and then, crazily enough, the same issue with their backup starter. Matt Hagan’s Dodge team quickly wheeled their unit into place to assist Todd’s team.

Meanwhile, in the other lane, Laughlin’s Havoline/Jim Dunn entry couldn’t stage under its own power, and Todd soloed to a 3.90 win.

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Points leader Matt Hagan was not exactly the picture of confidence prior to round one, acknowledging that his Denver-winning Charger was struggling all weekend and, while he wasn’t ruling out a win, he didn’t seem hopeful, and that came to fruition as Tim Wilkerson took him down easily, 3.92 to 5.06.

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Fifth-place Chad Green continued his breakthrough season by defeating Alexis DeJoria in round one, and with losses by Hagan (first), DeJoria (third), and Robert Hight (fourth), he’s got a real chance to make up some ground. If he were to win the race, he could get as high as third.

“We are really bummed we didn’t get that first-round win,” said DeJoria. “We both left at about the same time and had a good 60-foot; left hard, and then down track the pan pressure got a little high and we ended up smoking the tires. I had to lift, it got a little squirrely, and then I saw Chad go by me and that was it.”

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Second-round Funny Car pairings (lane choice first): John Force vs. Chad Green; J.R. Todd vs. Cruz Pedregon; Blake Alexander vs. bye; Tim Wilkerson vs. Ron Capps

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Angie Smith, who made Pro Stock Motorcycle’s first 200-mph run at Pacific Raceways during qualifying, also got the first PSM win light when Chris Bostick went -.004 red against her in round one. She powered to a 6.84 and almost another 200 at 199.58 mph.

Angie will race her husband, Matt, in round two after the reigning world champ sped to a 6.78 to run away from Marc Ingwersen.

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Rookie order Chase Van Sant continues to impress aboard his Trick Tools entry, leaving with a .021 light against Jianna Evaristo and racing to a 6.79, his best pass of the meet. 

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Steve Johnson was well on his way to beating Kelly Clontz in their showdown until his Suzuki didn’t shift into high gear. Clontz, always ready to pounce on an opponent’s misfortune, squeezed by with a solid 6.84.

It’s just the second round-win this season for Clontz -- who turned on her first win light by winning her opening quad at the four-wide event in Charlotte earlier this year -- and the sixth of her career.

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Hector Arana Jr., the first Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to eclipse the 200-mph barrier, became the second to do it in Seattle and took top speed away from Angie Smith with a 200.58-mph blast at 6.83 to ride around Karen Stoffer’s impressive .003 light.

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You could have almost predicted it, but Lance Bonham red-lighted against low qualifier Gaige Herrera, who motored away to new low e.t. of the meet, 6.729, as the Denver winner seeks to become the first PSM rider to sweep the Western Swing, and a second-round bye for the 14-bike field won’t hurt that effort at all.

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Second-round Pro Stock Motorcycle pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. bye; Hector Arana Jr. vs. Kelly Clontz; Chase Van Sant vs. Eddie Krawiec; Matt Smith vs. Angie Smith

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After a semifinal finish in Denver, Shawn Langdon is back in the final four after defeating low qualifier Mike Salinas, who broke traction several hundred feet downtrack. Langdon, runner-up earlier this year in Phoenix, is looking for his first win since the 2022 Bristol event.

“We went up there with the thought of running a smooth, clean, fast run,” said Salinas. “We have the bottom end of the track real good and we’re trying to ease into the top part and the track just wouldn’t hold what we were trying to give it, that’s all. I got him (Langdon) on the light and had him to a certain spot. We were ahead of him and the car started breaking loose so I had to lift and he went by.”

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After powering to low e.t. in round one, Brittany Force’s Flav-R-Pac dragster inexplicably smoked the tires at the hit in round two against Steve Torrence, who continues to look for a double up after winning Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge.

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With a bye run in his favor, Doug Kalitta’s Mac Tools team tried to put some more power to the racetrack heading into the semifinals but smoked the tires at midtrack and coasted to a 4.97.

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Points leader Justin Ashley hazed the tires at midtrack and lost the round to Clay Millican. If Torrence goes on to win the event, he’ll take the points lead away from Ashley, who has held the No. 1 spot since his Epping win. Millican will have semifinal lane choice over Kalitta as he continues his quest to become the sixth Top Fuel driver to sweep the Western Swing.

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Top Fuel semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Steve Torrence vs. Shawn Langdon; Clay Millican vs. Doug Kalitta

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Like Doug Kalitta in Top Fuel, Blake Alexander had a bye run in round two and it’s a good thing as his Pronto Service entry broke traction 300 feet into the run and coasted to a 5.04. He’ll take on Tim Wilkerson in the semifinals.

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Ron Capps got away with smoking the tires in round one when Jeff Diehl had worse issues, but that didn’t work against Tim Wilkerson, who raced to a 4.00 to reach the semifinals for the first time since his win in Chicago. Wilk had only won one round in the last four races since that win.

