Photos by Rhonda McCole, Chis Haverly, Adam Dobbs
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK – ANDERSON EARNS 1,000TH ROUND-WIN, TORRENCE HALTS STEWART’S FINAL-ROUND STREAK AT FIVE RACES IN VICTORY, HULL KNOCKS OUT PROCK FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK
1 –TORRENCE ON COMEBACK TRAIL? – Steve Torrence said he knows he and his Capco Contractors dragster team “don’t have the race car that we had in the dominant run of four championships, but we’re working on getting it back there.”
He took a mighty step Sunday, defeating Justin Ashley in the final round to claim his 56th Top Fuel victory, which pushed him past Doug Kalitta on the class’ all-time victories list. He became the fourth-winningest driver behind Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, and Larry Dixon. It was his first win since the Seattle race last July.
“This is way too much work to not enjoy it. Whether you make a living at it or not, it’s a lot of work,” Torrence said. “We just had to recenter, refocus, and kind of get our minds back on what we’re trying to do. And it’s not run (stunning elapsed times). It’s not set records. It’s win races, win rounds, and that’s sometimes … you get preoccupied with what you’re doing. Sometimes you just need to reassess and refocus. And that’s where we’re at. We got to remember how much fun we’re having.”
Torrence denied final-round opponent Ashley a first victory of the year. Ashley last enjoyed victory last October at Dallas.
2 – CAPPS BREAKS THROUGH WITH BRISTOL-BEST WIN – Funny Car’s Ron Capps needed a feel-good weekend, and Bristol was the perfect place for it. Capps defeated Paul Lee in the final round to become Bristol Dragway’s most successful NHRA racer with eight victories. This first triumph of the season – his first in 643 days, since the 2023 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis – broke a tie with Top Fuel’s Tony Schumacher. It was the 77th victory of his career in his 155th final.
2A – LEE CONTINUES TO AMASS A CAREER-BEST SEASON – Headed into Bristol, Paul Lee had been a boss in qualifying having qualified no lower than third in the first seven event event. A tricky track combined with complex conditions related him to his worst qualifying effort of the year in eighth.
Those details that provided such a challenge in qualifying worked in Lee’s favor as he reached his third final round of the season. Lee now has five final rounds in the last two season.
3 – ANDERSON SECOND ONLY TO JOHN FORCE IN ROUND WINS – On the way to his 110th Pro Stock victory, Greg Anderson recorded the 1,000th elimination-round victory. That makes him the second-most winning NHRA driver behind only John Force. The driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevy Camaro made it 1,001 with his victory over KB Titan teammate Dallas Glenn in their fifth final-round meeting of the season.
Anderson’s milestone achievement came in the semifinals against David Cuadra. However, Anderson said he wasn’t interested in resting on that accomplishment.
He said his car “left the starting line and carried the front end so nice and so smooth. We got it down through there on a beautiful run. Number 1,000 … that’s pretty damn cool. But I came for 1,001. I want 1,001 bad. If I don’t leave with it, I’m going to be a little bit disappointed. It’s obviously a huge accomplishment. The KB Titan team is just absolutely on target right now.”
Anderson wasn’t disappointed. He took advantage of Glenn’s red-light foul start to claim his 110th victory in his 188th final. The points leader became the first four-time winner this season in any pro class.
“Winning a race is what means everything to me,” Anderson said. “Big day at Bristol – magical place for me.”
4 – GADSON NOTCHES FIRST VICTORY – Richard Gadson added his name to the list of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle winners, defeating two-time and reigning champion Gaige Herrera in the final round.
“He’s been diggin’ and busting butt. He’s worked hard, and now he’s holding a Wally,” crew chief Eddie Krawiec said.
“Wow. I can’t believe this is mine,” Gadson said, holding his first Wally trophy. “This is so much bigger than me.” He said it was for his family, friends, and supporters during his 20-year preparation for this moment. “This is the most exhausting thing I’ve done in my life.”
The Pro Stock Motorcycle winner was guaranteed to come from the Vance & Hines camp – the team had three semifinalists, including top qualifier Brayden Davis. But Davis double-clutched at the starting line in the third round and yielded the victory to Herrera. Gadson defeated Chase VanSant in the other semifinal.
5 – AGAIN?! AAAUGH! – For the second straight week, Funny Car points leader Austin Prock lost to Buddy Hull in the opening round of eliminations. Both times Prock was the No. 1 qualifier and Hull the 16th and final starter.
Prock climbed from his car at the end of the track, walked to his team’s tow vehicle, and punched it in frustration. When he composed himself, the John Force Racing driver said, “Just (the) tires stood up out there. And by the time I was ready to lift, the thing shut off, and I was just coasting down there. So frustrated. We got all these safety parameters on these things now because the rear ends explode, and that bit us there. So, really frustrated. I guess I could have caught it quicker and maybe we could have lived on, but definitely, definitely upset.
He later said, “These things are hard to catch when you blow the tires off. You’re making decisions in thousandths of a second.”
