NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Pro Stock Q1

With a strong field of 22 cars on hand, qualifying starts in earnest for the Pro Stock cars and finished the way that the last two events did, with KB Titan Racing teammates Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn atop the field.

Anderson, who won his sixth world championship by beating Glenn in the final round of the 2024 season finale, clocked a 6.550 to edge Glenn, who beat Anderson in the final round of the 2025 season opener in Gainesville two weeks ago, who ran 6.551.

Cory “the Caveman” Reed is third at 6.554 as the former Pro Stock Motorcycle rider continues to impress. Behind them in the tp eight are hometown favorite Matt Hartford (6.557), Troy Coughlin Jr. (6.564), Erica Enders (6.567), Greg Stanfield (6.572). and Deric Kramer (6.581).

In one of the world’s most unique gender reveals, Enders’ run concluded with the popping of a pink parachute, informing Elite’s Chase and Jenna Freeman, who themselves weren’t even aware of their future arrival’s sex until the parachute blossomed as they stood on the stating line (only one crewmember had access to the information).

The opening session also was the 2025 competition debut of the Cuadra brothers – Fernando Jr., Cristian, and David – who missed the season opener in Gainesville and are debuting their new Corral Tequila brand on their cars.

Q1 also marked the official Pro Stock competition debut of both Matt Latino and Stephen Bell, with respective backing from Bear Grill and 1320 LLC. Latino is the son of KB/Titan Racing owner Eric Latino while Bell, a seven-time event winner in NHRA Factory Stock Showdown, earned his Pro Stock license earlier this year during pre-season testing at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

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After Anderson’s pass, he and his crew were presented bonus checks from VP Racing, on whose fuel he reset the national record in Gainesville with a 6.443 in the first race with VP as the Official Fuel of the NHRA. Anderson was given a check for $10,000 and a $1,000 bonus was given to the crew members of the HendrickCars.com Camaro. Presenting on behalf of VP were Mike Emerson, far left, and Alan Cerwick and Freddy Turza, far right. Anderson and the KB Titan team also have worked with VP the last few years on their zero weigh Pro Grade racing oil.

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Funny Car Q1

The Funny Cars struggled a bit with the heat on the newly-laid track at Firebird Motorsports Park, with some tire shake and smoke but also a few runs where the more experienced teams made full pulls, though no one came anywhere near Matt Hagan’s three-year-old track record of 3.823.

Bob Tasca III leads the pack after one session with a 3.927, just a few clicks ahead of Gatornationals low qualifier Jack Beckman’s 3.935.

Reigning world champ Austin Prock, coming off of a forgettable weekend in Gainesville that included rear-end breakage and a first-round exit, sits third with a 3.954 with Daniel Wilkerson (3.969) and Ron Capps (3.995) rounding out the three-second performers.

Behind them in the top eight are J.R. Todd’s 4.015, just ahead of Matt Hagan’s 4.042 and Gatornationals winner Chad Green’s 4.074.

Of interest are some familiar faces in new places with Jon Capps running the Winefsky family’s Nitro Moose entry (Dylan will continue his licensing on Monday) and Jim Campbell in Terry Haddock’s second car.

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Top Fuel Q1

This was the first session of a four-race exploratory period where NHRA has made the use of the side-mounted air deflectors (commonly known as “mud flaps”) optional. The deflectors have been a staple of Top Fuel racing since the early 1990s to help provide more downforce, but with better rear wings today they may have outlived their usefulness, at least on surfaces with good traction.
 

Brittany Force’s Monster Energy dragster, which ran 302 mph to halftrack without them during testing in Gainesville, was the first and only car to go sans flaps and ran low e.t. of the session, 3.768, exactly where crew chief David Grubnic expected it to run with the flaps, so he’s far from ready to proclaim it any kind of success. “I need to see it be better 10 runs in a row for it to make any impression on me,” he had said before the run.

