Sunday News & Notes from the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals
UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY
TOP FUEL ROUND ONE
Brittany Force, who won this event two years ago, races her way into round two with a 3.75 and is joined by Josh Hart, who turns on the second-place win light despite banging the blower at the height of a 3.95. Billy Torrence lost the blower belt and finished third with Jasmine Salinas in fourth. Hart left some fluid on the track, which will cost him five of the 20 points he just earned,
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Clay Millican and Tony Stewart, the latter in his first four-wide Top Fuel competition, advance to the next round with matching 3.773s after matching .078 reaction times, but Millican got there first by .0005-second thanks to a slightly better reaction time. Antron Brown finished third with a 3.80 while Krista Baldwin lost traction and took a wild ride across the centerline.
“I had no idea it was that close; I barely know what’s happening in my lane,” Millican joked. “But what a cool deal to race Tony Stewart. We’ve been struggling but when it runs on all eight [cylinders] it runs good. It did run on eight that time but unfortunately, it did kick a rod out.”
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Terry Totten takes advantage of the two-advance rule and will be in the semifinals after finishing second behind Justin Ashley’s 3.777 with a 3.911. Tony Schumacher and Shawn Reed both lost traction and finished third and fourth.
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Doug Kalitta’s reward for qualifying No. 1? A first-round matchup with his teammate, red-hot Shawn Langon, and four-time world champ Steve Torrence. That’s the bad news. The good news is that their first-round quad has only three cars as only 15 cars made qualifying attempts. Sixteen cars were entered but Rob Passey’s car was DQ’d in tech.
Kalitta blasts to low e.t of the frame with a 3.728 with Torrence finishing second with a 3.76. Two-time 2024 winner Langdon is the odd man out
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Semifinal Top Fuel matchups (in lane choice order): Doug Kalitta vs. Brittany Force vs. Steve Torrence vs. Josh Hart; Clay Millican vs. Tony Stewart vs. Justin Ashley vs. Terry Totten
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The first quad of Funny Car is a tractionless affair for all four, but three-time world champ Ron Capps gets the win with a 4.28 ahead of J.R. Todd's 4.35 with Dave Richards and Daniel Wilkerson finishing third and fourth.
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John Force has won the 4-Wide Nationals three times, including the first one in Charlotte in 2010, but even drag racing's most experienced driver struggles with the four-wide starting line. His reaction times in qualifying -- .148, .109, .135, and .109 – were very concerning, so the 16-time champ went up for a close-up look at the Tree and discovered something.
“I've been looking at the wrong spot,” he admitted. “I thought, 'Maybe the sun is shading me,' then I finally remembered that there's blinders on the Tree. I won the inaugural [four-wide event] and you’d think ol' stupid here would remember how that [stuff] works, and I didn't. I’ll be OK now. The car’s running great; all they gotta do it work on me.”
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Defending event champ Matt Hagan starts his march to another final round with a strong 3.92 but it's Jason Rupert and his steady 4.0-second performer who gets the other ticket to the semifinals with a 4.056. John Force gets sideways and finishes third with Cruz Pedregon in fourth.
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Yesterday's Mission Challenge winner Austin Prock adds another win light with a strong 3.916 to win his quad ahead of Alexis Dejoria's 3.945. Jeff Diehl makes his first career three-second pass but has to settle for third place ahead of tires-smoking Blake Alexander.
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Bob Tasca III wins the final quad with a stout 3.926, setting up a second-round date with fellow performance leader Austin Prock. Chad Green finishes second behind Hgaan with a 3.972 with Steve Densham third and Paul Lee in fourth.
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Semifinal Funny Car matchups(in lane choice order): Austin Prock vs. Bob Tasca III vs. Alexis DeJoria vs. Chad Green; Matt Hagan vs. Jason Rupert vs. Ron Capps vs. J.R. Todd
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PRO STOCK ROUND ONE
Fernando Cuadra Jr., Cristian Cuadra, Eric Latino, and Brandon Foster are all searching for their first NHRA wins, and Latino and Foster are still in the running after surviving their opening round quad. Latino got off the starting line first and won with a 6.678 over Foster’s 6.664. Cristian Cuadra made the best run of the round with a 6.631 but the past 4 Wide finalist missed the Tree.
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The “murder’s row” of Pro Stock quads featured Greg Anderson, Erica Enders, and Aaron Stanfield along with rookie Sienna Wildgust meant at least one of the favorites was going to be sent home early. Enders was nearly perfect off the starting line and won with a 6.617 while Anderson also advanced with a 6.597, the best run of the round. Both Stanfield and Wildgust were competitive with runs of 6.636 and 6.648, but neither advanced.
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Jeg Coughlin Jr., winner of Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, remains in line for a double thanks to a 6.603 to win his quad against Kenny Delco, David Cuadra, and Deric Kramer. Cuadra will join Coughlin in the semifinals thanks to a quick light and a 6.645, that held off Kramer’s 6.615 via a holeshot.
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Dallas Glenn, the defending Las Vegas four wide winner, advanced to the semifinals with a 6.613 in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro to barely edge low qualifier Jerry Don Tucker, who also moved on with a 6.617. Troy Coughlin Jr. shook the tires early and shut off while Chris McGaha trailed with a 6.658.
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Pro Stock semifinal matchups (in lane choice order): Greg Anderson vs. Jeg Coughlin vs. Erica Enders vs. David Cuadra; Dallas Glenn vs. Jerry Don Tucker vs. Brandon Foster vs. Eric Latino.
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HOLLEY EFI FACTORY X ROUNDS 1,2
The opening round of the Holley EFI Factory X class featured a significant as low qualifier Aaron Stanfield spun the tires in his Janac Bros. Camaro and fell to Alex Laughlin, who overcame a troubled qualifying performance to rebound with a 7.248 in Geoff Turk’s Blackbird X Dodge Challenger.