6 – HULL OF A ROLLER-COASTER RIDE – Funny Car first-round upset winner Buddy Hull said 91-year-old team owner “Big Jim” Dunn told him before his match against No. 1 qualifier Austin Prock, “We’ve never had a clutch like this, so be ready.” After scoring his second upset of Prock within a week’s time, Hull said, “I’m probably not Austin’s favorite guy right now, but we’ll be OK later. He’s a great guy. Austin and those guys, they’re incredible. There’s a reason why it says No. 1 on the side of their car.”
The underdog’s celebration was short-lived. In his next run, in a loss to Paul Lee, Hull’s car wound up in the catch net at the end of the sand trap when his parachutes failed to deploy. He was unhurt.
“I’m perfectly fine. I got the best safety gear that you can put on your body,” Hull said. “We just don’t know what happened.” Then, referring to actor John Schneider, who played Bo Duke in the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard” and singer “God Bless America” in Sunday’s pre-race ceremonies, Hull said, “Bo Duke’s here. I didn’t want to take that kind of lesson from him, but you know what, that’s exactly what happened, because (the car was) completely airborne until I hit the net. If you’re listening, come and see me. We need to shake hands. I just pulled one of your moves, brother. But no, we’re all good. I feel terrible. (The crew has) got to fix this mess. You better believe we’ll be back out here.”
7 – NATAAS MAKES POSITIVE DEBUT – Julie Nataas, a Top Alcohol Dragster champion who had a one-time opportunity last fall at St. Louis in Scrappers Racing’s Top Fuel dragster, made her Funny Car debut in Del Worsham’s entry at Bristol.
She did it in style, upsetting No. 4 starter Jack Beckman in the opening round out of the No. 13 qualifying spot. She exited her car and revealed that sponsor Airmine has signed on for the June 26-29 race at Norwalk, Ohio. She recognized the victory was a milestone moment but said, “I’m used to going a round in the alcohol car, so I wanted nothing less for my Funny Car debut. I knew we needed just a clean A-to-B pass, because I knew people were going to be struggling. I was just hoping it was not going to be us. We did it.”
Nataas, a native of Norway whose father, Thomas Nataas, raced in Top Fuel, lost to Dan Wilkerson in the quarterfinals.
8 – PRO MOD SCRAMBLE – In Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series action, Jordan Lazic’s winning first-round run was disqualified because of a technical violation. The fire pin was left in, making one of the safety systems inoperable; thus the cause for the DQ. With that, Stevie Jackson was reinstated, and he lost to J.R. Gray in the second round. Gray set low elapsed time of the meet at 5.762 seconds as he captured the trophy.
9 – HAVING FUN, ENJOYING RESULTS – “My, what lovely, long, blonde locks you have.” … “The better to back you up with, my dear.” … It sounds like a silly drag-racing-themed fairy tale knockoff of Little Red Riding Hood, but it was just the Tony Stewart Racing camp having a bit of fun. Car chief Ryan McGilvry was absent Saturday at Bristol so he could attend son Rayce’s high school graduation back in Brownsburg, Ind. Leah Pruett stepped in and substituted for McGilvry on Saturday, and she helped her husband win the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and secure his first No. 1 qualifying position. McGilvry returned for Sunday eliminations – with a “new ‘do.’” As he backed up Stewart from the burnout, he donned a long-haired blonde wig, doing his best to impersonate Pruett. Stewart advanced to the semifinals – and earned another shot, in two weeks at Richmond, to compete in the bonus race. But Steve Torrence halted Stewart’s streak of five final-round appearances.
10 – SCRUM BEHIND STARTING LINE – Security personnel at Bristol Dragway broke up a scuffle at the base of the tower between members of the KB Titan Racing and Elite Motorsports Pro Stock teams. D.J. Winters, of Greg Anderson’s crew, and Chase Freeman, an Elite crew chief, admittedly were the first to antagonize each other, and the disagreement grew into a bit of a hostile scrum. Although animosity between the two factions certainly is nothing new, the trigger point in this latest conflict was the late Saturday disqualification of Erica Enders’ fourth and final qualifying pass. According to an NHRA statement, “The disqualification was due to the use of rear wheels that did not meet NHRA’s approved specifications for Pro Stock. NHRA is conducting further investigation.” Despite the loss of that run, a prior pass got Enders into the field, and she beat Cory Reed in the first round before being eliminated by Anderson in Round Two.
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – ALL SMOKE NO MIRRORS, VENABLES DISPLAYS THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUSTING THE PROCESS, DQ’S ABOUND
1- SMOKE SCREEN IS THICK AT BRISTOL – Tony Stewart had a grand day in Bristol. Not only did he qualify No. 1, he also secured his first #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win.
His best run came in the Q3 session, where he ran a 3.755, 325.77, to not only leap to the top of the leaderboard, but also beat Antron Brown in the first round of the #2Fast2Tasty competition. He stopped the seemingly unstoppable Doug Kalitta in the final round of the specialty event.
“This is great, obviously. We’ve been in the final of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and haven’t been able to finish it. Now, to win one and get our first low qualifier is big,” Stewart said. “For our team, it’s a huge accomplishment. We keep checking boxes off. We’ve got a car that is repeatable and consistent.
