NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Shawn Langdon kept an interesting streak alive, his first-round race being decided by reaction time in each of the season’s first three races. In Gainesville, he lost on a 3.706 to 3.704 holeshot to Antron Brown, a favor he returned in Phoenix when he beat AB on a holeshot, 3.716 to 3.702.

In Pomona, Langdon’s DHL machine got the drop on the class’ all-time winner, Tony Schumacher, and took the win light on a 3.740 to 3.738 holeshot.

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Antron Brown reset low e.t. in his first-round victory over tire-smoking Doug Kalitta. Brown’s Matco dragster ran 3.73 and 3.75 in qualifying but picked up a ton in Sunday’s cool air with a 3.690.

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Brittany Force matched Brown's number in the very next pair, a 3.690 at top speed of the meet, 334.98, to give her honors. Force was on a solo after Ron August Jr. had fuel-system problems that wouldn't;t allow his drgaster to stay lit,

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With a second-bye run as a reward on the 14-car ladder, low qualifier, NHRA Arizona Nationals winner, and Saturday's winner of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Justin Ashley extended his "win streak" to seven rounds with a 3.71 against tire-smoking Krista Baldwin., 

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Speaking of winning streaks, Austin Prock, who won the season finale here in Pomona last November, racked up his fifth straight SoCal win light with a 3,73 from his Montana Brands dragster after Mission Challenge runner-up Leah Pruett lost traction early in her run. Pruett's loss was painful as she entered round one second place in points and dropped to fourth by the end of the frame.

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Clay Millican looked to have a sure win in the bag against Mike Salinas with a strong early lead before his Parts Plug dragster lost traction, Millican pedaled it, but the supercharger backfired, allowing Salinas' off-pace 3.89 to take the win light.

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Four-time world champ Steve Torrence eked out a first-round win over Josh Hart by just .002-second after art grabbed a big holeshot with a .027 light but his 3.75 couldn't;t hold off the Capco Contractors machine's 3.71.

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Second-round Top Fuel matchups (lane choice first): Justin Ashley vs. bye; Antron Brown vs. Mike Salinas; Brittany Force vs. Shawn Langdon; Steve Torrence vs. Austin Prock

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Bob Tasca III was vulnerable in his first-round race, the car losing traction downtrack, but he was able to pedal and ease to a 4.21 victory after local runner Jason Rupert smoked the tires at the green.

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Low qualifier Cruz Pedregon and John Force staged up for the 119th time against one another and this one was lopsided as "the Cruzer" cruised to a solid 3.88 after Force smoked the tires early. Both drivers had tumultuous Saturdays, but Pedregon, who won the season finale here last year, and crew chief John Collins look to have righted his ship.

"We're just trying to go down the track. the track has changed today since qualifying and we're trying to figure out how to apply the power," said Pedregon. "This car would run 3.80 every run if we let it."

Over the last 200 races dating back to 2014, the No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car has won more than one-fifth (21.0%) of the events.

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Terry Haddock pulled off a big upset, taking down NHRA Arizona Nationals winner and points leader Robert Hight for what was just Haddock's 13th career round win in 148 raceday starts and 322 races.

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J.R. Todd, whose DHL Toyota was heavily damaged in a Saturday accident with John Force, lost another Supra body in round one with a huge blower backfire while on his way to an easy win against Alex Laughlin. Laughlin snuck by for the win with a 4.06 to Todd's body-shredding 4.15.

"Nowadays, the way we run these things, as soon as it spins the tires, you have to get off of the throttle, and I was too late doing that," said Todd. "It's been a bad weekend, I just feel bad for my guys because they've been working so hard and everything they had to go through yesterday. Two chassis, two bodies ... I'm at a loss for words."

The victory was the first of Laughlin's three-race-old Funny Car career and his 4.06 will actually give him second-round lane choice against Bob Tasca III.

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Saturday's Mission challenge winner Chad Green lost a tough loss against mentor Tim wilekrson after the crew of Green's Bond Coat Mustang forgot to remove the throttle stop after the burnout. Wilk mowed his Scag Power Equipment Ford to an easy 3.97 win against the car tuned by his son, Daniel.

