by Bobby Bennett, Susan Wade; Photos by Alex Owens, Auto Imagery, Nicole Clark
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – BEERS, GUITAR AND CASH STEAL THE SHOW ON FRIDAY IN BRAINERD
1 – IT’S THE BEER FACTOR – Austin Prock continued his strong Funny Car campaign Friday by earning the provisional No. 1 qualifier and winning the American Rebel Light “Battle for the Rebel Axe” at Brainerd (MN) International Raceway during the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
Prock delivered a 3.893-second run at 331.45 mph in his Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS to top the session and claim the $4,000 bonus along with the event’s Rebel Axe trophy.
The performance placed Prock on the “Throne of the North,” a promotional display made from cases of American Rebel Light beer, and extended a streak that could lead to his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season. Prock, who won the most recent NHRA event in Sonoma, has a chance to clinch the regular-season title this weekend.
“You know, when American Rebel Light is part of a race, we seem to do well in this Cornwell Tools Camaro,” Prock said. “We seem to run pretty well, so it was cool to collect the cash, and the guitar. It’s a good way to start the weekend here in Brainerd.”
Despite the top speed, Prock said the car wasn’t easy to handle on either run.
“On both runs today, my steering wheel was pretty far to the left, so it had my hands full a little bit there,” he said. “I wanted to be prepared for that, and definitely felt a little loose down there, but it still ran 331 mph, so it couldn’t have been slipping too badly.”
Prock emphasized the importance of tuning consistency as the Countdown to the Championship approaches less than a month from now.
“To win these races and win these championships, we’ve got to be able to go down all conditions of racetracks,” Prock said. “So, we have a pretty good notebook right now.”
Jack Beckman, who returned to Funny Car competition at Brainerd in 2024, sits second after a 3.907 pass. Ron Capps, whose seven Brainerd wins lead all active Funny Car drivers, is third with a 3.920 at 330.39.
2 – AB FINISHES ON THE THRONE – Reigning Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown secured the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday at Brainerd International Raceway with a 3.742-second pass at 334.90 mph during the 43rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
The run also earned Brown the top prize in the American Rebel Light “Battle for the Rebel Axe,” including a $4,000 bonus and the custom Rebel Axe trophy.
Brown’s 12,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster outran a tight field to place him atop the “Throne of the North,” made from cases of American Rebel Light beer, in the 13th event of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
“It felt good. The track was a bit tricky. We didn’t get the clutch right on the first run, but that run definitely made up for it,” Brown said. “We got to do what we wanted to do, which was run the race track. The car was straight, stayed nimble and felt good. It sets us up good for tomorrow.”
If the performance holds, it will be Brown’s first No. 1 qualifier since the season-opening race in Gainesville, Florida, which he won. He has six career wins at Brainerd combined in Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
“We’ve got a little hole to dig out of in the points to get where we want, so I’m super pumped and happy for that run,” Brown said. “I don’t often drink beer, but when I do it will be American Rebel Light.”
Clay Millican was second on the qualifying sheet after going 3.746 at 330.72 mph, and points leader Shawn Langdon slotted in third with a 3.753 at 334.82.
3 – THE HOMESTATER DELIVERS – Greg Anderson powered to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday night at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals with a 6.614-second pass at 204.76 mph in his Pro Stock Camaro, edging teammate Dallas Glenn by two-thousandths of a second.
If the run holds through Saturday, it will mark Anderson’s 137th career No. 1 qualifier and his fifth of the 2025 NHRA season.
“Well, it felt really nice,” Anderson said of the run. “Before the run, I told all my guys, we made a nice run on the first run and I think I was second and I said, ‘Look, guys, I know you just want to go out there and make a nice run tonight, but I want that guitar. I want those cases of beer.’”
The Friday qualifying session at Brainerd included a special “Battle for the Rebel Axe” bonus for low qualifiers. Anderson said he thrives on such challenges.
“Anytime that anybody puts up a special bounty like that, it means the world to a guy like me,” he said. “I love any extra thing you can try and achieve out there. And it could be a $2 walleye fish at the finish line. It doesn’t matter. It’s something special. It’s something cool to note that you did something better than everybody else that night.”