“We’ve got tricky conditions out here. I know a lot of work has gone on here since last year, and I appreciate the effort that Bristol has put into it. That plays into our hands. We don’t have a car that can go 3.64, or that runs 340 mph. I’m actually encouraged about last week. In Epping, we were able to put up a respectable showing. To see what we did in these conditions, we feel like our program is just getting stronger and stronger.”
Stewart heads into Sunday’s eliminations having been to five consecutive final rounds and winning twice.
2 – #2FAST2KALITTA GETS SMOKED IN BRISTOL – For a while this season, it appeared no one could stop Doug Kalitta in the #2Fast2Tasty specialty event. And if Kalitta wasn’t the one to stop, then the Top Fuel field had to deal with his teammate, Shawn Langdon.
Then came motorsports icon and Top Fuel sophomore Stewart, whose team has learned to play to its strengths in the most relentless fashion.
Stewart ran a 3.803, 324.05, to stop a tire-smoking Kalitta in the final round.
“We’re not a team that’s going to run 340 or 341 in top-end speed,” Stewart said. “We’re not going to run 3.64 ET. So, you know, when the track is tricky like that and you have to back it off, it plays more into our hands. I’m encouraged about last week. To go to Epping and, where everybody’s really throwing down, and for us to be respectable like we were, that was a big gain.
“To be able to do what we do in these conditions like we had this week at Bristol and what we had in Chicago, and then go to Epping, where we got great conditions and see the increase in our performance, we just feel like our program just keeps getting stronger.”
While Kalitta Motorsports might not have won the Top Fuel portion of #2Fast2Tasty, it took honors in Funny Car via a resurgent J.L. Todd in the DHL Toyota.
One week after picking up the Epping Funny Car title, Todd ran 4.004 seconds at 326.24 miles per hour to defeat Jack Beckman on Saturday. With a six-round winning streak in his favor and two solid runs Saturday, Todd’s emergence as a serious contender is evident.
“I’ve said all along the more runs we make, the more data (crew chief Dickie (Venables) can collect. You can’t learn if you don’t go down the track. We just didn’t put a timeline on it. But the car has been trying to run well for a while going back to Chicago,” Todd said.
“Today, we wanted to run better than 4.00, but stupid things happened, especially yesterday. The car is responding to what Dickie is trying to do with it. This is definitely the track with the most character. You have to fight the car from half-track on. We’ve also had to dodge the weather. Hopefully, tomorrow, the weather holds off.”
It’s another welcome sign for the former champion, as Todd and his team, led by Venables, made two solid runs Saturday in ever-changing weather conditions.
Todd’s win ensured Kalitta Motorsports has secured a win at every Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge event in 2025.
Aaron Stanfield delivered a positive note for the Elite Motorsports team, stopping Matt Hartford in the Pro Stock final round. Hartford has been a force in the specialty race, having won three of the last five events.
Stanfield went 6.668 at 204.85 in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage car to slip past Matt Hartford by a razor-thin margin at the finish line.
“This does feel good. It’s the first thing we’ve won all year,” Stanfield said. “That was a really good race against Matt, and it shows how hard the Elite guys have worked and how much they’ve sacrificed. Hopefully, we can get a little momentum rolling. Our guys are getting us to within fighting distance.
“This meant a lot. To win the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, it looked like we’d won the whole race. We’re close enough to do some damage. We just need to keep working.”
In what could be considered an “off” weekend of qualifying, NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Gaige Hererra only qualified No. 4. However, that didn’t stop him from running roughshod over the field in the #2Fast2Tasty program.
Herrera picked up his second win of the season, running 6.891 at 196.30 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki to defeat Steve Johnson.
“It’s awesome seeing him (Brayden) doing so well. I might be taking that bike back for tomorrow. He’s young and doing a phenomenal job,” Herrera said. “For Brayden to qualify No. 1 and me to get the Mission win, it’s awesome for the whole Vance & Hines team. It’s amazing what our guys are able to do with three different bikes.”
3 – PROCK AND BRISTOL AFFAIR KEEPS ON GOING – Funny Car point leader Austin Prock secured the No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday’s 23rd NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Prock drove the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS, recording the two quickest times of the day at 3.931 and 3.958 seconds. Prock’s speed also reached a top mark of 329.10 mph.
Weather interruptions marked the day as the NHRA Safety Safari’s track drying equipment got extensive use.
“We had all four seasons here today,” Prock said. “The weather changed every five minutes. It’s tricky, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Prock heads into Sunday’s eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier for the second consecutive year at Bristol. This is the third time this season he has achieved this and the 18th time in 28 Funny Car races since taking the seat previously occupied by Robert Hight.
Last year at Bristol, Prock was dominant, posting the fastest times in every round en route to a victory over J.R. Todd in the final.
“We came out today on a mission and made two nice runs,” Prock said. “Our Q3 run was incredible. The success rate in that right lane was small, but we went to the top. We ran low of both sessions and that makes me feel really confident going into Sunday.”