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Second-round Funny Car matchups (lane choice first): Cruz Pedregon vs. Ron Capps; Alex Laughlin vs. Bob Tasca III; Matt Hagan vs. Alexis DeJoria; Tim Wilkerson vs. Terry Haddock

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Gatornationals Pro Stock champ Troy Coughlin jr. and first-round opponent Kyle Koretsky ran identical 6.550 passes in their first-round race which was decided on the starting line by Coughlin’s .031 to .041 holeshot.

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Five-time and reigning world champ Erica Enders finally got her first win light of the season after two tough outings. Enders, the defending Winternationals champ, powered to a 6.54 to defeat her Elite teammate, Arizona Nationals low qualifier Cristian Cuadra.

The victory over Cuadra tied the two in points at 128 for 10th place in the standings,

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Cuadra’s brother, Fernando Jr., advanced to the second round for the second straight event, getting a freebie after the class’ winningest driver, Greg Anderson, rolled the beams and drew a -.050 red-light foul.

“I put it on the wood and she just kept rolling," said Anderson, “We’ve got a problem there that we have to figure out. It did it last night to a minor degree, so I gave it extra line-loc pressure this morning, but it just laughed at it and rolled right through. It’s one of those things and we’ll have to figure it out before we get to the next race.”

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Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge winner Matt Hartford turned on his third straight win light to the weekend and notched low e.t. of eliminations, a 6.532 in defeating Deric Kramer.

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Camrie Caruso, who took over the Pro Stock points lead thanks to her No. 1 qualifying effort, added another notch to her young belt as the Arizona Nationals winner defeated Steve Graham.

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Second-round Pro Stock matchups (lane choice first): Camrie Caruso vs. Troy Coughlin Jr.; Matt Hartford vs. Erica Enders; Dallas Glenn vs. Bo Butner; Aaron Stanfield vs. Fernando Cuadra Jr.

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Justin Ashley and crew chiefs Mike Green and Tommy DeLago certainly didn’t take it easy on their second-round bye running, running a second straight 3.71 in the Phillips Connect dragster. Ashley's win propelled him into the points lead

He’ll have semifinal lane choice over Antron Brown, who ran 3.73 to trailer Mike Salinas’ 3.76.

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Reigning Top Fuel world champ Brittany Force has reached her first semifinal of the season after back-to-back second-round losses at the season’s first two events. Force’s David Grubnic-tuned Flav-R-Pac dragster powered to a 3.72 to beat Shawn Langdon’s 3.74.

She’ll have semifinal lane choice over teammate Austin Prock, who advanced with a 3.82 after Steve Torrence began to lose traction at midtrack.

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Semifinal Top Fuel pairings (lane choice first): Justin Ashley vs. Antron Brown; Brittany Force vs. Austin Prock

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Terry Haddock pulled off another big upset in Funny Car, running a steady 4.05 to send Tim Wilkerson packing, it’s only haddock’s second career semifinal appearance – his first coming in Epping in 2021 – and qualifies Haddock for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, which will take place at the Chicago event.

Haddock, the No. 14 qualifier faces some long odds. In the last 200 Funny Car races, the No. 14 qualifier has won only once, when Jack Beckman did it in Brainerd in 2018.

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In a rematch of their final-round race at last year’s season finale, Ron Capps reversed the outcome against low qualifier Cruz Pedregon, who got loose and crossed the centerline. Bob Tasca III matched Capps' 3.997 pass, but Capps' faster speed, 324.44 to 321.88, will give Capps lane choice,

After watching Pedregon get loose in the left lane, Matt Hagan, sitting behind him with lane choice, switched to the right lane and blasted to a 3.95, which will give him lane choice over Haddock.

With their wins and Robert Hight's first-round loss, both Hagan and Capps moved past him in the standings.

