Pro Stock Q3

Greg Anderson continues to dominate qualifying in Pro Stock with his second-straight 6.5-second run during Saturday’s third qualifying session. Anderson blasted to a 6.596 in his HendrickCars.com Camaro to maintain his lock on the top spot and add three more bonus points to his total as he pursues his fifth world title.

As impressive as Anderson has been, his advantage over the rest of the field is slim. Teammate Dallas Glenn, the incoming championship leader, was second quickest with a 6.618 while Jeg Coughlin Jr., the winner of the spring Las Vegas event, scored a bonus point with a 6.621 in his SCAG Power Equipment Camaro. Coughlin has also been dangerous on the starting line with a pair of nearly perfect reaction times on his last two passes.

There was a bit of shuffling further down the order as Matt Hartford moved to No.  7 with a 6.622 and Mason McGaha also moved up a spot thanks to a 6.633.

The bump spot remains a 6.669 by Chris McGaha while Kenny Delco, Derrick Reese, and Joey Grose have yet to qualify.

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q3

The back and forth battle between Gaige Herrera and Matt Smith for the Mission Foods Pro Stock Motorcycle title swung in favor of Herrera during Q3 as the reigning champ and incoming leader rode his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki to a 6.831 to secure three bonus points. Smith, Friday’s leader, ran a 6.838 on his Denso Buell to earn two important points.

Aside from the championship battle, Angie Smith made another competitive run with a 6.864 on her Denso Buell while Jianna Evaristo (6.883) Hector Arana Jr. (6.889, Richard Gadson (6.889), and Chase Van Sant (6.895) also found the 6.8s.

After three of four runs, Kahea Woods, a longtime E.T. racer who is making his Pro Stock Motorcycle debut, holds down the bump spot with a 7.135 on his Suzuki.

Top Fuel Q3

Friday leader Brittany Force improved on her opening lap of 3.675 with 3.660, just .008-second shy of the track record she set her five long years ago.

“We thought we could step it up from yesterday a bit, and we did,” she said. “Killer run.”

Until Force ran, Shawn Langdon had crept up behind her with a 3.676, just missing the top spot.

“That was huge,” said Langdon. “Brian [Husen, crew chief] told me he wasn’t laying up at all today and we missed it by just a thousandth. My fault. I shoulda skipped breakfast this morning.”

Class rookie Travis Shumake, benefitting from the mechanical expertise of the Scrappers team, raced to a career-best 3.724 in the Gillette Labs entry, improving on his Friday best of 3.89 to move impressively to the No. 5 spot. Prior to this event, Shumake’s best run was a 3.92.

A lot of other drivers also made improvements, including Clay Millican (3.729), Tony Stewart (3.738), Shawn Reed (3.741), Josh Hart (3.801), Jasmine Salinas (3.865), and Scott Palmer (3.889)

Points leader Justin Ashley didn’t get a full run for the second time in three tries, basketballing the tires right at the hit.

Tony Schumacher, the winningest driver in Top Fuel history, failed for the third straight try to make a full run and will enter the final qualifying session outside the field. In his 573-race career, Schumacher has only failed to make the field eight times, most recently more than 20 years ago at the 2003 event in Englishtown, N.J. He's qualified for 436 straight races since then.

The current bump spot i 3.889 by Scott Palmer.

Schumacher’s teammate, Ida Zetterström, who also entered the day outside the show, raced into the field with a 3.786.

Funny Car Q3

Austin Prock made the third quickest run of the season — 3.817, behind only his slightly quicker 3.813 and 3.814 in Dallas and St. Louis — to solidify his spot atop the field and earn three more bonus points as the quickest of the session.

Jack Beckman was second-quick with a 3.861 and Paul Lee third with a 3.863, after earlier passes of 3.879 and 3.866.

After qualifying 12 cars in the threes Friday, hopes of the first all-three-second field were very real, but no one new was able to crack into the zone. 

Jeff “the Surfer” Diehl got the closest with a big-wave 4.014 while Tim Gibbons ran a career-best 4.021 in the Terry Haddock-owned and -tuned Big Time Pest Control machine. Steve Densham made his third straight 4.0-second pass as well with a 4.058, not better than his Friday 4.017.

Bob Tasca III, who has qualified with a three-second pass at 15 of 18 events this year, continued to struggle, but made his best run, a 4.022 that has him on the bump spot with one session to go.

Perennial qualifier Chad Green is 17th after a seven-cylinder 4.052.

Matt Hagan had the explosive moment of the event with a fiery blower explosion in the lights at the height of a 3.926 pass.

“It didn’t give me any warning,” said Hagan. "It was trucking along pretty good and I was reaching up for the parachutes and it just went kaboom.”

