NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

As the relentless heat of the championship battle intensifies alongside the weather at Texas Motorplex, Round 4 of the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs fires off today at the Texas NHRA FallNationals.

Shawn Langdon, who sits in third place, qualified No. 1 impressively, and Langdon and team need a big weekend to chase down Doug Kalitta and Justin Ashley for the championship.

Langdon will start his Sunday against Texan Mitch King, while Ashley, the No. 3 qualifier, will go off against Doug Foley, and Kalitta, who ranked fifth, will square off with Jasmine Salinas.

In Funny Car, points leader Austin Prock had the best car in three of the four qualifying sessions to give himself a little more breathing room over second-place Matt Hagan.

Prock will go off against Alexander in round one, while Hagan will have to beat resilient Paul Lee without lane choice. Prock's teammate, second-place Jack Beckman, will take on Dave Richards in the opening stanza Sunday.

Low qualifier Greg Anderson will take on No. 16 qualifier (6.554) David Cuadra, while points leader Dallas Glenn will face off against Cody Coughlin. Cory Reed, the only driver to earn bonus points in all four sessions, qualified No. 2 and will take on Troy Coughlin Jr.

Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Richard  Gadson will face Lance Bonham in round one, while two-time world champ Gaige Herrera will face off against Charles Poskey.

2024 EVENT WINNERS: Justin Ashley, Top Fuel; Matt Hagan, Funny Car; Jeg Coughlin, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST VICTORIES: Antron Brown, 7, TF; Robert Hight, 7, FC; Greg Anderson, 5, PS; Andrew Hines, 8, PSM

TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.636 seconds by Steve Torrence, Oct. '23; 340.57 by Brittany Force. Oct. '25
Funny Car - 3.813 seconds by Austin Prock, Oct. '24; 338.60 mph by Robert Hight, Oct. '17.
Pro Stock - 6.457 seconds by Greg Anderson, Oct. '15; 214.59 mph by Anderson, Oct. '15.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23; 204.16 mph by Herrera, Oct. '23

NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '19, Reading, Pa.; 343.51 mph by B. Force, Sept. ‘25, Indy
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. '24, Pomona, Calif.
Pro Stock - 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March '25, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May '14, Englishtown
N.J.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July '21, Sonoma.

SCHEDULE
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at 10:00 a.m

TELEVISION
Sunday, Oct. 12, FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10:00 a.m. ET
Sunday, Oct. 12, FOX will televise two hours of finals coverage at 2:00 p.m. ET and 4:30 p.m. ET