Prock noted the challenge ahead, as he looks to improve upon a first-round upset loss last weekend to Buddy Hull, his opponent for Sunday.
“Really proud of this Cornwell Tools team and all the Cornwell Tools dealers out there making this happen for us,” he said. “We’ve got a good hot rod again this weekend, and hopefully, we can get the job done.”
4 – RENT-A-NO. 1 – Brayden Davis earned his first career No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle during his second NHRA event. He recorded a standout run of 6.834 seconds at 197.59 miles per hour on the Vance & Hines rental bike.
Davis dominated Friday’s qualifying session and faced challenges Saturday, but secured the top position with another strong performance. This achievement marked a surreal moment for the young racer, who showcased his talent on a high-performing bike.
“It’s hard to even believe … to come out here and run with the best of the best,” Davis said. “Coming in here, I knew I had a good bike, and it was left up to me to see how well I could ride. Honestly, before my first run, I was nervous.”
He emphasized his growing connection with crew chief Andrew Hines, who provided insight before the final run. “Before the last pass, he said it’s going to hit me a little harder, and if it makes it you’re going to the top. I definitely could feel the difference.”
Looking ahead, Davis is prepared for the competition on Sunday. “It’s going to be a dogfight tomorrow, and I’m ready for it.”
Teammate Richard Gadson holds the second position with a time of 6.859 seconds at 197.62 mph. Matt Smith is third after a run of 6.871 seconds at 199.46 mph.
5 – GLENN STAYS NO. 1 IN PRO STOCK – Dallas Glenn secured the GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award with a Friday run of 6.645 seconds at 205.60 miles per hour in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro. This marks Glenn’s seventh career top qualifier and his fourth attempt to win a race this season, facing Fernando Cuadra Jr., in the opening round of eliminations.
“Our last run was a really nice run, but we’re still just picking away at it,” Glenn said. “The conditions are tricky, so it was great to go out on the last one and put down a really solid run. We put about .018 seconds on the field, and that’s pretty substantial in Pro Stock. I knew it was on a good one, and I just tried not to mess it up.”
Glenn expressed his confidence in the car’s performance during the run.
“After so many runs, you can tell when you’re on a good one. It picks the front end up and sets you back in the seat, and then when you hit the first couple of shift points, which are the most critical, you know it’s going to be good, and that one was.”
Greg Anderson qualified second with a time of 6.652 seconds at 205.98 mph, while Matt Hartford secured the third spot with an identical elapsed time at 203.98 mph.
6 – VENABLES STOOD ON TRUSTING THE PROCESS – If there’s one thing Dickie Venables has learned in his storied career as a crew chief, it’s to trust the process.
Venables marked a significant achievement by guiding J.R. Todd to victory at the NHRA New England Nationals. This win marked the first since Venables joined Kalitta Motorsports following his departure from Tony Stewart Racing at the end of the 2024 season.
Reflecting on the victory, Venables said, “We for sure really, really needed it. It’s gratifying that we finally mainly proved ourselves that we can get it done once we get everything whipped into shape.” Todd also secured a win in the #2Fast2Tasty specialty race, defeating Jack Beckman in the final round of competition.
Venables admitted to feeling frustrated during the team’s struggles earlier in the season, acknowledging the challenge of adjusting to new responsibilities.
“Everybody kept the right attitude, kept working, and we got it whipped into shape,” he said. He emphasized the importance of maintaining patience and not forcing results, noting that the process of tuning a race car takes time.
In the face of adversity, Venables stressed the significance of learning from each run. “Even as frustrating as it was, I feel like every run that we made with a car, we learned something,” he said, highlighting the adjustment period for both himself and Todd. “It took Jon O (Oberhofer) and I probably two or three weekends just to get where we could even think about tuning the race car.”
The crew chief praised the Kalitta Motorsports team for their support, identifying their seamless integration as a key factor in their progress.
“These guys are better than most teams I’ve been around,” Venables said. “That takes the pressure off him and I to get our stuff together and make the calls on the car.”
Venables also addressed feelings of urgency that often accompany team struggles, admitting that they can be counterproductive.
“You can’t get pissed off and turn the knobs to the right … because they’ll throw it back in your face,” he said. “It’s one run at a time, I always say that.”
The collaboration between Venables and Oberhofer was vital, especially with respect to aligning their thought processes.
“There was a lot of the parts that were the same, but then there was a lot of the parts that were different,” Oberhofer noted, indicating the learning curve both faced in adjusting to each other’s approaches.
Despite inquiries regarding motivation to prove his capabilities to a former team, Venables dismissed any notion of personal rivalry.
“I do this because I truly enjoy it, I put my heart into it, and I like to win,” he asserted.
Venables acknowledged the importance of teamwork in drag racing, offering, “It’s a team effort…it takes a hundred things to go right on a run, and all it takes is one to screw it up.” He applauded his crew’s dedication and resilience, particularly after enduring mechanical challenges during the lead-up to the win.
Following a Saturday explosion in Epping that necessitated late-night repairs, Venables commended his crew for their ability to prepare the car swiftly and effectively. Then they won Sunday.