Terry Haddock made his first lap of the event but shut his three-second-capable entry off early. 

Pro Stock Q4

The Pro Stock field is set and the final results present some intriguing matchups for Sunday’s opening round of eliminations. Greg Anderson held on to the top spot thanks to his earlier 6.596 and he’ll continue his pursuit of the title with a tough draw against Chris McGaha.

David Cuadra remained No. 2, the best qualifying spot of his career, and he’s got a match against Jerry Don Tucker.

Aaron Stanfield, who is also a championship contender, qualified in the No. 3 spot and he’s got a scheduled match against Eric Latino who made a quick recovery after a qualifying accident in Dallas.

There wasn’t much movement in the final session, but Matt Hartford did make his best run of the weekend with a 6.814 in his Total Seal/GETTRX Camaro. Hartford ended up in the No. 4 spot which means a race against Troy Coughlin Jr. in round one.

Championship leader Dallas Glenn will race against Cristian Cuadra in a battle between the No. 5 and No. 12 qualifiers.

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q4

To the surprise of almost no one, Gaige Herrera claimed the top spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying with his 6.831 run from early Saturday. Herrera also scored bonus points in the final session when he rode his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki to a 6.851. Herrera, the championship leader, can add to his total on Sunday with a win against round one opponent Kahea Woods.

Matt Smith finished qualifying with a 6.908 but remained No. 2 following his earlier  6.822, and will take on Clayton Howey as he continues his pursuit of Herrera to win a record seventh title.

Smith’s wife, Angie, made four consistent runs aboard her Denso Buell including a best of 6.850 and she is paired against Ryan Oehler’s Buell in round one.

Another rider to watch on Sunday is Hector Arana Jr., who made the second-best run of the final session with a 6.857, a run just four-thousandths slower than Herrera. Arana Jr. is paired against Malcolm Phillips during Sunday’s opening round.

Top Fuel Q4

Top Fuel got real fast in a hurry after a mid-session, 80-minute oldtown cleanup after Billy Torrence slayed some parts, and the scoreboard started lighting up after a sterling cleanup and prep job by the Simpson NHRA Safety Safari.

Shawn Langdon had the best run under the lights with a 3.672, a few ticks ahead of 3.674s by Brittany Force and Doug Kalitta, but Force remained atop the field with her earlier 3.660. Steve Torrence clocked a quick 3.676 and Clay Millican (3.700) and Tony Stewart (3.703) also found the wait well worth it.

Earlier in the session, Shawn Reed continued his late-season surge with a 3.715 that pushed his GESi-backed dragster up into the No. 5 spot.

Tony Schumacher made a do-or-die 3.769 pass to prevent his first DNQ in more than 21 years and 400 events. His pass lifted him to 13th.

“The team made a great call; they looked at the data and made the decision to slide it down through there, and now anything can happen tomorrow,” he said. “Getting in the field is the most important thing.”

Scott Palmer and the PBR/RoofTec team moved from outside the field to inside with a 3.839 that bumped Jasmine Salinas, who was in the pair directly behind him and bumped him back out with a 3.791.

Josh Hart ended up on the bump spot with a 3.801 with Palmer, Lex Joon, and Will Smith on the outside looking in.

Funny Car Q4

Following a salvo of mid-3.80-second passes, Austin Prock held onto the No. 1 spot to set a single-season record with 14 No. 1 qualifying spots, breaking the tie with team owner John Force, who accomplished that feat way back in 1996.

Jack Beckman made the best run of the session with a 3.821 that moved him back to the No. 2 spot after being knocked down a peg by Paul Lee’s 3.845 earlier in the session, a run also matched by Prock on his final pass.

Despite following a sensational Top Fuel session, the hopes for the elusive all-three-second Funny Car field disappeared in repeated clouds of smoke. Twelve cars were in the threes already with six three-second-capable cars waiting for their shots.

Only one of them, Bob Tasca III, came through and did it in dazzling fashion with a 3.857 that took him from the bump spot when he staged to the No. 2 spot, making it 13 three-second cars in the field and the bump spot Tim Gibbons’ 4.021.

Chad Green, who had qualified at every event this season stunningly failed to crack the bump and finished 17th after a 4.052 best.

After a huge explosion in Q3, Matt Hagan showed up underneath the 50th anniversary Direct Connection shell he unveiled in Indy. Team boss Tony Stewart was hands on helping get the body ready for battle and Hagan made his best run of the meet, a 3.859.

Alexis DeJoria improved to a 3.918 and Jason Rupert, with a message on the side of the car saluting the World Series-winning L.A. Dodgers, ran a career-best 3.953.