NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2

“Saturday on the Saddle” has a nice ring to it, and that’s because round two of qualifying, which was supposed to feature the “Battle for the Saddle” and the bonus cash, was postponed from last night due to cold temperatures.

But that didn’t stop the class from throwing down in the cool Saturday air, and Joey Gladstone found himself on top of the saddle, taking home the cash after clocking a whopping 6.653.

“That was massive, and it felt really good,” said Gladstone at the top end.

Matt Smith set the track speed record with a 204.61 but fell to the number three spot after (6.673) Gaige Herrera’s run from last night held, but moved him down to number two.

Richard Gadson made a massive move on the ladder as he was seated no. 12 after last night’s run but now finds himself in the no. 5 provisional position.

GT Tonglet also improved on last night's run, dropping from 7.050 to 6.956, as he and his family run team chip away at the track this weekend.

Hector Arana Jr. and John Hall also made improvements during Q2, but they weren’t quite enough as they’re still sitting on the outside looking in.

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PRO STOCK Q2

Round one of qualifying produced the second-quickest Pro Stock field in history, and Q2 nearly produced an all-6.40 field for the first time in Pro Stock history. Crew chiefs were chomping at the bit as the conditions were “just right,” as Goldilocks would say, for the naturally aspirated machines.

In true Texas fashion, since everything is bigger in Texas, Aaron Stanfield not only won the “Battle of the Saddle” bonus, but he did it by tying the national e.t. record (and track record, of course) of 6.433 at 213.42 with Greg Anderson.

Anderson first set the record in 2025 in Gainesville in qualifying (6.433 at 212.06).

The field was also dangerously close to making history as an all 6.40-field (Shane Tucker is sitting in 16th with a 6.502). Before this round of qualifying, only two 6.44 passes existed in history, and today there were three in one session. Furthermore, Greg Anderson set the season-best run at 6.464 in Maryland.

Cody Anderson bumped his way into the field (6.468) after sitting on the outside looking in. Now, it’s Mason McGaha, Clifford Mayes, and Jerry Tucker.

Lastly, Kenny Delco ran his quickest time of the year at 6.471.

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TOP FUEL Q3

It's a record-ready 60 degrees as the first fuelers find fire, and hopes are high for performances as good (and hopefully better) than last night. We didn't quite get there but had four cars run in the 3.60s led by Shawn Langdon, who has so far swept all nine available session points with the best run of the first three sessions. This time it was a 3.657 (his best is 3.648 from last night).

No surprise here, either, as Doug Kalitta was right behind his teammate with a 3.677 at 340.57 mph, and he ran it alongside Langdon's 339.47-mph blast, making it the fastest side-by-side pairing in Top Fuel history.

Leah Pruett was third with her second 3.6-second pass of the weekend, a 3.691. Antron Brown clocked his first 340-mph pass at 340.03 in 3.693 seconds to round out the 360 Club.

Shawn Reed (3.727), Dan Mercier (3.748), Spencer Massey (3.758), class rookies Jake Sanders (3.844) and Chuck Loftin (3.926), and Cameron Ferre (4.021) all improved on their previous bests.

We're only a couple of spots from a record-quick field, with No. 14 Spencer Massey's 3.758 matching the bump spot from the 2022 U.S. Nationals. Sanders (3.844) is on the bump with Tony Schumacher No. 15 at 3.809.

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FUNNY CAR Q3

Alexis DeJoria and the Mine Neff- and Jonnie Lindberg-tuned Bandero Cafe team continued their performance resurgence with low e.t of the session (she was quickest in two of four sessions in Rockingham), a 3.875 that was just a few ticks off their Friday-night "hero run" of 3.873.

Three-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Ron Capps' NAPA Toyota was second-quick of the round with a 3.899 but exploded the blower in the lights that lifted his machine's rear tires off the ground for several hundred feet. He was not injured.

"It was running fine," he related. "I know Guido [crew chief Dean Antonelli] was trying to run an .80, and it started just going left a little bit down there, and I wasn't sure, maybe it had a hole out, but it didn't feel like it did. It blew right before the lights. It was one of the biggest concussions I've had in a while, and I am shocked it didn't do more damage."

Austin Prock became the 15th driver to qualify in the threes this weekend with a 3.930 that was third best of the round but only the 13th-best on the qualifying sheets.

This is the fourth time in history that we've had 15 three-second qualifiers, and we're still looking for that first all-three-second field. Chris King is on the bump with a career-best 4.038 (and, thus, obviously has never run in the threes), but behind him are past three-second runners Jeff Arend, Jim Campbell, Terry Haddock, and Jeff Diehl, so hopes are still there.