Anderson said he knew the run was strong the moment he launched.
“I could tell when I left the starting line that I had a great chance and you never know until you get to the finish line, but it felt perfect,” he said. “Good enough by .002 of a second, which is as good as a mile.”
The weekend is especially significant for Anderson, who began his Pro Stock career working as an apprentice for John Hagen at the Brainerd facility. In 1983, he was on the starting line when Hagen was fatally injured in a crash.
“This is where it all started right here,” Anderson said. “Obviously, I had tragedy here, but I have a lot of great times here too. So it’s been everything. The ultimate low, but they’ve all been highs too.”
Anderson has won three times at Brainerd, the track he once called home. He said the event gives him a rare chance to reconnect with family and friends in the area.
“I don’t come back during the year just to visit,” he said. “I just work all the time. I don’t have time to leave. So this is the only time I get to do that. Thank God that Brainerd still has the race.”
Anderson also praised the racing surface, which contributed to quick performances across the Pro Stock field Friday night. “This is one of the best surfaces we run on all year long,” he said. “Everybody picked up like a ton tonight and punched right up. That tells you how great the racetrack is.”
While other tracks offer elevation or weather challenges, Anderson said Brainerd’s combination of mild altitude and a solid surface makes it unique.
“You bring everything you can find in your trailer, you bring to the starting line and this racetrack takes it,” Anderson said. “It’s going to be hard to race.”
4 – THE BATTLE FOR THE THRONE – The Friday night qualifying session at Brainerd International Raceway featured a new twist during the 43rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, with the debut of the American Rebel Light “Battle for the Rebel Axe.”
The session awarded bonus payouts and a custom trophy to the top qualifiers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock. The No. 1 qualifiers in Top Fuel and Funny Car each received $4,000, while the top Pro Stock qualifier earned $2,000. They also received the Rebel Axe trophy – a fully functional electric cigar-box guitar shaped like a 12-pack of American Rebel Light.
The unique award is branded with event and sponsor logos and pays tribute to Brainerd’s heritage and its legendary connection to Paul Bunyan.
Winners sat atop the “Throne of the North,” built from 100 American Rebel Light cases. At the end of qualifying, Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Austin Prock (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) claimed their thrones and custom guitar.
Anderson took the award away from teammate Dallas Glenn, and it might have been just as well he did.
“We got all that beer, and the funny thing is Dallas was on the case of beer when I was [running],” Anderson said. “He doesn’t even drink. So it’s only fitting. I drink. I love the beer. He doesn’t drink at all. So it would’ve been a total waste. So I think I did Dallas a favor. That’s the common look at this. I did Dallas a favor, and we’re going to drink that beer.”
5 – REED REVEALS LONG-TERM GOAL – Nothing against his substitute, Jordan Vandergriff, but Top Fuel team owner Shawn Reed, on the mend from a hand injury from the Seattle race, admitted he wasn’t rah-rah about watching Vandergriff make that first pass in the Reed Trucking and Excavating dragster Friday afternoon.
“I spent three million bucks so I could drive it myself, so I didn’t like that at all. I’d rather have y’all hit me in the feet with sledgehammers. But good for Jordan,” Reed said.
Asked if he ever thought he’d relinquish his driver’s seat to a “Bachelorette” TV show star whose name on the car says “Hollywood,” Reed joked, “No, but he is a pretty boy, and I like him.”
However, Reed offered some insight into his career game plan.
He said before the weird experience of being a spectator as someone else driving his dragster that “it’s going to definitely be different, but I always had this in my plan. I mean, I wanted to drive four or five or six years, and then I want to hopefully be funded enough and let some other people get in this car and come into the sport.
“We just got to get JV, got to get him a little bit of money, get him some sponsorships, and he needs to be out here. Him and a few other people need to be out here,” Reed said.
