Photos by Robert Richards, Adam Dobbs, Tracy Waters
Photos by Robert Richard, Adam Dobbs, Tracy Waters; Video by Les Mayhew
PRO SUPERSTAR SHOOTOUT CROWNS A NEW TRIO OF FIRST-TIME WINNERS
Shawn Reed claimed his first professional Top Fuel win at the 2nd annual SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout on Saturday. Ron Capps defeated Austin Prock in the Funny Car final, while Troy Coughlin Jr. won Pro Stock against No. 1 qualifier Cory Reed.
A near-capacity crowd at Bradenton Motorsports Park enjoyed a day of elimination rounds followed by a free concert from Andy Ross. The event was part of the three-day preseason testing/race.
In the Top Fuel final, Reed faced Josh Hart, a multi-time national event winner. Reed posted a winning time of 3.699 seconds at 330.39 mph, narrowly edging Hart, who finished in 3.724 seconds at 321.27 mph.
“This is flat out incredible right now,” said Reed. “I have to thank Red Line Oil, Matco Tools, All American Automotive. I’m probably as happy as I’ve been in a long, long time.”
Reed expressed gratitude toward his crew for their support after a challenging previous season. “We won a race, and they can’t take that back from us. This is a pretty big race, too; it’s the eight best guys in the NHRA,” he said.
In the Funny Car final, three-time champion Capps aimed to stop Prock, the defending event winner. Capps secured the victory with a 3.870-second run at 330.47 mph, while Prock recorded a time of 4.003 seconds at 316.60 mph.
“This event is special. It’s the second year we’ve done anything like this, but you have an all-star cast,” Capps said. He praised the event, thanking SCAG for their support.
The Pro Stock final featured Coughlin Jr. facing Cory Reed. Coughlin Jr. secured victory when Reed jumped the starting system, resulting in a red-light disqualification.
“You know winning this race is so surreal,” said Coughlin Jr. “Thank you to the PRO group and all the sponsors involved, especially SCAG.” He added that this win is a strong start to the season.
BROWN, PROCK, AND REED LEAD QUALIFYING AT SCAG PRO SUPERSTAR SHOOTOUT
Antron Brown, Austin Prock, and Cory Reed topped qualifying at the 2nd annual SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout, showcasing some of the fastest times in the event’s history. Brown recorded a career-best 3.644 seconds at 322.11 mph in Top Fuel, while Prock posted a remarkable 3.791 seconds at 331.53 mph in Funny Car.
Brown delivered his top time in the final session, thrilling a near-capacity crowd at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
“This is the PRO Shootout. What that means is, everybody’s gonna come here and you have nothing to lose,” Brown said. “When you see other teams running low 3.60s, you just want to be part of that gang.”
Following qualifying, the top eight Top Fuel drivers drew chips to determine their first-round opponents. Brown will face Shawn Reed in the opening round, while other matchups include Doug Kalitta against Brittany Force and Justin Ashley versus Shawn Langdon.
Brown experienced tire failure on his Matco Tools dragster, which forced him to return to last year’s championship dragster.
Prock dominated his second consecutive year of the event, holding the quickest elapsed time in all four qualifying rounds. “Man, this thing was trucking down there, and I had my hands full,” Prock said after his final run. “It says a lot about this team.”
Prock’s teammate, Jack Beckman, also impressed with a strong showing, recording a 3.836 second elapsed time at 329.99 mph. Prock’s speed late in qualifying solidified his No. 1 spot for eliminations, and he will race Bob Tasca III in the first round.
In Pro Stock, Reed cemented his first career No. 1 qualifier position with a 6.494-second run in the final session, edging out his teammate Greg Anderson, who ran 6.498 seconds.
“I didn’t expect it to go 6.49 seconds,” Reed said. “I totally thought that (reigning world champion) Greg Anderson was gonna blow me out of the freaking water.”
Gates open at 8 a.m. at Bradenton Motorsports Park, and the first round of eliminations is set to begin at 12:30 p.m.
FRIDAY RESULTS
SATURDAY SPORTSMAN RESULTS
PROCK, KALITTA, GLENN LEAD FIRST DAY PRO SUPER STAR SHOOTOUT
After two-and-a-half days of solid testing, even a fogged-up windshield couldn’t slow 2024 NHRA Funny Car World Champion and defending PRO Superstar Shootout winner Austin Prock as he thundered to a 3.816, 332,84 elapsed time in his Chevrolet SS Camaro.
Joining Prock atop their respective fields at the second annual PRO Superstar Shoout hosted by Bradenton Motorsports Park were Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock).
What a difference a year has made for Prock, who entered last season’s event as a true rookie Funny Car driver. His first eight test runs resulted in eight aborted runs before his Funny Car passed the tree. Once he made his first full run under power to the finish line, his world made a dramatic turn towards dominance. He made a clean sweep of the inaugural event, qualifying No. 1 and beating Matt Hagan in the final round.
Prock’s Thursday Night run looked every bit as calm as a duck floating across a lake, but underneath the water, there was a tempest of action going on. While he had made running at the front of the pack look so effortless, inside his cockpit was a furious storm.
“[My crew] dropped the body when we fired it up, and my windshield was completely fogged; couldn’t see anything on the burnout,” Prock explained. “When we backed up after the burnout, I could vaguely see my crew guy’s hand to get the thing lined up and got backed up. They wiped the windshield off, and it cleared some of it off, but staging, it was still half fogged. So once we got some mile an hour under this Chevrolet SS, it cleared up a little, but you got to have your eyes on the racetrack the whole time.
“The thing got inside a little bit, made an aggressive move, and the car was a little unsettled going over those bumps down the track and just was hopping around down there, got a little inside, but it was still good enough for a 3.81. These cars are handfuls, and they are definitely not easy to drive, and we like that challenge every now and then.”
Teammate Jack Beckman, in the opposite lane, was second quickest with a 3.836/ 329.99. and Daniel Wilkerson was third with a 3.860, 313.66.
In Top Fuel, Kalitta didn’t lay down any magical runs in private testing, but when the lights come on, he put on quite the show. The defending event champion ran his quickest lap since the event opened on Tuesday, punching out a 3.658, 332.84.
“The conditions were just really good,” Kalitta said. “The same as last year, we have Applied Innovations on our car. I’m super excited to have those guys out here with us this weekend, and it’s just nice coming to a place like this facility. The track is really nice. Great place to test and then to be able to put on a race with an eight-car show and have some fun with it. So, yeah. There’s some strong running cars here, so we got the low qualifier at the moment, but we’re going to have to work at keeping it.”
Private testing leader Brittany Force was second with a 3.674, 334.15. and Shawn Langdon was third with a 3.683. 334.65.
The Pro Stock division is provisionally led by Dallas Glenn, who ran a 6.515, 210.28 to drive around Erica Enders’ 6.519, 209,67.
“We didn’t want to show our full hand until it mattered,” Glenn admitted. “We’ve been testing, we’ve been trying some few things here in testing. I think we made seven runs. We made a couple of good runs, so I think we knew we had something for them, but you still have to come out here and perform, and we made a really nice run. Dave Connolly, Rob Downing, and everybody there, as well as the crew chief, definitely did their job on that one. That was a really nice smooth run, and they’ve been working really hard in the engine shop over the wintertime, and I think it’s good to come out here and try to drive well for them and show what their hard work has done.”
Qualifying resumes on Friday morning at 10 AM, with three sessions.