“We rolled out there early Sunday morning, and there’s not one thing loose, there’s not one fuel leak,” he reported, emphasizing the crew’s critical role in the successful outcome.
The triumph at the NHRA New England Nationals not only highlighted Venables’ leadership but also reinforced the importance of trusting the process no matter what it might look like to others.
7 – UH OH, PT 1 – Defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown and his team found out the hard way about an obscure rule limiting the angle of the rear-wing on his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster.
“The reason why I got DQ’d was because our wing was over +1,” Brown explained on his social media channels. “The NHRA rule states that you have to be +1 to -2 is your window. And that’s our fault. We had added a +2 because we knew a track was hot and we don’t run the mud flaps on our car. That makes 1200 pounds of downforce for us. And we always thought the rule was -2 to +2. And it’s our bad, and it slid past us.
“We got penalized for what you’re supposed to get penalized for. We were one degree over. So we’re +2 and the rule limit is only +1. So for all the teams that don’t know, now you know, because we honestly didn’t know. The rule came out probably several years ago. But you have to have on really hot tracks, and we run different stuff like that. So that’s totally our fault. It’s on us.”
8 – UH OH, PT 2 – NHRA issued a statement to the media at 10 PM on Saturday night.
It read, “Erica Enders had a disqualification of a run during the fourth round of qualifying on Saturday at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The disqualification was due to the use of rear wheels that did not meet NHRA’s approved specifications for Pro Stock. NHRA is conducting further investigation.”
9 – CORRADI’S LATEST ADVENTURE – Tuning a Top Fuel dragster and fielding a Pro Modified team on the side, evidently isn’t enough for Brian Corradi. This weekend in Bristol he unveiled his newest addition to his coillection – a Stock Eliminator Camaro.
Kyle Pawuk was driving this weekend, but Corradi says he plans to eventually drive his race cars.
“Some would think I fell and hit my head,” Corradi admitted. “I think I did.”
Last December, Corradi rolled out a Pro Modified car during the DI Winter Series, a car he had Matt Sackman drive for him.
“I just want to get some seat time in it and maybe get my boys involved with some of that,” Corradi said. “We’re at the races all the time. If I drag it behind my motorhome, who knows what might happen.
“I’ve always said, since day one when I started working for Dean Skuza, I was bracket racing a Mustang. I thought, I will go work on one and then one day I will race one. The next thing I know, 29 years later, I’m still behind a computer screen.”
10 – RICKIE SMITH AND PRO MODIFIED – In 1990, when Pro Modified made its grand debut at Thunder Valley Dragway, Rickie Smith was racing a Mountain Motor Pro Stock Pontiac sponsored by STP. It was no secret that the Pro Modified division was viewed as a red-headed stepchild by many in the then-IHRA’s factory hot rod division.
Let the record reflect that Smith was not one of them.
“I was for them,” Smith said. “They were fast door cars and I just wanted to run as fast as they did, but at the time I was running Pro Stock. Pro Stock was awful good to me. Won a lot of championships and got a lot of coverage out of it. But the Pro Mod thing, when I started, it was a lot cheaper to run the Pro Mod car than it was the Pro Stock car. Well, now they’ve got caught up to everything, so it’s pretty expensive to do all this stuff now.”
Bristol is a milestone location for Smith, who made the transition to full-time Pro Modified in 1997. He won the last IHRA Spring Nationals Pro Modified title in June 1997, marking his first Pro Modified national event crown.
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – NOTHING TO SEE HERE, JUST MOTHER NATURE BEING WEIRD
1 – BEEN A WHILE – Alexis DeJoria surged to the top of the Funny Car field Friday with a 3.948-second pass at 328 mph to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifier of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.
If the time holds through Saturday, it will mark her first No. 1 of the season and her first since JCM Racing this season. It would also be the seventh of her career, and her first since 2021.
“The Q1, I was surprised that we were going to get another one after that,” DeJoria said. “But these guys parted long enough so we could do it, and a 3.94 was a great run. It’s exactly what Mike Neff and Todd Smith planned on doing.”
Bristol has traditionally been one of DeJoria’s favorite stops on tour. She won here in 2021, and said the atmosphere adds to the experience.
“This is my favorite racetrack. Not just because of the success—it does help—but really, I just love it out here,” she said. “The acoustics, when the cars go down the racetrack – there’s absolutely nothing that compares to that.”
Track conditions required a cautious approach during the run. The team focused on avoiding unnecessary risks in the humid and warm conditions.
“With the humidity, the heat, and not really anybody rotating the earth today, they didn’t want to go over center,” DeJoria said. “They didn’t want to put too much into it and lose a run, so they did as much as they could (in) being on the safer side, and it held.”
The provisional top spot is the latest sign of progress for DeJoria’s new program, which came together quickly during the offseason.
“We had two months to prepare this brand new team. Obviously none of us are brand new, but together, we’re brand new,” she said. “New car, new team, different tune-up, just a different deal. And it’s working really well.”
She said the team’s quick early season results helped accelerate team chemistry.
“Our first race, we had really good success, and that’s a hell of a team bonding, for sure,” DeJoria said. “Every little bonus point helps.”
