NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q1

Matt Smith dominated the opening session of Pro Stock Motorcycle, gapping the field by seven-hundredths with his Denso Buell. Smith’s 6.803 pass alongside points leader Gaige Herrera’s off-pace 6.901 was far and away ahead of the next-best pass, a 6.873 by Herrera’s RevZilla/Vance & Hines teammate, Ricky Gadson, who was runner-up last weekend in Reading.

“That’s the run we called back in the pits,” said a confident Smith, who cut Herrera’s lead from 17 to 14 points

Marc Ingwersen, who sat out the Seattle and Sonoma events to work on his machine, showed that the work has paid off as he ran 6.878 for the No. 3 position. John Hall sits fourth with a 6.881 as the last of the 6.8-second passes.

Last weekend’s winner, Hector Arana Jr., had to lift on his opening pass after his Buell began drifting toward the centerline. He’ll round out the 15-bike field.

Pro Stock Q1`

Erica Enders, still on the hunt for her 50th career win 14 events after grabbing No. 49 in Gainesville, leads the Pro Stock field after one session with a 6.566, just ahead of her teammate Aaron Stanfield’s 6.586.

Stanfield, the points leader, got two bonus points while second-place Dallas Glenn’s third-ranked 6.590 was worth one point, allowing Stanfield to add a point to his lead. It’s a not-too-comfortable 10 points.

Stanfield, whose previous best season was 2022 when he won three races and finished fourth in points, is having a breakout year. With 15 of 20 races contested and one of six races completed in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, Stanfield already has five wins in seven final-round appearances.

Eric Latino and Matt Hartford both ran 6.603, with Latino getting the No. 4 spot based on speed.

The bump spot is a not-representative 8.46 held by Camie Caruso.

Funny Car Q1

Bob Tasca III began his quest to cut the lead of class frontrunner and Reading winner Austin Prock in Q1 where his 3.895 finished No. 2 behind Matt Hagan’s 3.865. The run earned Tasca two points while Prock, who’s qualified No. 1 at 11 of 15 events this year, finished fourth with a 3.901 and no bonus points. Prock’s lead still stands at more than four rounds (84 points), but you gotta start somewhere.

Between Tasca in second and Prock in fourth sits Jack Beckman (3.896), earning points for injured John Force. It’s kind of been under the radar but between the nine races that Force ran before his accident and the three since “Fast Jack" took over, the Peak Camaro has been down the track 80% of all runs (qualifying and eliminations). Only Prock has a slightly better number. Coming into the event. the "Prock Rocket" had completed 80.5% of all runs this season (83 of 103); the next closest among full-season drivers is 59% by J.R. Todd (55 of 93)

Seven cars ran in the threes in Q1 with Ron Capps (3.910), Daniel Wilkerson( 3.963), and J.R. Todd (3.967) holding the balance of those time slips

Alexis DeJoria, whose fortunes have increased remarkably after considerable testing with the clutch, crossed the centerline on her pass, invalidating her pass and that of qualifying mate Blake Alexnder, who fortunately was already off the gas on his Brainerd-winning entry.

TOP FUEL Q1

Brittany Force, back in the HendrickCars.com livery in which she ran the four-wide race here earlier this year and coming into the weekend after a first-round loss last weekend, pounded out a 3.721 to take the early lead.

“We had a tough weekend in Reading that we had to come back from, and this is a good start,” she noted.

Shawn Reed and crew chief Rob Wendland bounced back from a disappointing DNQ last weekend in Reading with a 3.776 that assuredly will earn him a spot in this field.

The troubles continue for world champ Doug Kalitta, who dropped a cylinder and ran just 3.873. Kalitta, who stunningly failed to qualify at the U.S. Nationals then lost his points lead after a first-round exit in Reading, sits in the No. 14 spot.

Justin Ashley’s points lead over Antron Brown remains at one point as neither earned bonus points in Q1. Ashley’s 3.790 was eighth while Brown sits outside the field with a 4.24 pass.

