NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Top Fuel Q2/Mission Challenge E1

Doug Kalitta, a four-time Mission Challenge winner this season, took on Jordan Vandergriff (who is replacing Brainerd semifinalist Billy Torrence, who is not in attendance) and roared to a 3.749 against Vandergriff's tire-spinning 3.95 in Shawn Reed's machine. Kalitta had already locked up the Mission Challenge "championchip" before the event, but he's still stacking up points that will be awarded during the Countdown points reset.

Defending U.S. Nationals champ Clay Millican and his Rick Ware Racing/Arby's team beat Sonoma Mission Challenge champ Brittany Force, who lost traction early in the run in her Cornwell Tools machine. Millican will have lane choice in the Mission Challenge final over Kalitta based on his 3.745 to Kalitta's 3.749, the second- and third-best runs of the session.

Josh Hart improved by a thousandth of a second with the R+L Carriers entry, running back-to-back passes of 3.734 and 3.733, not only giving the look of a consistent runner, but his pass was also the quickest of the round.

Two-time Indy Top Fuel winner Shawn Langdon, who is working to stay ahead of Tony Stewart and Kalitta to win the $150,000 bonus as the regular-season champion, didn't make it down the track under power and remains in the No. 6 qualifying spot.

Jasmine Salinas, in her first event since the Las Vegas four-wide in April, laid down a solid 3.77 after an aborted run last night, while 10-time Indy winner Tony Schumacher, in his first race of the season, chugged to a better-but-still-not-competitive 4.88. 

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Funny Car Q2/Mission Challenge E1

Funny Car points leader Austin Prock, winner of the Mission Challenge in Charlotte and Seattle, didn't make it down the track Friday night but made up for it in the opening round of the Mission Challenge, powering to a 3.93 to beat Gatornationals champ Chad Green 

J.R. Todd, who won the Bristol Mission Challenge, won a coasting race against three-time Challenge winner Jack Beckman as neither driver made it to the stripe under power.

Three-time Indy winner Cruz Pedregon and team rebounded from their fiery blower explosion last night and ran 3.957. Asked about the cause of the explosion, Pedregon said there were too many broken parts to figure out what caused what. "You want to know what happened?" he joked. "Watch the replay."

Alexis DeJoria's 3.929 was the quickest pass of the frame, followed by Paul Lee's 3.937 and the 3.939s of Prock and Daniel Wilkerson.

The three-second passes by Prock and Pedregon boosted the number of sub-four-second runners to 14, just two shy of making this the first all-three-second field with three sessions still to run. Among the five drivers not to run in the threes, several have been there before, including Dave Richards and the Del Worsham car driven by Julie Nattas. The others -- Chris King, Alex Laughlin in Jim Dunn's car (which has run threes with Buddy Hull behind the butterfly), and Justin Schriefer -- all could do it.

Schriefer, whose 4.005 from 2019 remains the quickest bump spot in Funny Car history, left before the Tree was activated and lost what looked like a very solid pass.

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Pro Stock Q2/Mission Challenge E1

With the Mission Challenge championship at stake, Dallas Glenn and Greg Anderson had a lot on the line in Q2. Spoilers, Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield could win the last Mission Challenge, but not the championship.

The semi-finals paired Glenn against Enders, two of the best leavers in the class. Enders grabbed a slight holeshot (.021 to .027) and out-powered Glenn, delivering a 6.525 to best Glenn’s 6.532. And with Glenn being the Mission points leader, it would be in Anderson’s hands to determine his own fate.

Fresh off a win in Brainerd, Anderson delivered a critical 6.535 to defeat Aaron Stanfield, giving the driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevy a chance at the Mission Challenge championship. To complete the task, Anderson will have to beat Enders, who ran low for the round in the final.

Anderson’s previous 6.491 keeps him atop the field and should he retain that spot, he would tie Warren Johnson with 138 pole positions. Anderson has topped a few WJ records, but he won’t likely best WJ for top speed, a feat “The Professor” has done 220 times! Greg has set Top Speed 136 times, second most in Pro Stock.

