Photos by Alex Owens, Adam Dobbs, NHRA
Competition Plus’ random water-cooler topics from the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC
1 – CAPPS DELIVERS CONFIDENCE – Multi-time Funny Car champion Ron Capps admits even veteran racers are burdened by doubt into the cockpit. He turned that doubt into another trophy Sunday at zMAX Dragway.
Capps stayed hot in Funny Car, winning for the second time in three races with a 3.905-second pass at 334.90 mph in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra. He beat a final quad loaded with former champions Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan, and J.R. Todd to capture the 4-Wide Nationals.
The victory was the 79th of Capps’ career and his fifth in Charlotte, the most among active Funny Car drivers. It also marked his third straight final round and strengthened his early hold on the points lead.
Capps had the quickest car most of the weekend. He qualified No. 1 and opened eliminations with a 3.865 – the quickest run of race day – at 333 mph. He reached the final after finishing second to Todd in the semifinal quad. In the title round, Capps left first and never trailed.
“I still can’t believe it,” Capps said. “You have cars like this at times in your career, and you just don’t want to mess up as a driver. It sounds funny, but you’re given something that leaves the trailer and all the knobs turn the right direction to go win a race.
“Any driver will tell you this; if they don’t, they’re lying. It’s like you’re given this to not screw up, cut a light and, most importantly, drive it. Keep it as straight as possible.”
That made the final more than another routine round. Capps was facing Hagan, who beat him in Pomona for the 1,000th win in NHRA Funny Car history, along with Beckman and Todd, two proven closers.
“I’m still hurting from the loss in Pomona to Hagan,” Capps said. “That one hurt. If I could trade a lot of wins for one, that was the one.”
Capps said the staging lanes before the final seemed to carry a different vibe. Four veterans stood near their cars, each going through their private routine.
“Hagan started getting dressed, J.R. saw him and started getting dressed,” Capps said. “I saw J.R. and started getting dressed, then looked over and Beckman was doing the same thing. It was a cool moment.”
The pressure, Capps said, was not winning as much as making sure he did not waste the race car Dean “Guido” Antonelli and the team handed him.
“For me, it’s not to screw up,” Capps said. “You’d think after all these years you’d get used to it, but every good driver doubts themselves a little bit.
“I think that doubt makes you better. I’m convinced it does. I still roll up there and think, ‘All right, Capps has this.’ But in my head, I’ve got that slight bit of doubt that I can’t get the job done, and I use that.”
That honesty is not something drivers often publicly admit. Capps said Don “The Snake” Prudhomme once warned him about saying it out loud.
“I said that one time when I was driving for Snake,” Capps said. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Don’t you ever say that again.’ But it was the truth. It’s how I feel.”
2 – KALITTA’S BIG SPEED, LANGDON’S HOLESHOT PROPEL TEAMMATES — Doug Kalitta punctuated a thrilling Top Fuel event by triggering the win light with the third-fastest speed in the history of the sport. The Alan Johnson-tuned Mac Tools dragster ran 3.692 seconds at a whopping 342.98 mph. He defeated a quad that featured teammate and No. 1 qualifier Shawn Langdon and the husband-wife duo of Tony Stewart (fourth) and Leah Pruett. Langdon’s superior .052- to .095-second reaction time edge over Pruett helped him secure the runner-up finish via holeshot.
“Alan Johnson — he’s the man,” said Kalitta. “He said it was going to go over 340 mph. I don’t know how he predicts these things. The guy is a wizard tuning this car. Having Alan and Brian [Husen, Langdon’s crew chief] working together closely really helps our team.
“This diamond trophy is going back to Connie [Kalitta, team owner and uncle], who stayed home this weekend. He gives us everything we need to run all three of these cars [including that of Funny Car stablemate J.R. Todd). To be able to win here is a big deal.”