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Chad Green, who had just 10 round-wins in 28 events prior to this season, collected victory No. 16 this season by taking out low qualifier John Force. It’s Green's seventh semifinal berth in the season’s first 11 races.

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J.R. Todd’s team is taking full advantage of their first-round reprieve and has again reached the semifinals with the DHL Toyota, getting past Cruz Pedregon with a strong 3.96 that will earn them semifinal lane choice over Chad Green.

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Funny Car semifinal pairings (lane choice first): J.R. Todd vs. Chad Green; Tim Wilkerson vs. Blake Alexander

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Hector Arana Jr. is in the semifinals for the fifth straight event as the Norwalk champ rode away from Kelly Clontz’s Cinderella bid. He’ll take on Gaiges Herrera in round two.

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After three straight second-round losses, Eddie Krawiec is back in the semifinals with the Vance & Hines/Mission Suzuki after taking down rookie Chase Van Sant on a 6.82 to 6.86 decision. Matt Smith defeated wife Angie in their first matchup of the season, racing to a 6.81 to beat Angie’s 6.86 and earn semifinal lane choice over Krawiec.

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Word comes down that the Vance & Hines team had to change engines on Gaige Herrera’s bike after it got winged in round one, but you wouldn’t know it by the performance as Herrera raced to a 6.78 on his bye run.

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Pro Stock Motorcycle semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Hector Arana Jr.; Matt Smith vs. Eddie Krawiec

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In a rematch of the Mile-High Nationals final. Clay Millican leaves early and red-lights, giving Doug Kalitta another shot at his 50th career win that Millican denied him in Denver. If Kalitta wins the race, he’ll also move up to fifth place in the standings, up three spots from where he started the weekend.

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A first-time season winner was already guaranteed with Kalitta waiting for either Steve Torrence or Shawn Langdon, and it was Mission Challenge winner Torrence winning a tire-hazing battle with Langdon, 4.01 to 4.07. If Torrence, winless since St. Louis last season, wins the final, he'll take over the points lead from Justin Ashley by four points.

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Top Fuel final matchup (lane choice first): Doug Kalitta vs. Steve Torrence

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Tim Wilkerson, who won this event three straight years (2009-11) will get the shot at another Washington win after defeating Blake Alexander in a tight 4.00 to 4.06 battle. Wilkerson has already moved past John Force into seventh place and, with a win, would tie Bob Tasca III for sixth place.

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J.R. Todd will also get his shot at a first season win after he beat Chad Green on a holeshot. 3.98 to 3.97. It’s Todd’s first final round since Gainesville earlier this season, and he's looking for his first event win since the 2021 Gatornationals.

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Funny Car final-round matchup (lane choice first): J.R. Todd vs. Tim Wilkerson

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Gremlins continue to haunt Matt Smith as the world champ’s Suzuki won’t fire for his semifinal battle with Eddie Krawiec, who will be racing in his first final round and looking for his milestone 50th win. Krawiec has not won since the 2021 U.S. Nationals.

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Gaige Herrera, the last racer with a chance to sweep the Western Swing, kept those hopes alive by outrunning Hector Arana Jr. in their semifinal battle, 6.82 to 6.85. No bike rider has even swept the Swing. It will be an all-Vance & Hines final with Herrera against Krawiec for the first Pro Stock Motorcycle Wally ever handed out at the Northwest Nationals.

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Pro Stock Motorcycle final-round matchup (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Eddie Krawiec.

FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

LUCAS OIL SPORTSMAN FINAL ROUNDS

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Jackie Fricke, 5.270, 276.13 def. Joey Severance, 8.312, 100.31. 

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.475, 268.60 def. Annie Whiteley, Camaro, 7.379, 137.62. 

Competition Eliminator -- Joseph Arrowsmith, Pontiac GTO, 9.164, 108.77 def. Cody Lane, Chevy Cavalier, Foul - Red Light. 

Super Stock -- Rick McKinney, Chevy Camaro, 10.582, 122.50 def. Don Thomas, Pontiac Gran Am, 10.135, 131.88. 

Stock Eliminator -- Justin Lamb, Chevy Camaro, 9.814, 127.35 def. Greg Kielman, Camaro, 11.676, 111.15. 

Super Comp -- Garrett Sides, Dragster, 8.912, 181.23 def. Dylan Hough, Dragster, 8.888, 182.03. 

Super Gas -- Paul Nero, Chevy Corvette, 9.932, 162.45 def. Lindsey Larson, Chevy Corvette, 9.968, 167.05. 

Super Street -- Brian McGinnis, Chevy, 10.951, 126.79 def. Dustin Ward, Dodge Dart, 10.971, 125.19. 

Top Dragster -- Thomas Bayer, Dragster, 6.148, 231.40 def. Dylan Hough, Dragster, 6.796, 195.90. 

Top Sportsman -- Mike Ferderer, Pontiac Grand Am, 7.119, 193.85 def. Bryan Warr, Chevy Camaro, 6.775, 199.94.