2 – LANGDON GETS ALL OF IT – Shawn Langdon jumped to the top of the Top Fuel field Friday at Bristol with a 3.800 pass at 328, earning the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot.
If it holds, it would be Langdon’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 22nd of his career. The Kalitta Motorsports driver said the run went exactly as crew chief Brian Husen planned.
“I feel great about it,” Langdon said. “It just was what Brian was shooting for, so that’s always good that the run coincides with what the crew chief was shooting for.”
Langdon said the team recently made several adjustments after struggling at recent events. The Friday run confirmed that those efforts paid dividends.
“The car kind of got away from us at the last couple races, so they really readdressed a lot of different areas on the car,” he said. “Brian said, ‘I set it up like a 3.80 run that we had earlier this year at a different track.’ And I went 3.80, so we call that ‘dead on.’”
Langdon’s pass came while many other teams struggled with the changing track and weather conditions. He said the team’s preparation and track maintenance efforts contributed to the smooth pass.
“In hindsight you look at it and that’s a pretty effortless run, which is good, so you just got to have everything in sync,” he said. “They did a good job on smoothing a lot of the bumps out of the track.”
Despite the strong performance, Langdon said the team may have left a little bit of performance on the table. Still, he was satisfied with the result.
“I think we left a little bit on the table, but that was a really good run,” he said. “Doug actually had a little bit better download numbers than us and obviously started smoking black down track, so I think there’s a little bit left on the table.”
Langdon said getting a solid opening run in difficult conditions is a key step as the team continues through a stretch of summer races.
“We’ve been racing a lot of tracks — just came from Epping and good barometer and good air — to here, where it’s hot and muggy and you’ve got to force-feed to make your own power,” he said. “So it was good for us to get that Q1 out of the way.”
3 – GLENN FINDS HIS GROOVE AGAIN – Dallas Glenn bounced back from an early elimination last weekend in Epping by securing the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock with a 6.645, 205.
If the time holds, it would be Glenn’s second No. 1 qualifier of the season and the eighth of his career. He credited the quick turnaround by his engine team for helping get his car back in competitive shape.
“In Epping, we ran pretty good, but we hurt my main engine so I was kind of behind for the rest of the weekend and I probably pushed it a little too hard on race day,” Glenn said. “The engine guys really put a lot of time in and hustled and got a lot of stuff done and fixed up the old girl.”
After a slow first qualifying run Friday, Glenn and his team adjusted for Q2 with help from teammate Greg Anderson’s earlier run. The changes paid off as Glenn moved to the top of the field despite less-than-ideal weather.
“Greg kind of laid the groundwork there so they threw the kitchen sink at it and it stuck and it ran pretty good,” Glenn said. “With weather coming in (Saturday), if we don’t get any runs, we’re definitely going to be pretty happy being one and two again.”
Glenn said racing on consecutive weekends helps his team find rhythm and avoid dwelling on setbacks. “You just kind of swallow it real quick, move on to the next one, put your head down and get back to work,” he said.
Glenn acknowledged the advantage of running after a teammate with similar equipment. “If he goes up there and he makes a decent run or maybe he’s a little hot on wheel speed or he’s a little lazy, they can come back to my car, make a few little tweaks,” he said. “Having team cars ahead of you where the crew chiefs are working on the same car definitely is a benefit.”
Track conditions improved throughout Friday following light rain and additional prep before the first session. Glenn said the cooler air and better traction gave teams more to work with in the second round.
“When the clouds come in, the traction gets a lot better on the starting line, you can put a lot more to it,” he said. “The track, I had no issues with anything at any point … so it’s definitely an improvement.”
With more rain possible Saturday, Glenn said the team is focused on holding the top spot should qualifying be shortened. Eliminations are scheduled for Sunday.
4 – THE “FOR REAL” RENTAL – Brayden Davis secured the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle, making a statement aboard a rental bike provided by Vance & Hines.
Davis posted a 6.870-second run at 197 mph, his best performance to date in just his second career NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle event. If the time holds, it will mark his first career No. 1 qualifier.
“It is definitely unbelievable to run with a powerhouse team like Vance & Hines and starting in Gainesville, we started out with [another] team and kind of talked with my sponsors and they wanted to go a different route,” Davis said. “So in order to keep your sponsors happy, you have to go by what they want, but so far it’s paying off.”
Davis credited his consistency and reaction times, along with ongoing development with crew chief Andrew Hines, for the performance. “To go 89 to 97, the bike is just deadly consistent,” he said. “Right now, I’m good on a tree and Andrew’s learning me as a rider, so the more data we get is just the more dangerous we’re going to get.”
Despite the common notion that rental bikes lack the capabilities of team-owned machines, Davis said there is no equipment gap between the three bikes run out of the Vance & Hines trailer.
“Yeah, the rental bike with the Vance & Hines team, everything, all three bikes are identical. There’s no difference in them,” Davis said. “At the end of the day, Andrew and Eddie’s going to give you everything it takes to win and it proved it today.”