While teammate Langdon had a dominant qualifying effort, Kalitta’s performance ramped up as the event unfolded. He bettered his No. 3 qualifying effort of 3.686 seconds to lead his first quad, made the quickest run of the semifinals at 3.707 seconds to win the semis quad, and capped off the event with his career-best speed.
“All in all, a good day,” said Kalitta. “I’d actually been hitting the Tree all weekend and had my worst light in the final. The guys pulled me through. It was an incredible lineup in the final. These things don’t come easy. You’ve got to keep digging and want it. It was a good day for us.”
3 – DON’T MESS THIS UP – Matt Hartford has spent enough time in Pro Stock to know style points do not matter on race day. At zMAX Dragway, he proved once again that efficiency can be just as valuable as domination.
Hartford drove through three rounds Sunday to win Pro Stock at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, collecting his second Wally of the season and the 10th national event victory of his career. In a class where every thousandth matters, Hartford was sharp when it counted and steady when others faltered.
The road to the trophy was anything but soft. In the opening round, Hartford advanced as the quickest car in his quad, moving on with Aaron Stanfield and immediately signaling his Camaro had the consistency to contend late in the day.
That set up a second-round matchup loaded with proven winners. Hartford again answered the call, advancing with Greg Anderson to earn a place in the final quad and put two KB Titan Racing teammates in position to race for the title.
When the final round came, Hartford did not leave first, but he left quickly enough. His .024 reaction time combined with a 6.526-second pass at 210.05 mph gave him the quickest run of the quad and enough margin to secure the victory.
Cody Coughlin turned in a strong effort of his own, running 6.529 at 210.14 mph to finish second. Greg Anderson matched Coughlin’s elapsed time with a quicker 210.31 mph speed, but a .060 reaction time left him third and just short at the stripe. Matt Latino was first off the starting line, but severe tire shake ended his chances almost immediately. He pushed the clutch back in and coasted to a distant fourth-place showing.
The final margin reflected how narrow Pro Stock can be. Hartford crossed the finish line only .0277 seconds, or roughly nine feet, ahead of Coughlin, while Anderson trailed second by just .012 seconds.
For Hartford, the win added another chapter to what has become one of the class’s most durable modern careers. He has built a reputation on grinding through tough ladders, maximizing opportunities, and forcing rivals to be nearly perfect.
That formula worked again in Charlotte. Hartford did not need drama, declarations, or a headline-making celebration.
He needed three clean rounds, one fast final, and one more trophy for the cabinet. “You don’t always have to be first off the line,” Hartford said. “You just have to be first where it counts.”
4 – HERRERA OUTLASTS FIELD IN PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE WIN — Gaige Herrera continued to build on his lofty career stats with his 29th victory in only 52 career starts with a lopsided 29-4 final-round record. The rider of the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki wasn’t flashy through qualifying, but he outlasted the opposition as all of the other riders qualified in the top six positions fell in the first two rounds.
“After qualifying, we knew we had our work cut out for us,” said Herrera. “It was a big relief to come out here and get the win. That’s a testament to our team. They gave me an awesome motorcycle all weekend. I just had to go out there and do my job.”
The steady and consistent Herrera ran 6.775, 6.754, and 6.758 to not only advance but win all three quads. Reaction times between .019 and .035 further removed opportunity from the grasp of his eager opposition. In the final, Richard Gadson paired a 6.809 with an .018 light to secure a 1-2 finish for Vance & Hines in the all-Suzuki final. Clayton Howey finished third with a game .010 light and 6.854 E.T. Chase Van Sant was eager with a -.009 red light to place fourth.
“We all knew we were going to push the Tree or beyond the Tree in the final,” said Herrera. “I had basically a bracket bike all race long, and so did Richard and Clayton on the rental bike. Losing in the second round in Gainesville kind of lit a fire under me. It’s been nonstop in our shop. All three bikes on the Bagger team were on the podium last weekend. I went grudge racing with my bike last weekend and won that. It’s been a good month for me.