6 – REED EYEING NO. 5 ON HIS DRAGSTER – Top Fuel’s Shawn Reed, whose accident at Seattle last month cost him his left index finger and resulted in a pin being inserted into a thumb, said his healing is progressing well – and that he still plans to return to the driver’s seat at Reading for the first race of the Countdown.
“It’s almost four weeks since my crash, and healing’s doing pretty good,” he said. “I went in 10 days after my surgery and wasn’t really ready to take the stitches out, but we got them out anyway and got me in a half splint.” He said the medical staff in Seattle “wanted to put me in a full cast, but they put me in a half splint just so I could start moving my fingers.”
Eager to get back to his new normal, Reed said, “I wanted a rapid return, so just under the surgeon’s eye and physical therapy and all that stuff. I’m moving my fingers now, and another week and a half I get my pin out, so that’ll be right before Indy. Then I hit physical therapy pretty dang hard for two weeks leading up to Reading, which [is when] I hope to be back in the seat.”
Reed is adamant about competing at all six Countdown events, starting with the Sept. 11-14 Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish at Maple Grove Raceway. It’s an ambitious plan, but Reed is pragmatic, if a bit reluctantly.
“That’s when I want to be back, and of course, yeah, I’ve got some Plan Bs. If for some reason I can’t get back there, then we’ll probably end up putting Jordan [Vandergriff] in the car [again] or something, for sure. But I want to be the man responsible for the last six races,” he said.
“I want to take that 10 off my car. I don’t like that 10. I don’t like a nine. I don’t like an eight. I want to move up in the Countdown, and I want a five or better on my wing at the end of the year. So that’s what I strive for, and hopefully I can be the one running all them six races.”
Reed said he knows he has some time left before Vandergriff exhausts the NHRA substitute driver policy.
“So Jordan would be collecting points for me here, which is great. It is a great rule. Keeps me in the ballgame, because if I didn’t field a car here or Indy, then there’s an outside chance that I could be caught by somebody in 11th or 12th spot. So by me showing up and getting the points, it kind of, I think, stops that kind of program,” Reed said.
“I should stay in the top 10, I’m thinking, which – that’s what we want to do, stay in the top 10 just so we have a chance – because anybody … Robert Hight won this thing from the No. 10 spot before. And I’ve seen it, so I’m not going to go on a limb and say I’m going to win it, but that No. 10 ain’t going back on my wing, I promise.”
7 – VANDERGRIFF NOT GIVING UP ON DREAM – Jordan Vandergriff, Shawn Reed’s substitute for at least this event, said he came into the weekend for his first driving opportunity since 2019 with the same mindset he brings to the FOX pit reporter job he has had since stepping from the cockpit.
“I come in today really confident,” Vandergriff said. “I know in 2019, it was my rookie year, and I did pretty good. So I know that if I just do what I did then, I’ll be OK. And then, obviously, this is a quicker car than I’m used to. This is a very, very good, fast race car, so it’s going to be a little quicker. But I think I’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly.”
Preparation for both assignments is similar, he said: “I think I approach everything the same way. I approach it with a certain level of confidence, and I’m also willing to be taught and know I don’t know everything.”
As for doing his homework in either role, Vandergriff said, “I’ll tell you what, I get real nervous on the TV. In the beginning of the TV stuff, my heart would be racing. I would be waiting for Steve [Reintjes, NHRA’s vice-president of broadcasting] to get in my ear, and tell me when to go. And I think I feel more comfortable here, just being here with the crew and the guys. Coming here this morning, it just feels like I’ve been here before, because I have been. So, it feels nice to be back in that sort of swing of things. I’m ready to go, ready to stay on the gas.”
Through those nearly six years outside the confines of a Top Fuel dragster, Vandergriff said he has “never been close to giving up” on his vision of being a driver full time.
“I know that this is a dream of mine, and I’ve worked for it, and I’ve always wanted to work for it. No, never close to giving up. I’m still not close to giving up,” Vandergriff said. “This is a one-race deal as of right now, and there’s potential to do maybe one more. But, yeah, never given up on this driving thing. I know I do the TV stuff now, but I want to be a driver, and I think I’m going to do it.”