Clay Millican (3.795), Shawn Langdon (3.827), Doug Kalitta (3.837 in SealMaster colors), and Tony Stewart (3.857), and Antron Brown (3.889) rounded out the drivers who made full passes.

Steve Chrisman made his first appearance in about a year and a half in Del Worsham’s Top Fueler, a 4.29 pass that will be their only qualifying run (just 15 cars in attendance) until Sunday so Worsham can concentrate on his Funny Car, which sat out Q1 with Bobby Bode planned to be back at the wheel. The car is the former GEICO Insurance car previously driven by Morgan Lucas that has been run occasionally by Worsham since 2014 at events and for licensing new drivers.

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Funny Car Q2

After some delays earlier in the day, Funny Car got shuffled in front of Pro Stock due to the 5 p.m. live television window and the first handful of runs were not exactly must-see TV with tire smoke and aborted runs. Still, it got better as the session went along and the track and the air cooled.

Bob Tasca III watched a bunch of cars in front him ride past his first-session-leading 3.927,  then fired back on the final run with a 3.863, which stole the pole from Austin Prock’s earlier 3.883.

Prock’s teammate, Jack Beckman is third with a 3.895 while Gatornationals runner-up Ron Capps ran 3.912 while dancing down the centerline.

Gatornationals winner Chad Green was alongside Capps but his dream early season hit a hiccup with a big blower explosion not far off the line.

“There was no warning,” Green said. “I hit the gas, and it went about 100 feet before it blew up. That’s definitely not what we were trying to do, and it looks like there is a lot of work ahead of us to get ready for tomorrow.

Paul Lee     (3.919), Alexis DeJoria (3.931), Bobby Bode(3.931), and Daniel Wilkerson (3.933) rounded out the top eight with J.R. Todd (3.939) an
d Matt Hagan (3.952) also running in the threes.

After failing to run in the three in Gainesville’s truncated qualifying and a loss in round one, then a 4.01 in their first pass here, Todd and new crew chief Dickie Venables got that feel-good 3.939 in Q2.

“Dickie is taking a step by step and that is the way to go,” said Todd. “We put two holes [cylinders] out and went 4.01 and we probably wanted to run a little better but either way you cannot learn if you don't go down the track. It shows that we are making progress, running a 3.93 on new asphalt. By the time we get to Vegas we will have a better handle on it.”

The 16-car bump sits at 5.058 with Jim Campbell. Dave Richards’ tough season start continued as the parachute on the Bluebird Turf Mustang came out just a few hundred feet into the run for the second straight pass. but sits 14th with a chute-towing 4.66 from Q2.

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Top Fuel Q2

Five Top Fuel cars — Doug Kalitta, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, Shawn Reed, and Brittany Force (again) — went without the “mud flaps” in Q2 and, perhaps helped by the cooling air and the setting sun, Kalitta roared to a 3.68 in the SealMaster car while Force Langdon went 3.705 and 3.706 side by side. Brown a 3.71 fourth and Reed 3.75 for eighth.

Again, it’s way too early with a small sample size for anyone to do anything but look at the data.

Between Brown and Reed sit Clay Millican (3.734), Justin Ashley (3.754), and Tony Stewart (3.755).

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Pro Stock Q2

Running late into the cool night obviously agreed with the Pro Stockers, who went back and forth trading the lead throughout the session before it ended with hometown hero Matt Hartford atop the field, much to the delight of family, friends, and employees on hand.

Hartford’s 6.509 came within a few milliseconds of breaking Mike Edwards’ 12-year-old track record of 6.498 and kept him ahead of world champ Greg Anderson’s 6.512 in second place.

Cory Reed thrilled his fans again with a 6.516 with a 6.516 that placed him third and Gatornationals champ Dallas Glenn checked in fourth with a 6.520.

Troy Coughlin Jr. (6.538), Cristian Cuadra (6.540), Eric Latino (6.551), and Mason McGaha (6.554) round out the top eight. The bump spot is 6.590 by Brandon Foster.