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q2

First-session leader Matt Smith couldn’t improve on his earlier 6.803 with a 6/831 while points leader Gaige Herrera closed the gap with a 6.812 that earned him three points to Smith’s two and a nice recovery after bogging hard on the first pass. Crew chief Andrew Hines made a "craps table" guess on the clutch and it worked pretty well for Herrera.

Richard Gadson clocked a 6.836 to earn more bonus points and sits third.

Jianna Evaristo, whose 204.54-mph blast in Somona remains tied with Gaige Herrera’s similar run in Gainesville as the fastest speed of the year, improved from a 6.93 to a fine 6.850 that has her Scrappers machine in the No. 4 spot.

Reading winner Hector Arana Jr.’s woes continued as he could only run 9.97 after an earlier 9.92, keeping him in the No. 15 spot.

Pro Stock Q2

First-session Erica Enders improved on her earlier 6.566 with a 6.557 to extend her lead over the field and add another three points to her ledger. Her Elite teammate, points leader Aaron Stanfield, again was second-quick of the round with a 6.580 that was .006-second better than his opening lap.
 
Matt Hartford, who shelved his new GETTRX Camaro and went back to his old reliable 2023 machine, proved that wise move as he clocked a 6.590 for No. 4 (behind Dallas Glenn’s similar-but-faster run from Q1)  and opens up a whole slew of 6.59s passes led by Cristian Cuadra, the lone Cuadra in attendance this week after all four ran at the spring race here, who posted a nice 6.592.

Local hero Greg Anderson has had a struggling opening day with the HendrickCars.com Camaro with a pair of disappointing runs, but at least his second shot of 6.613 has him midpack after a tough 6.67 opener. He’s currently at a season-worst No. 10 spot; his previous worst was No. 8 in Richmond.

Class veteran Larry Morgan remains the lone non-qualifier with a 6.657 and Derrick Reese on the bump with a 6.644.

Funny Car Q2

Points leader Austin Prock appeared to reasserted himself after a Q1 pass that was just fourth for the opening session, rocketing to a 3.833 that took away the No. 1 spot from Matt Hagan’s 3.865 and teammate Jack Beckman followed right behind with a 3.850, but Hagan had the last laugh, clocking a 3.832 to edge Prock by .001-second.

That gives Hagan six bonus points on the day to Prock’s two, allowing him to make up some ground on the points leader.

Blake Alexander, who lost his opening pass when Alexis DeJoria took out the timing lights on her pass alongside him, rebounded with a 3.884 from tuner/owner Jim Head. Bob Tasca III and J.R. Todd were right behind him with matching 3.886s, but Tasca got the higher slot due to a faster speed, 332.92 to 329.02.

Chad Green made it nine drivers in the threes with a 3.904 which has him ranked seventh.

Top Fuel Q2

Reigning world champ Doug Kalitta had a get-better run of 3.710 that moved the Mac Tools dragster to the top of the field alongside points leader Justin Ashley’s 3.714, but it didn’t stick as Brittany Force regained her No. 1 spot late in the session with a 3.690 and Shawn Reed, in a massive turnaround from his Reading DNQ, posted a 3.700 for No. 2

Even though he didn’t stay No. 1, the relief on Kalitta’s face was palpable after the rough outings of the last two events.

“That was huge,” Kalitta said, breathing a sigh of relief. “This is the session to do it and you want to get qualified as well as you can, and it was a good confidence builder for us.”

Kalitta ended up third behind Force and Reed with Ashley fourth. Tony Schumacher made his best run since his season-opening 3.712 in Gainesville with a 3.714 that matched Ashley but slots fifth on speed.

After beginning the session outside the field, Reading winner Antron Brown fired off a 3.752 that qualified him but, based on the body language of crew chief Brian Corradi, they had much higher hopes. He’ll start Saturday in the No. 1 spot.

Cameron Ferre sat out Q1 but made an attempt in Jerry Freeman’s dragster but had to shut off early. Ferre makes it 18 drivers on the Top Fuel qualifying sheet.