He said he isn’t disappointed his agreement with Reed covers only this race and maybe the U.S. Nationals. He said, “At this point, I’ll take anything I can get. So I’ll take this one race and … we’ll see what shakes out there. But look, I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, it’s been five years, and I’m just so happy to be back at the racetrack. Ready to go.”
Vandergriff said he “would be just as excited” to return to competition in a Funny Car, if the chance came up.
“Look, I’ve maybe had some experience in both. And the Funny Cars are very, very – they’re just a different animal. And I think I’m a dragster guy right now,” he said. “I grew up watching my uncle [Bob Vandergriff], so I’ve always loved dragsters. I want to spend some more time in a dragster. But if I got a call for a Funny Car, I will change my personality, and I’ll hop right in that thing, for sure. I would drive anything right now.”
8 – SO WHAT HAPPENED TO BUDDY HULL? – The Funny Car racer didn’t think anything much had messed up his hand in the final qualifying-session accident at Sonoma, California, in which a violent engine explosion sent his car into the sand trap.
However, he ended up with a couple of fractures, some temporary nerve damage, and bone contusions and inflammation that’s taking a few weeks to heal.
“It’s just a matter of making sure that my thumb and my index finger can fully function,” said Hull, who is serving this weekend as analyst in the public-address booth while Jim Campbell drives his Jim Dunn Racing entry. “That’s the biggest thing. A fuel Funny Car is something [where] there are moments where your left hand is the only thing on the wheel and you don’t have your right hand available, so it’s got to be right.”
He said his physical therapy is going well and that he actually is ahead of the healing curve.
“I’m on a very aggressive program,” Hull said. “We’re doing a laser therapy on it, ice, cryo – all this stuff to try to get it sped up. And I am ahead of the curve. The swelling is way down.
“As soon as the contusions calm down … they’re going to start doing some manual therapy to start getting my hand working again,” he said.
With pride and confidence and the trademark Buddy Hull optimism, he said, “I’m a fast healer. Believe me, I’m a fast healer. It won’t be long. So we’re just doing everything we can do. But the good news is I’ve seen three doctors, and all three of them say the same thing: I’ll recover 100 percent – and that doesn’t happen for everybody. And part of it was because of my physical build. I have really big, thick hands, so my hands were able to take the brunt of the force. So it’ll be all right.”
At first he thought he just had a puncture wound, which was serious enough to require four stitches.
“I knew I had basically something go through my hand, but that’s some stitches and you’re good to go. But by Tuesday morning it wasn’t looking so good. My hand looked like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man or the Pillsbury Doughboy or whatever you want to call it,” Hull said. “So just a couple fractures in there, a couple small fractures that are probably two to three weeks to heal those, what they’re saying; four weeks at the most.”
The firewall came down and hit him hard, too. He said, “It did some nerve damage, right? Not permanent, but it hit the nerves, and so they’re waking back up. So I got to give those time to wake back up. There’s really no timeframe.”
He explained the accident: “So when it blew up, the firewall came back, went over the driver’s shield, and then landed on my hands on the steering wheel. And then I ripped my hands off the wheel and the firewall fell on my lap. You can see it in the pictures. So I had no access to the steering wheel, no access to the brake handle. They were completely blocked off.”
9A – HIRED GUN – Jim Campbell is substituting this weekend for injured Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car driver Buddy Hull; ironically, his replacement a couple of years ago. But no hard feelings at all for Campbell, who said he doesn’t mind the label of hired gun.
“Well, it’s better than having no gun,” Campbell quipped. “It’s good to be back and … this is kind of like family to me. And anything I can do to help these guys out, it’s always a benefit.”
He figured Jim, Diane, and Jon Dunn gave him the call because “I know the routines. I’ve been here and I’ve done it before. And everyone’s been super-receptive. I’m stoked. I love the Dunns, and when they called me up and said, ‘Hey, might need you to drive because Buddy’s hand’s hurt,’ I’m always going to take care of the people that helped me out in this sport originally. So absolutely I’m going to take care of them and keep this car in the Countdown and see what we can do.”