“I’ve always been told you have to learn how to lose before you can win. We won the first world championship and it was kind of surreal, but we didn’t really win it the way I wanted to. I want it to be a dogfight to the finish.”
5 – LIGHT PRECIPATION, HEAVY DRAMA — The opening quad of Top Fuel dragsters had already completed their burnouts when they were signaled to shut off due to light precipitation. Drama ensued as the cars were preparing to refire when Tony Schumacher’s dragster backed out and returned to the pits in an attempt to replace a seized supercharger. Josh Hart, Billy Torrence, and Tony Stewart were initially told by officials to go to the back of the line with the option of making any necessary preparations in the pits to the apparent objection of respective crew chiefs David Grubnic; Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana; and Mike Green.
Though Schumacher’s American Constructions Communications team did not shut their car off until instructed to do so, the issue discovered after the cars were shut down became the topic for debate. Crew chief Jim Oberhofer was not going to refire the dragster without addressing the now-known issue, and his peers in the other three lanes wanted to continue when the track was ready if instructed to do so.
After several minutes of back-and-forth conversation, NHRA’s Vice President of Racing Administration Josh Peterson communicated the call from Schumacher’s pit to let the cars refire. Stewart and Torrence advanced with respective runs of 3.727 and 3.731. Hart trailed with a 3.753 while Lane 4 was vacant in Schumacher’s absence.
“It’s awesome,” said Bobby Lagana, co-crew chief on Torrence’s Capco Contractors dragster. “I feel bad for ‘Grubby.’ That’s a difficult situation. I’m the kind of guy who wants everyone to be happy, but these guys have to make a decision. You can’t do that to the fans. It’s pretty simple. Jesus, Christmas!
“From our perspective, we were ready to run the car when the track was clear,” said Grubnic. “That’s what we communicated. Beyond that, it’s not up to me. We are at the mercy of the race director at that point. We were told to wait. Regardless, it had no bearing on our performance.”
Oberhofer was unavailable for comment in the team’s pit area following the run. Fellow Rick Ware Racing crew chiefs Nick Boninfante Jr. and Jon Oberhofer confirmed that the issue with the supercharger was not discovered until after the cars were shut off. A crewmember was turning the engine over with a ratchet when it locked up.
From the time the four dragsters first fired until the quad was complete, one hour and fifteen minutes elapsed.
6 – BEACH DAY FOR TODD — J.R. Todd advanced to the final with a 3.88 at 336 mph, and the excitement didn’t end when he went through the 1,000-foot lights. The parachutes failed to deploy, sending Todd quickly toward the sand trap. That’s when he used his versatile driving skills to not only slow the DHL Toyota Supra, but also misdirect the car’s entry in order to slide in the sand trap and get the car stopped before it could reach the safety net – impact with which would have likely compromised the chassis.
“I waited too long to get on the brakes,” lamented Todd. “I saw the lever move when I hit the button, so I expected the chutes. Usually the carbon brakes work better as they get hotter. When it starts bouncing like that, you know you’re going in the sand. That’s a badass PBRC car, but we have another one in the trailer that ran within .002 of a second of this one in testing. I’m sure the crew is already at the trailer getting it ready.”
Though damage appeared to be minimal, the DHL crew took no chances and set up the backup car for the final round.
Todd’s win along with No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps advancing in the same quad set up a final round between four past Funny Car world champions that also included Matt Hagan and Jack Beckman.
7 – THE RED ROCKET’S RED GLARE – Matt Smith had an uncharacteristic red-light in the first round of eliminations just one day after establishing himself as the rider with the most No. 1 qualifiers in the NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle division. The six-time champion blamed the foul start on a long tree.
“They must have thought it was a four-bike quad,” Smith said. “We sat there with wide-open throttle, and the bike just rolled the beams.”
Smith was -.015 red, allowing Chase Van Sant and Clint Howley to advance.
