NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After an exciting day of qualifying that yielded performances much better than could probably be expected for a track on which most of the teams have never run, qualifying for NHRA Nationals at The Rock concludes today with two final qualifying sessions.

All of the teams got valuable data in yesterday's great conditions that yielded brand new track records, and they're sure to only improve on that in qualifying sessions three and four. With just five races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, every point is valuable, and teams are going all out to try to earn the sometimes crucial session bonus points.

Top Fuel low qualifier Doug Kalitta is a perfect example of that. He came into the event trailing his teammate, Shawn Langdon, by 11 points but after having the best run of both Top Fuel sessions Friday, he's cut that lead to just five points. World championship battles over the last decade have often been won by single-digit margins and all the teams are aware of that, knowing that even though the big points winning is done on Sunday, these "baby points" can be just as important.

Kalitta’s teammate, points leader Langdon, had a comparatively off day Friday in the cloudy are dragster as he wound up just No. 7 on the qualifying sheets after a pair of runs plagued by at least one drop cylinder. Crew chief Brian Husen, who has tuned Langdon to wins at the last two,events, is sure to be working on righting that ship before they get to Sunday's final eliminations.

Ron Capps leads the Funny Car field after two great runs. His first run, a 3.92, was the second quickest of the first session and his final pass a dazzling 3.87, was the best of the final session to give him the lead heading into today's final two laps. Two-time world champ Austin Prock is nipping at his heels with a 3.890, and another former world champion, Jack Beckman, looked especially racy with back-to-back runs of 3.911.

In Pro Stock, Matt Hartford had the best run of the first session and struggled a little bit in Q2, but seems like his Total Seal team has a good handle on track conditions. Unlike the KB Titan team from whom he gets his engines and who tests often at Rockingham Dragway, Harford is kind of a man on his own island, handling his own tune-up calls and chassis adjustments without input from the KB team. What he's done so far to be near the front of the points chase is impressive and the veteran campaigner from Arizona says he has every intentions of seeing it through to the championship, which would be his first. Behind him are the juggernaut KB Titan team and Elite Performance teams who will be looking to unseat him in qualifying, especially because there's a first round bye for the No. 1 qualifier based on the 15-car field.

Indy winner Angie Smith leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle field after racing past her husband, Matt, in a second qualifying session to barely steal the top spot from him. The Matt Smith Racing team looks strong but you can bet that their rivals from the Vance & Hines team will be working hard to close the distance in today's two final runs.

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel: 3.683 secs. by Doug Kalitta; 338.09 mph by Kalitta
Funny Car: 3.870 secs. by Ron Capps; 331.61 mph by J.R. Todd
Pro Stock: 6.476 secs. by Matt Hartford; 212.87 mph by Hartford
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 6.675 secs. by Angie Smith; 204.17 mph by Matt Smith

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, Sept. 26
NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 12:00 pm and 2:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, Sept. 27
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at 11:00 a.m.

TELEVISION

Sunday, Sept. 27, FOX Sports 1 (FS1), will televise three hours of qualifying coverage at 11:00 a.m. ET
Sunday, Sept. 27, FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will televise three hours of finals coverage at 3:00 p.m. ET

NATIONAL RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading, Pa.; 346.95 mph by Shawm Langdon, September ’26, Martin, Mich.
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd, Minn.; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona, Calif.
Pro Stock – 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March ‘25, Gainesville, Fla.; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14, Englishtown, N.J.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, October ‘23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July ’21, Sonoma, Calif.