Following Anderson, Dallas Glenn, Erica Enders, Cristian Cuadra and Deric Kramer round out the top five and Chris McGaha sits on the bump with a 6.603.

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q2/Mission Challenge E1

Hector Arana Jr. was looking to put his V-twin into the field during Saturday’s opening qualifying run, but it didn’t happen as the bike fell silent less than 100 feet off the starting line. There was room for improvement in both lanes as past Indy winner Steve Johnson picked up from last night’s 6.927 with a much improved 6.875.

Marc Ingwersen, in a battle with Brayden Davis to earn a berth in the Countdown to the Championship field, improved his odds of a Top 10 finish with a 6.883.

Chris Bostick and Kelly Clontz followed with a pair of solid runs as Clontz ran 6.876 while Bostick tallied a 6.901.

Chase Van Sant showed a four-hundredths improvement on his Trick Tools Suzuki with a 6.841 and was still outrun by Angie Smith, who backed up a previous 6.814-second run with a 6.837 on her Denso Buell.

Brayden Davis made the class take note when he picked up over last night’s run with a 6.762. On Friday, under arguably much better conditions, he ran 6.975.

Gaige Herrera surprised no one with a 6.741-second blast on the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki. Herrera also ran 201.28 mph, the fastest run of the day.

In the opening round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Richard Gadson ran 6.766 for the win, but it wasn’t a chip shot as opponent Jianna Evaristo was solid with a 6.842 on her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Buell.

The other half of the semifinals was even more impressive as Matt Smith defeated teammate Matt Smith by just .004-second, running a 6.790 to Hall’s 6.792. Gadson will have lane choice as the rival MSR and Vance & Hines camps renew hostilities in the Mission final.

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Top Fuel Q3/Mission Challenge final

Doug Kalitta collected his fifth Mission Challenge victory of the season, putting a little topping on the team's Mission Challenge championship season, stacking on a few more bonus points in a lopsided 3.73 win over traction-plagued Clay Millican. Kalitta's run was the best of the round, and the past world champ, sitting in third place, has now earned bonus points in all three sessions.

"I'm super stoked for the crew. It's great to be able to race on Saturday, and we're greatly appreciative of everything Mission Foods does," Kalitta said. "“It didn't seem like a lot of cars were getting down the track, and I was thinking, ‘If anybody can get my car down the track, it's Alan [Johnson] and Mac [Savage]and all these Mac Tools/Toyota guys on my car.’ It went straight down through there, so I was very, very happy to see that."

Only five cars made it down under full power, with Kalitta's effort followed by 3.779 from reigning pole sitter Brittany Force

Points leader Shawn Langdon's Applied Innovation ride didn't make it down for the second straight run today; this could just be crew chief Brian Husen seeing where the limits are, or maybe a sign of concern. 

Tony Schumacher, conversely, made his first full pull of the meet, a 3.82, in Q3 but remains in the No. 15 spot with Ida Zetterström on the bump spot at 4.168. Schumacher's e.t. was the round's third-best time, followed by Jasmine Salinas' 3.847 and Antron Brown's 3.880.

After sitting out the first two sessions, Lex Joon made his first appearance of the weekend, a cylinder-dropping 5.06 that has him outside the field with two sessions to go.

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Funny Car Q3/Mission Challenge final

The Mission Challenge Funny final was a stunner as the usually rock-steady Austin Prock double-stepped the gas and fouled (-.123 reaction), then had to watch in disbelief and disappointment as J.R. Todd lost traction and coasted to the win with a 6.26.

“I wish that was Monday’s final,” joked Todd. “It’s good to get some bonus points heading into the Countdown. He went and I almost went after him, then we spun, but got the win.”

Despite only winning one Challenge this season (Chicago), Matt Hagan won the Mission Challenge championship based on his steady appearances in the bonus event.