The quickest run of the round came from Rick Hord, who powered to a 7.144, 190.27 in his supercharged Camaro to defeat Jesse Alexandra. Stephen Bell made a solid run in his Bob Glidden-tribute Mustang with a 7.188 to top Lenny Lottig while Greg Stanfield also made a solid run with a 7.159, 193.10 on a single run after Jim Cowan was unable to answer the call.
Laughlin got off the starting line first in the semifinals and drove to a 7.263 to 7.252 against Bell with both drivers topping 190 mph. Greg Stanfield will have lane choice against Laughlin in the final following a 7.174 to 7.296 win against Hord.
TOP FUEL SEMIFINALS
Tony Stewart, who won his first NHRA national event at last year's 4-Wide Nationals in Top Alcohol Dragster, will have the chance to add a Top Fuel crown, too, after he led Justin Ashley to the wire, 3.75 to 3.79. Ashley got his final-round berth on a holeshot as Clay Millican was quicker but later at 3.78 while Tetty Totten was unable to pull off another upset and finished fourth. In a weird occurrence, despite the lane choice pecking order, all four drivers from two different first-round quads all end up back in the lanes they ran in round one.
By reaching the final round, Ashley took over the points lead from seasonlong frontrunner Shawn Langdon
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Doug Kalitta, who has never won a four-wide race, will be in the final round with low e.t. of the frame, 3.751, in a quad in which all four drivers ran in the 3.70s. Steve Torrence finished second and will get a shot at a sixth four-wide victory after his 3.777 that edged Brittany Force's 3.776 on a holeshot for second. Josh Hart finished fourth despite a solid 3.79.
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Top Fuel final-round matchups (in lane choice order): Doug Kalitta vs. Tony Stewart vs. Steve Torrence vs. Justin Ashley
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FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS
Ron Capps and Matt Hagan run 3.93 to advance to the final round in their quad, finishing ahead of J.R. Todd's 3.95 and Jason Rupert's 4.05. Capps has 4-Wide wins in both Las Vegas and Charlotte in the past.
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Austin Prock will have the chance to become the first driver to win the 4-Wide Nationals in both nitro classes as last year's Charlotte winner will face off in the final here after clocking a strong 3.907 that will earn him first pick. Bob Tasca III was hot on Prock's heels with a 3.922 as both finished ahead of Alexis DeJoria's 3.932 and Chad Green's 3.95.
By reaching the final, Prock has assured that he will leave the event with the points lead no matter what happens in the final.
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Funny Car final-round matchups (in lane choice order): Austin Prock vs. Bob Tasca III vs. Ron Capps vs. Matt Hagan
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PRO STOCK SEMIFINALS
Jerry Don Tucker and Brandon Foster will have a chance to claim their first wins following a win and a runner-up finish against Eric Latino and Dallas Glenn in the semifinal quad. Latino fouled at the start and Glenn shook the tires as soon as he dumped the clutch, allowing Tucker to win the quad with a 6.658 and Foster to join him in the final with a 6.684. Foster is now No. 5 in the standings and has established himself as an early favorite for the Rookie of the Year award.
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A pair of nearly perfect reaction times by teammates Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr. helped each reach the final quad. Enders turned on the win light with a 6.600 while Coughlin, the winner of the inaugural Las Vegas event was close behind at a 6.605. Greg Anderson ran a 6.602, but couldn’t match Enders and Coughlin on the starting line. With the win, Enders took over the championship lead while Coughlin is fourth.
Pro Stock final-round matchups (in lane choice order) Erica Enders vs. Jeg Coughlin Jr. vs. Jerry Don Tucker vs. Brandon Foster
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HOLLEY EFI FACTORY X FINAL
Greg Stanfield debuted the first Factory X car last year in Norwalk and now he’s been crowned the first winner in the Holley EFI Factory X class at the 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. Stanfield drove his Rod Shop Camaro to a 7.121 in the final to stop Alex Laughlin, who ran 7.370 in Geoff Turk’s Blackbird X Dodge Challenger.
PRO STOCK FINAL
It took just four races for Jeg Coughlin Jr. to find the winner’s circle in his latest return to the Pro Stock class as he topped a final quad in Las Vegas that included Erica Enders, Jerry Don Tucker, and Brandon Foster.
Coughlin, the sport’s all-time leader in holeshots, left first with a .013 light, and then drove his SCAG Power Equipment Camaro to a 6.616 for the win over Tucker’s 6.617. Enders shook the tires and finished third while Foster, in his first final, fouled at the start.
“This is just fantastic. It’s been quite a ride and being in the winner’s circle here in Las Vegas, nothing beats that. Team Elite welcomed me back with open arms and this SCAG car rocked it all weekend. In the final, they had it on kill. The front end was up, and I started banging gears and it felt really good right up until I saw that blinking [win] light.”
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FUNNY CAR FINAL
Bob Tasca III pulled off the rarest of four-wide heroics, winning on a triple holeshot in the final. Tasca's 3.915 was the slowest of the round, but crossed the finish line ahead of Austin Prock's 3.904, Ron Capps' 3.902, and Matt Hagan's 3.895, which was the quickest of the final but the last to cross the finish line. Reaction time: Tasca, .034; Prock, .054; Capps, .056; and Hagan, .066. tasca's margin of victory over Prock was just .009-second.
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TOP FUEL FINAL
Doug Kalitta scored his first win of the season and his first in the four-wide format, powering his Mac Tools dragster to a 3.719 to finish ahead of Justin Ashley's 3/745. Steve Torrence finished third and Tony Stewart fourth.