NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After making her first-ever runs in a Top Fuel dragster last week during the preseason test session at Gainesville Raceway, rookie driver Maddi Gordon has officially completed her Top Fuel licensing process, clearing the way for her Professional NHRA debut with Ron Capps Motorsports at the upcoming 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season opener.

The third-generation racer and former Top Alcohol Funny Car standout completed the licensing process while gaining valuable on-track experience aboard a 330-mph, nitromethane-burning machine. With four days of testing behind her, Gordon shared her thoughts on the transition to the sport’s quickest class and what she’s learned so far as her NHRA Rookie of the Year campaign begins aboard the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster next weekend at the NHRA Gatornationals. The team is led by crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching, with Chuck Grospitch serving as car chief.

Congratulations on earning your Top Fuel license. Who signed off on it?

Thank you, No. 100 TF! Brittany Force, Clay Millican, Shawn Langdon, and, of course, Ron Capps. Shawn was up there every single run, giving me advice, so that was really cool. On our final licensing pass, we ran a 3.834 at 318.09; that was my first time going over 300 miles per hour.  

What was going through your mind the first time you staged the car?

Don’t oversteer it! That was my biggest thing. And to make sure I didn’t hit the clutch pedal back in after crossing the finish line. Both those things are second nature to me because of the Alcohol car, but other than that, I kind of just tried to clear my mind of everything and make sure I did my procedures right — pull the fuel on, let off the clutch, bump it in. I wasn’t focused on my lights at all this time around; I was just trying to make sure I saw yellow and get an e.t. slip.

How did the experience of a Top Fuel run compare to what you expected going in?

Everything that everyone said was going to happen, happened. The Top Fuel car, it goes out there, leaves hard, the motor drops, and then it accelerates super hard, but when the rpm drops, it starts going faster. That seems so backwards to me, but it’s exactly what happened. Ron and Rob and Troy and Chuck and Shawn Langdon, and everyone who spent a lot of time answering all my questions, were so helpful. There was a time with one of my burnouts, it hung the throttle open a little bit and it was idling high and I couldn’t stop it; that was one of my questions, and they told me to lean it out and if it doesn’t kill it right away, hit the switch, and that’s what I did, but I think it just goes back to being surrounded by great people and great mentors who are helping me learn and made sure we were at the point of being able to successfully license.

How did you prepare for this moment?

As far as the starting line goes, I built a mechanism with our clutch pedal assembly and throttle pedal that matched what we had in the Alcohol trailer, and I practiced my procedures on that. Everything from pulling the fuel on when they start it, to letting off the clutch when you go to do the burnout, staging the car, pulling the parachutes, all of that. We have a mini [starting line] Tree at my house, and I would practice my reaction times on the Tree, and then I’d also set up in-car videos of Shawn Langdon in front of me, and I’d go through the entire run. I probably did that like 300 times, just trying to prep and get ready. I also asked a million questions! So, thank you to Ron and Rob and Troy and Shawn for answering all my questions.

What surprised you most about driving a Top Fuel dragster compared to Top Alcohol Funny Car?

How hard it pushes you when it puts a cylinder out. I knew it pushed you around, but these things push you hard, and I was really surprised by how aggressively it shoves you over when one goes out. But honestly, you can’t really compare it. In the Alcohol Funny Car, you’re revving it up and you’re dropping the clutch, you’re shifting it twice, yanking it around, it usually carries the front end to 200 feet, and then it sets it back down. Everything in the Alcohol car happens between the start and the eighth-mile; that’s the gnarliest part, and after that, it mellows out.

Once you get to the eighth-mile, as long as you’re not out of the groove, you’re cruising. But with the fuel car, it’s gnarly from start to 500 feet, and then it gets even crazier when you go from 500 feet to the back half. You keep going faster, and that’s the opposite of the Alcohol car. The driving style is just completely different. I can’t really directly compare it to driving the Alcohol car, but I do think having that experience really helped me with being able to make those quick decisions and split-second seat-of-the-pants driving calls you have to make.

What has been the biggest learning curve so far?

Realizing that you do have to drive out of your comfort zone to a certain extent. I’m not going to be comfortable going 330 miles per hour; I’m obviously new to this, so of course I’m going to be uncomfortable for a bit, it’s just a matter of how far out of your comfort zone you can drive, so I was being a bit more timid those first few runs. It put some cylinders out, it pushed hard, and I let off. I think an experienced driver would’ve been able to drive through that, but me, I was feeling a little bit behind the car, so I didn’t feel like I could correct it back. It’s just going to be a matter of building confidence; the more times I go out on the racetrack, the more things I feel. 

The last run we made, it shook, but it wasn’t really that bad of shake. It’s questionable whether it would’ve made it or not. I just need more seat time. I’m a person who processes things over time, so having this week now to kind of decompress and debrief before getting back in the car next week is really good for me because I’m going through all these rounds in my head over and over, and I think I’ll feel a lot more prepared heading into testing next week. Even though I’m out of the car right now, I still feel like I’m learning a lot by replaying it in my head.

How have Ron and your team helped you through your first runs in the car?

The people who have taught me to drive are experienced. Every single run, I talk to Ron, and I’m like, "Hey, what did you think about that? Did it get out of the groove? Was it drivable? Not drivable?"’ I ask Chuck questions, I talk to Rob and Troy about the tune-up, and did I go straight, should I have done X, Y, or Z? I trust their opinion and know they’re going to be straight up with me if I need to change something or if I did something wrong. Without Chuck, Rob, Troy, and, of course, Ron, I couldn’t have done this. I ask them a lot of questions, and fortunately, they’re patient and are so helpful.

Gordon will make her Professional Top Fuel debut with Ron Capps Motorsports aboard the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, March 6-8, at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla., when the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season commences. Before the race weekend, Gordon is scheduled to complete two additional days of testing in Gainesville, March 3-4.