Campbell is earning points for Hull, who entered the weekend in 14th place. Hull has competed at all events and therefore is eligible to enter the six-race playoffs.
Brainerd International is one of Campbell’s favorite tracks. “We’ve run good at this track. We’ve had our issues, too, when the parachutes didn’t come out and when the parachutes blew out. So make sure all that stuff’s good,” Campbell said before his first pass of the weekend, when he took the car for a planned half-track spurt. “Brand new car, take it out there, probably punch it to half-track and make sure that everything works good and then go after it,” he said. “They’re a Countdown car, so we’ll make sure they’re ready and rockin’ going into the U.S. Nationals.”
9B – BILLY BILLY PULLS DOUBLE-DUTY – For the first time in recent memory, Billy Torrence is back behind the wheel of his Top Fuel dragster while his son, four-time NHRA world champion Steve Torrence, is away from the track.
The elder Torrence, 67, is competing in both Top Fuel and Super Comp this weekend, stepping into the driver’s seat while Steve focuses on family, business, and life outside of drag racing.
“I never even gave it any thought,” Billy said when asked if he imagined racing while Steve sat out. “I really enjoy him doing it more than me, but, no, I hadn’t given that any thought.”
While it might seem unusual to see the Torrence patriarch in action without his son, Billy said it feels normal given Steve’s current priorities.
“Steve, it’s about to be hunting season, and it’s been lake season, so Steve’s been a little preoccupied with kids and what have you,” Billy said. “I think he’s going down to the ranch and getting all his hunting stuff going on. I told him, I said, ‘Heck, I’ll go race that old car.’ He says, ‘Have at it.’”
Billy said he’s proud to see his son embracing life outside the racetrack and focusing on family.
“We’ve been trying to tell him that for the last couple of years, or he’s been trying to tell us that,” he said. “We got a couple of brand new grandkids, and we’re really enjoying that. Mama Kay, she’s out there with them, but we still intend to do some racing. We’ll just do it on a need-to basis. When we want to go, we will.”
At age 67, Torrence laughed off any notion that he might be taking on too much.
“No. Is that right?” he joked when asked if someone told him not to race two cars at his age.
He acknowledged Steve’s growing involvement with the family’s CAPCO Contractors business, a transition Billy always envisioned as part of his retirement plan.
“That’s a big business, and he does more and more all the time,” he said. “So I have to do a little less and less, because at my extended age, I’m going to take off on him one of these days.”
Billy said Steve has always had other interests and is now balancing work and family life, while Kay Torrence stays busy overseeing the construction of a new lake house.
“Really just the kids, that’s been the biggest part of slowing down and smelling the roses,” he said.
10 – OLD HABITS ARE HARD TO BREAK – Greg Stanfield may have a full crew at Elite Motorsports, but that didn’t keep the veteran Pro Stock driver from getting elbow-deep in the work as his new Camaro was being prepared for its first qualifying run Friday at Brainerd International Raceway.
Despite the resources around him, the five-time NHRA champion was back in familiar territory—wrench in hand, directing the effort to bring a brand-new car to life.
“I’m a jack of all trades, a master of none,” Stanfield said as he worked alongside his crew in the staging lanes. “It’s a new car, so it’s just going to take a little bit to get all the little bugs [out] and kind of [do] things how we want it done.”
Stanfield confirmed the team hadn’t made a pass yet but was working to make the transmission shift more smoothly before its first attempt. “The first pass might be a little off, but we’ll get there,” he said.
Coming off a final-round win at the Sonoma Nationals, where he defeated his son, Aaron Stanfield, Greg said there’s no time to rest on his laurels.
“He’s might be a driver, but he’s always worked on his own race cars throughout his whole career, so I don’t think he knows any better,” Aaron said. “But to get in there and get his hands dirty and work on his car. I think he really enjoys that aspect of racing. So that’s what you see.
“Besides, I just don’t think you can’t teach that old dog new tricks like that. He likes working on his race cars, so. And of course all these guys, Elite Motorsports, they appreciate his input and he enjoys it.”