Davis said his top speed was equal to or better than the other Vance & Hines entries in each session. “If you don’t think the rental bike’s the same, look at mile per hour. I had the same mile per hour. I was a little above them every time,” he said.
While riding for one of the NHRA’s most successful teams could add pressure, Davis said he welcomes the challenge. “I’ve always been the type of person pressure doesn’t get to me,” he said. “At PDRA, I was the first person to double up in a junior dragster and a Pro Mod drag bike, and that was my debut from the Pro Mod drag bike.”
5 – DEL IS A LEGEND – Two-time NHRA champion Del Worsham was announced as the latest inductee into Bristol Dragway Legends of Thunder Valley, becoming the youngest honoree at age 55.
Worsham, a longtime racer and team owner, said the honor made him reflect on his history at the Tennessee facility, including a successful run dating back to his early racing days.
“I feel like I’m just too young still for that to come up, but I’m not as young as I think I am,” Worsham said. “It was definitely an honor to get that call from the people of Bristol.”
Worsham first competed at Bristol Dragway in 1992 after racing with Art Hendy, and recalled his surprise at the track’s stature in the drag racing community.
“I never thought Bristol was that big of a deal because it was IHRA, it was East Coast,” Worsham said. “But when I saw the city, the fans, and what this race meant to them, I understood it was a big deal.”
The 1992 race marked a turning point for Worsham, coming just one event after he lost a car to fire in Darlington. He reached the final round that weekend, gaining experience in IHRA events.
“I stuck to just IHRA,” Worsham said. “Me coming back in 1992 and learning how to drive and race and deal with people and hustle is what I remember.”
Worsham’s early entry into the nitro Funny Car ranks came with no solo experience in a drag car and no junior dragsters for practice.
“I had never staged a car before I staged a nitro funny car,” Worsham said. “It was wild.”
Worsham’s first and only race car was a nitro car. He had never raced anything, not even a mini-van. It was as if he became drag racing’s version of Cole Trickle.
His father and crew chief, Chuck Worsham, had detuned the car for the novice, which actually made it more difficult to drive.
“They asked me what I thought about it because I had kind of mouthed off that I wanted to do it,” Worsham said. “I started getting a little bit of cold feet.”
After early difficulties de-tuning the car, Worsham learned the importance of proper setup.
“We put a real tune back in,” he said. “The next run, I drove it, it went 5.70 at 168.”
Worsham said his experience building and maintaining the car gave him a unique advantage, even at a young age.
“I could take the entire car apart and put it back together myself, including the clutch management system,” he said.
Every procedure behind the wheel came natural for Worsham, even a pedalfest.
“I remember breaking the tires loose against Mark Oswald and beating him in a pedal race,” he said. “He’s like, ‘Well, you didn’t tell me you wanted to have a pedal match.’”
Though he is not yet eligible for the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame due to his participation in a 2023 event, Worsham said he hopes to be considered again in 2028.
Asked to reflect on drag racing’s role in his life, Worsham said it has been central to everything he’s done.
“It’s been everything to me,” he said. “It’s allowed me to have a great life, a wife, great kids, my family business. It’s been extremely rewarding.”
6 – LET THE FUN BEGIN – Top Alcohol Dragster world champion Julie Nataas made her professional Funny Car driving debut and drove her way to the fifth quickest lap Friday with a 4.037, 317.05.
The run was Nataas’ personal best – only the fifth run in a Mission Foods Series Funny Car. In the last couple of seasons, the Norwegian-born driver – who now calls Indianapolis home – is licensed to run a Top Fuel dragster as well as a Top Alcohol Funny Car.
“That felt really good,” Nataas said. “I wanted to make it, make a clean pass A to B. I’m sure Del wanted to do the same thing. I’m looking at my reaction time and I just need to figure out how to leave in this Funny Car. I was fine on that last one, but I got it figured out.”
Nataas’ licensing spanned over three months under Worsham’s tutelage. She completed her Nitro Funny Car licensing requirements in early May in Worsham’s DC Motorsports Toyota. Bobby Bode drove earlier in the season and delivered notable performances in Gainesville, Phoenix, and Indianapolis.
This weekend, Nataas steps into this new challenge with support from Airmine, a longtime sponsor.
“We all talk about A to B runs, getting down the track and really, really, we want to get her down the track in case tomorrow doesn’t work out very well, we have to go race them,” Worsham said. “She did a great job. She wants to do this really, really bad, and she works really hard at it – and for that, she deserves great things.”
7 – WELL, THAT’S A NEW ONE – Just when Funny Car racer J.R. Todd believed he’d seen it all, Friday’s Q1 session reminded him he’s got more to see.
Todd had just completed an aborted 4.22, 230 run when his DHL Toyota rolled into a top-end downpour. He was able to bring the car to a stop safely, but the experience left him wondering what he’d just experienced.
“I’ve never had a run where I needed wipers before – needed treaded tires more than anything,” Todd said. “Maybe it wasn’t raining when we hit the gas, but I know when I got down track, it was a full-on downpour.”