Semifinal Funny Carpairings (lane choice first): Ron Capps vs. Bob Tasca III; <att Hagan vs. Terry Haddock

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The winners of the season’s first two events, Troy Coughlin Jr. and Camrie Caruso, squared off with a semifinal berth in the offing, and Caruso scored the win via holeshot. Her .017 light was quicker than his .037, allowing her 6,576 to eke past him 6.566. The duo were 1-2 in points and Caruso extended her points lead with the win.

Caruso will cede the semifinal lane choice to Dallas Glenn, who meted out a 6.547 against Bo Butner, who shook hard and had to lift.

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Mission Challenge winner Matt Hartford kept his roll going with another win, defeating world champ Erica Enders with a 6.545.

Aaron Stanfield will be in the other lane for a semifinal that includes the Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 qualifiers. Stanfield, the No. 3 driver, advanced to the semifinals with a 6.57 win against Fernando Cuadra Jr.

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Pro Stock semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Dallas Glenn vs. Camrie Caruso; Matt Hartford vs. Aaron Stanfield

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Austin Prock ran his record against teammate Brittany Force to a perfect 4-0 in head-to-head Pomona matchups and his win streak at this track to seven straight rounds with a 3.73 after Force puffed the tires early. It will be Prock’s seventh career Top Fuel final, his fourth straight in Pomona, and his first of the year.

Prock will have lane choice against low qualifier and defending event champ Justin Ashley in a rematch of last year’s final. Ashley eked out the win by just .008-second against Antron brown, leaving first by .002 and outrunning Brown, 3.743 to 3.749.

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Ron Capps, runner-up last weekend in Phoenix, will get another shot at his 74th career win after racing to a 3.98 to defeat cylinder-dropping Bob Tasca III. Capps will be appearing in his 142nd career final.

Matt Hagan and the Haas Automation/Tony Stewart Racing Dodge will have final-round lane choice over Capps after smoking it to a 3.95 to end Terry Haddock’s Cinderella day. The final-round appearance will be the 81st of Hagan's career.

Hagan and Capps are separated by just six points in the standings and the winner of the final will leave as the points leader.

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“Double-oh Dallas” Glenn lived up to his well-earned nickname with a .002 reaction time against low qualifier Camrie Caruso, then outran her, 6.573 to 6.574 to reach the final, the ninth of his career and his first of the season.

After an intense staging burndown, Matt Hartford raced around Aaron Stanfield’s holeshot start to take the win, 6.55 to 6.58, to earn lane choice in the 13th final round of his career.

FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

It's a double-double for Ashley in Top Fuel; Hagan, Glenn also score Pomona wins

LUCAS OIL SERIES FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Joey Severance, 5.255, 272.23 def. Shawn Cowie, 14.374, 61.30. 

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.442, 268.22 def. Shane Westerfield, Camaro, 5.453, 265.64. 

Competition Eliminator -- Andrew Moeck, Pontiac GTO, 6.357, 220.76 def. Scott McClay, Dragster, 7.186, 183.12. 

Super Stock -- Anthony Bertozzi, Pontiac Grand Am, 8.983, 140.93 def. Len Schneider, Ford Thunderbird, 10.058, 131.32. 

Stock Eliminator -- Kyle Rizzoli, Chevy Camaro, 10.265, 120.51 def. Brian McClanahan, Camaro, 9.951, 133.18. 

Super Gas -- Marko Perivolaris, Checvy Camaro, 9.914, 168.35 def. Val Torres, Chevy Corvette, 9.921, 157.59. 

Super Comp -- Jessica Bogacki, Dragster, 8.928, 172.45 def. Logan Warr, Dragster, 8.928, 172.01. 

Top Sportsman -- Chris Newman, Chevy Camaro, 6.653, 208.62 def. Lance Abbott, Chevy S-10, 6.927, 196.04. 

Top Dragster -- Anthony Bertozzi, Dragster, 6.664, 181.96 def. Andy Spiegel, Dragster, 6.427, 201.52. 

Legends Nostalgia Funny Car presented by Modern Warriors -- Cory McClenathan, Pontiac Firebird, 4.868, 232.87 def. Tim Boychuk, Chevy Camaro, 4.895, 202.97.