8 – LAST-MINUTE FIX LIFTS LANGDON — Top Fuel racing began with drama before the Tree came down in the first quad. The No. 1-qualifying Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster driven by Shawn Langdon had a steering issue when it was pushed up to the water box for its semifinal showdown. Assistant crew chief Mac Savage led the crew in a quick turnaround to replace the heim joint on the left front wheel with race officials having told them they had three minutes to make the change. They performed the service in a calm, cool manner before the quad got the call to fire.
“I hope I didn’t screw up a good race car,” Langdon recalled thinking. “I tried to make a last-minute adjustment pulling up for the burnout, and it popped. Thank you to NHRA and all the competitors for waiting and giving us a chance. It was a little crooked when I was backing up, but I said, ‘Ah, I’ll figure it out.’”
The end result was a win for Langdon at 3.748 in a phenomenal quad. Tony Stewart joined him in advancing to the final round with a 3.776, barely edging Spencer Massey’s valiant, holeshot-aided 3.798. Billy Torrence finished fourth in an all-3.7-second quad.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Brian Husen, Langdon’s crew chief. “It broke the heim off the steering box. Fortunately, we have some of the best crew guys out here, and the other teams were willing to wait on us.”
All eight Top Fuel semifinalists made 3.7-second runs.
CLICK HERE – READ THE QUALIFYING TEN
9 – CAREER-BEST OUTING DEDICATED TO KEN HIRATA — Will Smith and the fledgling Bluebird Turf Top Fuel team have had their best outing thus far. The Glen Huszar- and Scott Okuhara-led team laid down career-best numbers twice in qualifying. They opened with a 3.797 at 328.22 mph Friday and improved further with a 3.775, 331.94 to qualify a career-high No. 7. Smith lowered his best elapsed-time mark further with a 3.748 in the first round. Assisted by the quick reflexes of Smith by way of a .033 reaction time, the team came within a hundredth of upsetting Leah Pruett’s low E.T.-of-the-event 3.673 to advance in their quad. Alas, Smith’s first career round-win will have to wait at least another week while he cheered on SCAG teammates Justin Ashley, who won in the same quad, and Funny Car’s Dave Richards.
“Man, we’re all tickled pink,” said Smith. “I’m so happy for this group of guys. They’ve worked so hard since January to put this whole operation together, and basically it started with nothing. It started January, and to get everything assembled and get the car ready and just make the progress we have just in, now, four races, I’m just over the moon about it for all these guys. They’ve worked so hard.”
When he was interviewed on the top end following his qualifying performance, Smith was emotional in talking about the late Ken Hirata. The late member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame passed away recently at age 97.
“Kenny is a legend of the sport and a great friend of mine,” said Smith. “Kenny, [son] Dave, and [wife] Chiyo took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity to drive in Top Alcohol [Dragster] when other people laughed at me and said I’d never make it, never be able to do it, never would get out here. They took a chance on me and took me in as family and taught me everything I know about a Hemi and nitro. I never would have made it where I’m at if it wasn’t for the Hirata family. He was just such a wonderful man. We’re definitely going to miss him.”
10 – BELLEMUR’S 50 HEADLINES SPORTSMAN WINNERS – Sean Bellemeur reached a milestone Sunday at zMAX Dragway, driving the Bartone Bros. Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car to his 50th NHRA national event victory while a full slate of Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series racers completed the sportsman portion of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
Bellemeur became the 25th driver in NHRA history to reach 50 wins and only the third in Top Alcohol Funny Car to hit the mark, joining class standouts Pat Austin and Frank Manzo. He sealed the historic victory with a 5.38-second pass at 269 mph in Tony Bartone’s “Pirate Ship.”
“This team!” Bellemeur said. “That is what the hardest-working team in drag racing, let alone Top Alcohol Funny Car, will get you. Here, at the shop and beyond, everyone involved has a piece of this milestone win. They deserve this more than I do. I am just along for the ride. I am a very lucky guy.
