It’s another beautiful day in Sonoma wine country and a perfect day for the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing series to host it’s 12th event of the season, the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge. NHRA Lucas Oil Series sportsman racers took to the track at 10:30 a.m. local time for qualifying in Super Stock, Stock ,and Top Sportsman as well as time trials in Super Comp and Super Gas. The Pro rounds are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q1

By just a thousandth of a second, Gaige Herrera claimed the provisional pole in Pro Stock Motorcycle over his RevZilla/Vance & Hines teammate Richard Gadson. Herrera ran 6.761 to better Gadson’s 6.762 in the final pair of the round. Gadson didn’t get the top spot, but he did make the only 200-mph run of the round.

Angie Smith outran her husband, Matt for the third spot with a 6.780  on her Denso Buell while Matt ran 6.808 to round our the top four.

The only other six-second run of the round came from Norwalk winner John Hall, who ran a 6.915 at just 170-mph on his American Rebel Light Buell. 

Chase Van Sant, Jianna Evaristo, and Chris Bostick did not make full runs in Q1 as riders prepare for tomorrow’s GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout. As a sidenote, both Herrera and Matt Smith clinched their spots in the upcoming Countdown to the Championship simply by making a qualifying run in Sonoma.

PRO STOCK Q1

The Pro Stock field took to the Sonoma Raceway track under sunny skies and with a slight headwind so there should be no surprise that there was a fleet of 6.5s to open qualifying. 

Erica Enders fired the first shot with a 6.536 that was not bettered until later in the round when rookie of the year candidate Cody Coughlin drove his KB Titan powered Camaro to a 6.529. Greg Stanfield also tied Enders’ elapsed time to the thousandth, and got the higher qualifying position with a faster speed. 

Matt Latino, continuing to substitute for his father, Eric in the team’s PowerEdge Camaro, re-set the bar with a 6.516 but that didn’t last long as Greg Anderson lowered the boom with a track record 6.490 in his HendrickCars.com Camaro in the final pair. Anderson took the top spot while his teammate, Seattle winner Dallas Glenn, nudged his way into the No. 2 spot with a 6.508. 

FUNNY CAR Q1

It took just two pairs for the Funny Car class to find the threes at Sonoma Raceway as Hunter Green fired the first shot with a 3.955. From there, things only got quicker and faster. Green was the early leader until his father, Chad, powered to a 3.927 in his Bond Coat entry. 

In between, Spencer Hyde put Jim Head’s car solidly into the field with a 3.933 and Bob Tasca III also made a solid opening run at 3.959 in his Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford.

Seattle winner Matt Hagan moved Green out of the top spot with a 3.916 late in the session but that run didn’t last as John Force Racing teamamtes Austin Prock and Jack Beckman made the first two runs in the 3.8s with Prock taking the Cornwell Tools Chevy to a 3.891 while Beckman was a close second at 3.895. All told, ten drivers ventured into the threes. 

TOP FUEL Q1

A run that should have surprised no one, Brittany Force posted top speed of the session at 339.94 to re-set the Sonoma Raceway track speed record. Force also made a solid run in the elapsed time department with a 3.722. 

“If the speed comes, we love that but the focus of this team is always on win lights on race day and solid consistent elapsed times,” said Force.

It didn’t take long for Top Fuel drivers to find the 3.6s as Clay Millican ran a 3.699 with his special edition Denso livery and that held for a few pairs until Doug Kalitta bettered it with a 3.692. Both dragsters were over 335-mph at the finish line.

Nearly every driver that was interviewed expressed optimism for Friday’s evening session, noting that both the national elapsed time and speed records could be in jeopardy.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2

As expected, performances improved for Friday’s second session as  racers, especially those in Pro Stock Motorcycle began to adjust to the conditions at Sonoma Raceway. By the end of the session, Richard Gadson had assumed the provisional pole with a 6.702 at over 200-mph on his RevZilla/Vance  & Hines Suzuki. 

Gadson’s teammate, Gaige Herrera, might well have taken the top spot but he did not make a full run. Herrera sat up early and still logged a 6.852 at just 172-mph.

That left room for the Smith’s to solidify their positions as Matt Smith rode to a 6.742 while his wife, Angie recorded a 6.780. John Hall also found the 6.7s with a solid 6.759 on his Matt Smith-prepared Buell. 

Another solid run came from Chase Van Sant, who came back from a sub-par run in the afternoon to post a 6.860 on his Trick Tools Suzuki.

PRO STOCK Q2

As a whole, the Pro Stock class put on quite a show in Q2 with four drivers in the 6.4s and a host of others in the low ‘50s. As expected, no one was quicker than Greg Anderson who re-set the track elapsed time record again with a 6.472. Anderson was just a tick quicker than his teammate, Dallas Glenn, who kept the six-time champ in his sights with a 6.473. 

Greg Stanfield made the best run for Team Elite with a 6.480, letting the KB Titan crew know that their advantage over the rest of the field is negligible. Stanfield’s son, Aaron, was also impressive with a 6.489.

Other memorable runs came from Cody Coughlin at 6.503 and Matt Latino at 6.505. Jeg Coughlin Jr., and his nephew, Troy Coughlin Jr., also ran near the front of the pack with runs of 6.514 and 6.513, respectively.

FUNNY CAR Q2

Paul Lee kicked off the much-anticipated nighttime nitro session with a bang, literally as he knocked the supercharger off of his Denso wrapped entry at the end of an impressive 3.890-secod run at just 291 mph. In the other lane, Dave Richards made a clean 4.027 run in his Bluebird Mustang.

Turns out, Lee was just the warm-up act for Daniel Wilkerson, who destroyed the body on his SCAG Mustang in a huge ball of fire after an obvious internal engine failure. Wilkerson brushed the wall, but emerged unscathed from the wreckage.

Jason Rupert, a fan favorite with the big Sonoma crowd. put himself solidly into the field with a 3.982 at 298.54. 

Spencer Hyde and Hunter Green put on a great show with side-by side runs of 3.865 and 3.897, both career bests. Hyde was the low qualifier until Matt Hagan ran a 3.861 to steal the provisional top spot. 

The final pair featured JFR teammates Jack Beckman and Austin Prock and expectations for side-by-side 3.8s went unfulfilled as both cars shook the tires.  

TOP FUEL Q2

Conditions were tricky for Top Fuel teams as most adapted an all or nothing attitude for a night session that figured to differ greatly from what they’ll face on Sunday during eliminations. 

Antron Brown and his Matco team was on the hit side with a 3.699 at 332 while Justin Ashley shook and shut off. 

Josh Hart went to the finish line under power with a 3.737 while Ida Zetterström shut off early. 

The run that everyone had anticipated came when Brittany Force electrified the crowd with a new record 343.16 mph run in her Monster Energy dragster. Force, who also ran 3.645 on the run, ran 304-mph to the eighth mile. Force now has seven 340 mph runs to her credit and she re-set the Sonoma Raceway track record by a full five mph.

“I’m incredibly proud of my guys. This is insane,” said Force. “I heard that mph and I thought it must be wrong but to have a time slip that says that is incredible.”

The session ended with a pair of great runs as Doug Kalitta ran 3.661 and Clay Millican lit up the scoreboard with a 3.718.