As it was in Top Fuel, the Funny Cars had a tough time in Q3. Daniel Wilkerson shone with a 3.909, duplicating his Q1 pass, while Ron Capps ran a 3.99, impressive mostly because he shut off early on a loose run and had a speed of just 273 mph.

Dave Richards had a good run going in his three-second capable Bluebird Turf Ford before grazing a timing block, losing a 4.05 that would have gotten him well into the field. For now, he'll stay No. 19 on the qualifying sheets,

After losing a similar run the round before because he left before the Tree was activated, Justin Schriefer, tuned now by former DSR stalwart Rip Reynolds, clicked off a nice 4.10 that doesn't get us any closer to that elusive all-three-second field, but put him into the No. 15 spot in the field.

In a bizarre occurrence, both Paul Lee and Chris King simultaneously shut off on the starting line, each with his own problems. King, the Chicagoland firefighter, had no oil pressure while Lee, last year's Funny Car Callout winner here, had a fuel leak. King remains on the bump spot with his earlier 4.10.

Julie Nataas, Alex Laughlin, and Richards are on the outside looking in with two more sessions to go on Sunday.

Pro Stock Q3/Mission Challenge final

U.S. Nationals fans were treated to a Saturday showdown when Pro Stock rivals Greg Anderson and Erica Enders faced off in the Mission Challenge final. They have raced each other 12 times in national event finals, with Erica winning seven times.

Adding to the drama was the potential for a triple tie for the Mission Challenge championship between Greg Anderson, Dallas Glenn and Matt Hartford. If Erica was to win, Dallas Glenn would take the title, so it was all or nothing for Anderson.

Anderson went in first, while Enders paused and then staged. On green,

 it was the HenderickCars.com Camaro that moved first, with Anderson cutting a .020 light (Enders was .074). He then rowed his machine to a 6.523 to outrun Enders’ 6.531 pass.

“Those points are going to be crucial,” said Anderson of the points earned after winning the Mission Challenge. “But the good news for me is that I came here with a plan. It’s tough week [with the passing of Ken Black], I came here to honor the Black family, Judy and Ken Black, and so far, I'm right on schedule. I qualified number one so far, won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Hopefully I can keep functioning [like that] and make it all the way on Monday. I love you, Judy. Thank you.”

The top five in qualifying are Anderson, Dallas Glenn, Erica Enders, Cristian Cuadra and Deric Kramer, with Mason McGaha holding on to the bump at 6.591. 

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Pro Stock Motorcycle Q3/Mission Challenge final

Hector Arana Jr. bumped his way into the field, albeit in the bottom half, with a 6.970, which means the Cornwell Tools U.S. Nationals will have an all six-second field. Arana is clearly capable of more, but after two aborted runs, he needed a baseline heading into Sunday’s final two runs.

For the third time in three runs, Dystany Spurlock was in the 6.8 with a 6.891 to solidify her spot in the field. Chris Bostick did likewise with a 6.899.

Kelly Clontz ran within two hundredths of last night’s run with a 6.856, which should make the Steamfitters Local 602 team happy considering the change in conditions on Saturday.

Steve Johnson, who has had his share of adventures at Indy, made her best run of the weekend with a 6.837. The parade of 6.8s continued a pair later with a 6.852 by Jianna Evaristo and a 6.860 by her teammate, Angie Smith.

In a surprising development, Brayden Davis coasted to a stop off the starting line when his Power Train Suzuki fell silent. Davis had earlier run a 6.762 for the No. 2 spot.

As expected, the last few pairs produced the best runs of the session including a 6.764 by Gaige Herrera and a 6.775 by Norwalk winner John Hall. While neither rider improved, both will earn at least one qualifying bonus point.

The latest chapter in the Vance & Hines vs. Matt Smith Racing rivalry played out in the final of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge where Richard Gadson took the measure of six-time champion Matt Smith. After a brief staging battle that included a couple of timely throttle whacks, Smith got off the starting line first, .011 to .026, but Gadson prevailed at the finish line with a 6.744 after Smith rolled the throttle early.