NHRA Northwest Nationals Saturday preview
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Day two of the 2024 NHRA Northwest Nationals will set the final fields for Sunday’s final eliminations in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and also whittle down the competitors in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series as we head towards Sunday Raceday.,
It’s doubtful that the low qualifiers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle will change today, which will be much hotter than last night’s historic night session, which Top Fuel pole sitter Steve Torrence recognized as “the hero session.”
The four-time world champ made the best run in the class and will concentrate on Sunday tune-ups today as he looks for his first win since this event last year, an almost unprecedented drought for one of the class’ biggest winners.
Austin Prock is halfway to his eighth No. 1 in 11 starts this season after a sizzling 3.83 last night while Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also expected to hold onto the pole positions they grabbed Friday.
Today’s two Pro qualifying sessions will also play host to the 10th Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, which pits the semifinals from the last race – in this case, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals – in a series of rematches for bonus points and cash.
In Top Fuel, Norwalk winner Antron Brown will take on Justin Ashley, the most successful racer in the program’s short history, while points leader Doug Kalitta will take on Torrence.
In Funny Car, Norwalk winner Bob Tasca III will have a tough draw in Prock while a pair of multi-time world champions, Ron Capps and Matt Hagan, square off in the other pair.
Norwalk Pro Stock winner Dallas Glenn will take on Mason McGaha while Aaron Stanfield will face off with Deric Kramer, who is the substitute for Cristian Cuadra, who is not in attendance this weekend
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Herrera will tackle John Hall while Matt Smith will pair off with Richard Gadson.
2023 EVENT WINNERS: Steve Torrence, Top Fuel; Tim Wilkerson, Funny Car; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle.
MOST VICTORIES: Tony Schumacher and Joe Amato, 5, TF; John Force, 9, FC; Bob Glidden, 6, PS; Gaige Herrera, 1, PSM.
TRACK RECORDS
- Top Fuel - 3.685 sec. by Antron Brown, Aug. ’16; 335.32 mph by Steve Torrence, July ‘24.
- Funny Car – 3.832 sec. by Del Worsham Aug. ’16; 334.15 mph by Jack Beckman, Aug. ’16.
- Pro Stock – 6.488 sec. by Chris McGaha Aug. ’15; 213.40 mph by McGaha, Aug. ’15.
- Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.729 sec. by Gaige Herrera July ’23; 201.2 mph by Herrera, July ‘24.
SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, July 20
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 9:30 a.m.
NHRA MISSION FOODS SERIES qualifying at 1:30 and 3:45 p.m.
SUNDAY, July 21
Pre-race ceremonies, 9:45 a.m.
NHRA MISSION FOODS SERIES eliminations begin at 10:30 a.m.
TELEVISION
Sunday, July 21, FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 1:00 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, July 21, FOX will televise three hours of live finals coverage at 4 p.m. (ET).
TICKETS
To purchase tickets to the NHRA Northwest Nationals, fans can click here or call 800-884-6472