Oddly, Todd returned to his pits, where it hadn’t rained there. But Todd, who has raced here since the early 2000s, has learned to accept their weirdness that comes with Thunder Valley.
“This place is goofy when it comes to weather, little pop-up showers,” Todd said. “I don’t know if it was raining to the top end when we were on the starting line or not, but it was definitely raining somewhere on the track and we found it.”
8 – BRISTOL IS A MEMORY MAKER FOR HART – Top Fuel dragster driver Josh Hart stood next to his race car, gazing at a 1963 Corvette Stingray on display, a classic Chevrolet he once owned. The moment prompted a reflection on his journey from struggling entrepreneur to successful businessman.
Hart recalls a difficult period in his life, describing himself as “broker than a church mouse.” He looked back at a pivotal moment when his office building was at risk.
“Well, the office that I still have now today, I was sitting on the other side of that desk and if [the person who was going to buy it] wouldn’t have bought my ’67 Mustang, I didn’t know how I was going to make it,” Hart said.
Today, he owns that office building and reflects on the memories of doing auto detailing with his wife, Brittanie. Their efforts led to the debut of the Burnyzz manufacturer’s midway display.
“I actually went door to door just cleaning people’s cars in their driveways, [I had] zero money,” Hart explained. “We went door to door handing out flyers, and then my wife, Brittany, took that part over, and I started doing superchargers in a little one-bay shop that we’ve now created a 100,000 square feet under one roof.”
Hart has turned the Burnyzz name into one of the largest resto hot rod brands. Last August, the brand made its national market expansion.
“We’re super excited about it, but we’ve got about a $50 million expansion planned, looking into markets like Pennsylvania, Texas, maybe even Utah,” Hart explained. “Super excited. So, no better place to get that ball rolling with some momentum than NHRA.”
9 – MATT LATINO RETURNS AFTER EPPING ABSENCE – Dave Connolly filled in as a substitute driver for the GESi Camaro at the NHRA New England Nationals after Eric Latino and his son, Matt, were unavailable. Eric was recovering from knee surgery, and Matt had just welcomed a newborn son, also named Eric.
Connolly qualified seventh and reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual winner Greg Anderson. Latino praised Connolly’s performance, noting his quick adaptation despite years away from the seat.
“Dave Connolly did a great job driving the car at Epping … he jumped in like it was yesterday when he was driving the car,” Latino said. “I would’ve absolutely loved to be in the driver’s seat in Epping, but family is my No. 1 priority.”
After the birth of his son, Latino noted he won’t miss the sleepless nights during his weekend in Bristol. “I’ll finally get a chance to get a little bit of sleep,” he said.
This weekend, Latino will also support the Dream Giveaway, which raises awareness for veteran and children’s charities. The roof of his father’s race car will feature a QR code to facilitate donations.
As he considers his son’s future in racing, Latino reflects on his own debut where he beat his father on a holeshot. He appreciates that today’s digital world will allow him to share those race memories with his son.
“It’ll be a reflection moment where it’ll be a full circle like-father-like-son… I’ll be happy to show that to my son and say, ‘Here’s what you’re up against.’”
10 – PRO MOD MILESTONE – This weekend marks 35 years since Pro Modified ran for the first time at Bristol Dragway, then running under IHRA sanction and referred to as Thunder Valley.
The volatile doorslammer division had run Quick Eights as part of the Top Sportsman divisions on Saturday evenings during the 1988-89 seasons before those racers graduated into the Pro Modified division.
Let the record reflect Mike Ashley, whose son Justin Ashley is the reaction-time phenom of Top Fuel, won the first-ever Pro Modified event at Bristol Dragway in June 1990. He had already qualified No. 1 over a month earlier at the first-ever IHRA Pro Modified race in Darlington.
Ashley was a new wrinkle in the Pro Modified division, largely populated by the Southern doorslammer racers who didn’t exactly know how to take the fast-talking – and even faster driving – racer from New York’s Long Island.
The Beretta he drove was even more brash, and appeared to be a state-of-the-art car built by Jerry Haas with a rear wing that would rival an aircraft carrier. Ashley beat Blake Wiggins in the final round for the monumental triumph.
“I have a lot of good memories from that race,” Ashley admitted.
While Ashley didn’t run anything quite as memorable as his 211-mph run in the grass like he did at Englishtown, N.J., he did learn how to drive a race car with a Lenco when he came to Bristol in the fall of 1987 with a Thunderbird known simply as Knockout.
“I didn’t have nitrous on it, and I met the guys, Mike Norsha, from ICE. I met them there and they helped me put nitrous on my car in the actual line while we were waiting,” Ashley recalled. “They helped me put a kit on the car.”
Two years later, in Bristol, Ashley won the RAM Top PerformerShootout, and pocketed the accompanying $50,000.
Ashley says he would be remiss if he didn’t mention what happened when he opened the door just shy of the turnoff at the end of the famous Thunder Valley dog-leg.
“The craziest thing was that I win the race, I come around the corner, and then Blake Wiggins rips my door off right in the shutdown area when his parachute caught it in passing,”
But, as Ashley will attest, it was Pro Modified, a class known for the absurd.
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