NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The 18th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, the 10th event in the 2024 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, will spotlight drivers in all four professional categories. It’s also one of the most popular destinations for Sportsman racers competing in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, with Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car rejoining the national tour after a weekend off. The Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown and Holley EFI Factory X series will also compete at the beloved, fan-friendly facility.

Top Fuel

Points leader Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools dragster have been part of winner's circle celebrations three times so far this season, and Kalitta — last week's winner at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals — has been to the final round in each of the most recent three events. 

Last year's Norwalk champion Leah Pruett handed over the reins of her TSR Nitro dragster to husband Tony Stewart ahead of this season in order to focus on growing their family, and after the announcement of that the two are expecting a baby boy in November, their off-track plans are coming to fruition. Stewart's on-track performance was strong early in the season with a pair of semifinal finishes, and last weekend in Richmond he raced again to the semis. Sealing the deal on Sunday to defend the title his wife won her in 2023 will likely be top of mind, but he'll have to contend with Kalitta and his charging teammate Shawn Langdon, who has claimed two wins in four final rounds on the season. Steve Torrence and his Capco Contractors rail have the most Norwalk wins, though, and he's hungry. He'll be aiming for a fourth Summit Motorsports Park trophy and his first win of the season.

Brittany Force holds the track record for e.t. at 3.666, while Mike Salinas holds the track record for speed, 333.58 mph.

In the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge on Saturday, Langdon will race fellow Virginia semifinalist Antron Brown in the first round, while Kalitta and Stewart will square off on the other side of the ladder. The specialty race pits the previous event's semifinalists against one another for bragging rights and bonus points that will come into play when the Countdown to the Championship begins. 

Funny Car

Austin Prock leads the points in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet and is carrying the torch for the John Force Racing team as their team owner and fearless leader, John Force, remains in hospital in Virginia following a stunning round-one wreck, and Force's daughter, two-time champion Brittany Force, will remain with family by his side rather than racing the event this weekend. Prock has been a quick student in his first year in a Funny Car and has so far claimed three wins in six final rounds, and he's shown that he can remain calm and focused in the most challenging of situations.

He will have to contend with defending event champion Blake Alexander and the Pronto Auto Parts Ford Mustang, which will be branded with Schaeffler colors. Alexander is one of five drivers on the Funny Car sheet who have one previous win each in Norwalk. Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, Cruz Pedregon, and Bob Tasca III also have one win each. 

The Summit Motorsports Park track records in Funny Car are currently held by Hagan (3.865) and Robert Hight (334.65).

Tasca and Alexander will race in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Prock and Hagan will square off o the other side of the ladder. 

Pro Stock 

The RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro, driven by Pro Stock points leader Dallas Glenn, has reached the semifinals, final, or won in all but one race so far this season. Glenn, a two-time winner on the season, will have the opportunity to claim his first Norwalk win in the home of associate partner Summit Racing Equipment. KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson, though, will be flying a one-off Summit Racing scheme on his Chevrolet Camaro, and he is tied with reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders with three previous Summit Motorsports Park wins — the most of anyone in the category. 

Matt Hartford, however, is the defending event champion in his GETTRX-branded Chevrolet, and he's most certainly in the mood for a rebound after an unproductive first half of the season. Chris McGaha is the only other currently competing driver to have won in Norwalk, and he did so in 2019. 

Both ends of the Pro Stock track record are in possession of Enders (6.523, 212.63).

Last weekend, 2017 Pro Stock champion Bo Butner made a cameo appearance in the class as he filled in for Fernando Cuadra Jr., who was away on business. Butner reached the semifinals, which means that the quickest quarterfinals loser will take his place in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Glenn will race Butner's replacement, Enders, while event winner Aaron Stanfield will race Anderson. 

Pro Stock Motorcycle

Gaige Herrera and his RevZilla/Mission/Vance & Hines Suzuki continue to dominate the season. No one in NHRA history has won as many consecutive races or rounds as this young gun, and he's showing no sign of letting up. He's charging into Summit Motor Sports Park already in possession of a slew of records, and he will be looking to extend his win streak in territory where crew chiefs Andrew Hines (5) and Eddie Krawiec (3) have more wins than anyone else in the class. Matt Smith, who won his second consecutive #2Fast2Tasty Challenge last weekend in Richmond, also has three previous wins here — and he holds the track record for speed (201.58 mph). Herrera owns the e.t. record in Norwalk (6.777). 

Hector Arana Jr., rider of the GETTRX Buell, is the defending event champion here, and both he and his crew chief/father Hector Arana Sr. have claimed victory at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. 

The Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge will set up a Richmond rematch of Arana Jr. vs. Richard Gadson, with Herrera and John Hall on the other side of the ladder. 

2023 EVENT WINNERS 

Leah Pruett, Top Fuel; Blake Alexander, Funny Car; Matt Hartford, Pro Stock; Hector Arana Jr., Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST EVENT VICTORIES

Steve Torrence, 3, TF; Jack Beckman, 3 FC; Greg Anderson, Erica Enders, 3; PS; Andrew Hines, 5, PSM

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.666 seconds by Brittany Force, June '22; 58 mph by Mike Salinas, June, '22
Funny Car - 3.865 seconds by Matt Hagan, June '17; 334.65 mph by Robert Hight, June '17
Pro Stock - 6.523 seconds by Erica Enders, July '14; 212.63 by Enders, July '14
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.777 seconds by Gaige Herrera, June '23; 201.58 mph by Matt Smith, June '21

NATIONAL RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading; 338.94 mph by B. Force, Nov. ‘22, Pomona
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 339.87 mph by Hight, July ’17, Sonoma
Pro Stock - 6.450 sec. by Erica Enders, Mar. ’22, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Enders, May ’14, Englishtown 
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23, Gainesville; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July '21, Sonoma

EVENT SCHEDULE

THURSDAY, June 27: Lucas Oil Series qualifying and time trials at 8 a.m.
FRIDAY, June 28: Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8 a.m.; Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car qualifying at 12 noon and 2:45 p.m.; Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown and Holley EFI Factory X qualifying at 1 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.; NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, June 29: Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8 a.m.; Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car qualifying at 10 a.m. and eliminations at 2:45 p.m.; Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown and Holley EFI Factory X qualifying at 10:45 a.m. and eliminations at 12:30 p.m.; NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
SUNDAY, June 30: Pre-race ceremony, 10 a.m.; eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, June 30: FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 2 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, June 30: FS1 will televise one hour of round one eliminations coverage at 4 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, June 30:  FOX will televise two hours of finals coverage at 5 p.m. (ET)