NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After a steamy and frantic day of American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals qualifying on Saturday, drivers will race into battle Sunday in the region made famous for Civil War battles, but the racing on the Virginia Motorsports Park track may be less than civil.

Nowhere is that more obvious in Top Fuel as the teams are licking their lips at the prospect of points leader Tony Stewart seemingly on the ropes after failing to get down the track on all three passes Saturday, earning him a first-round date with the resurgent No. 1 qualifier, two-time world champ Brittany Force.

If there’s good news for Stewart and his American Rebel Light-backed team, it’s if they can rekindle the magic touch they’ve had the last two months or if Force makes a mistake, a win light against Force offers a free pass to the semifinals.

Bristol winner Steve Torrence won Saturday’s Mission Challenge, making him perhaps the hottest driver in the class and qualified No. 3 behind Force and Pomona winner Clay Millican.

In Funny Car, the feel-good story of the weekend is low qualifier Jack Beckman, who put John Force’s Peak Chevy on the Funny Car pole on the one-year anniversary of Force’s devastating first-round crash here last year. The GOAT is in attendance, rooting on his teams, which also includes No. 2 qualifier Austin Prock, who won the race last year after Force’s accident and would love to pair off with Beckman in an all-Force finale.

If there’s an upset looming, it’s in the form of Daniel Wilkerson, who won the Mission Challenge Friday and has one of the better hot-weather tuners, his father Tim, in his corner. D-Wilk is still looking for his first NHRA Wally, and it could come today.

The scenario is the same in Pro Stock Motorcycle where Brayden Davis, riding the Vance & Hines rental Suzuki, comes into eliminations hot off of his first big win I the Mission Challenge and would love to add his first national event Wally to his collection.

Davis has been the No. 1 qualifier at the last two events, doing things normally reserved for the team’s two-time world champ Gaige Herrera. Herrera qualified just fourth, behind Davis, arch-rival Matt Smith, and Smith’s stablemate, John Hall, while fellow V&H order Richard Gadson qualified just sixth.

With the temperatures expected to reach mid-90s, a lot of upsets could happen today, so be sure to follow along online, on NHRA.tv, or on the FOX broadcast later today.

2024 EVENT WINNERS

Doug Kalitta, Top Fuel; Austin Prock, Funny Car; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST EVENT VICTORIES

Cory McClenathan, 4, TF; John Force, 4, FC; Warren Johnson 4, PS; Matt Hines, 2, PSM

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel – 3.654 seconds by Brittany Force, May '22; 335.82 mph by Force, May '22.
Funny Car - 3.853 seconds by Matt Hagan, May '22; 335.82 mph by Hagan, May '22.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.703 seconds by Gaige Herrera, June '24; 201.37 mph by Angie Smith, May ‘22

NATIONAL RECORDS:

Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '19, Reading, Pa.; 341.59 mph by Brittany Force, April ‘25, Charlotte
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona, Calif.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct ‘23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July ‘21, Sonoma, Calif.

SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, June 22
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at 12:00 p.m.

TELEVISION

Sunday, June 22, FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 2:00 p.m. ET and three hours of finals coverage at 4:00 p.m. ET

NHRA.tv