“The game plan coming into the weekend was the same – just focus on the next run. We had a little adversity in the first run; the car didn’t want to go down the racetrack. Steve [Boggs] looked at it, and in the semifinal it ran pretty good, but I drove like an idiot; my words, not his. Man, we lit up that scoreboard in the final with a run of 5.38!”
Bartone said the milestone was another reward for a team that opened the season unbeaten through three events. Bellemeur entered the season with 48 wins and quickly finished the chase.
“We have a great crew, a strong crew chief and a fast driver. I knew we would do it; I just didn’t know when,” Bartone said. “The team worked hard on the car all weekend, and it resulted in a fast run. Getting Sean his 50th win is just an added bonus in a very young season.”
In Top Alcohol Dragster, Joey Severance claimed his 30th career national-event victory, leaving first and powering to a 5.203 at 274.50 mph to defeat McKenna Bold, Jamie Noonan and Jackie Fricke in the final quad. Severance’s reaction time of .022 helped him control the race early.
Jonathan Allegrucci captured FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown honors in a tight four-car final. His 7.716 at 178.42 mph in a Mustang held off Jason Dietsch by just .0178-second.
Monty Bogan added his seventh national event Wally in Competition Eliminator, using a starting-line edge to defeat Joe Carnasciale. Bogan ran 8.410 at 150.21 mph to close the weekend.
Kent Hanley secured his fifth career victory in Super Stock, using a .015 reaction time and taking the double-breakout decision over Patrick Glade. Hanley’s winning package came in a GT/EA combination.
David Barton earned his ninth national event Wally in Stock Eliminator with a near-perfect .007 reaction time. Barton drove to a 10.386 on his 10.38 dial to defeat Jeff Strickland.
Lauren Freer won Super Comp for her eighth career NHRA victory after Vance Houston broke out by taking too much finish-line stripe. Freer’s 8.920 on the 8.90 index proved enough for the win.
Keith Mayers won Super Street by getting to the stripe first against Ray Dew. Mayers posted a 10.874 on the 10.90 index for the title.
Frank Altilio earned his fourth career national event win in Right Trailers Top Sportsman, using a holeshot and smart finish-line driving to stop Carl Freeman. Altilio ran 7.320 on a 7.26 dial.
Robert Houston collected his third career national event trophy in Right Trailers Top Dragster after Walter Zalak broke out at the stripe. Houston’s 7.085 on a 7.08 dial completed the victory run.
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – SMITH MAKES HISTORY, MILLICAN STRIKES, STREET OUTLAWS SWARM zMAX
1 – LEADERBOARD UNCHANGED — The top spots in all four categories remained unchanged after the Friday night session. All of the professional qualifying sessions were completed just prior to the forecasted rain halting action in the sportsman categories. Shawn Langdon secured his 24th top qualifier award in Top Fuel, and he’ll lead an opening quad that includes three drivers racing part-time schedules — Spencer Massey, Jasmine Salinas, and Dan Mercier. Funny Car polesitter Ron Capps, notching his 39th career No. 1 qualifying position, faces a gauntlet in an opening round that features Chad Green, Spencer Hyde, and surprise No. 16 qualifier – and two-time reigning class champion – Austin Prock. Greg Anderson celebrated the 143rd Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier award of his career along with his Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win. Matt Smith officially surpassed Angelle Sampey’s career mark of 59 career No. 1 qualifiers in Pro Stock Motorcycle by holding on for the 60th such award of his career. It should be noted that Sampey also has three career No. 1s in Top Alcohol Dragster, including this weekend.
2 – MILLICAN AND VANDERGRIFF USE HOLESHOTS, ANDERSON AND HERRERA RAW PERFORMANCE IN #2FAST2TASTY WINS — Clay Millican unseated Doug Kalitta as the only Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge winner this season by getting it done in the Nick Boninfante Jr.-tuned Parts Plus dragster. The driver was a factor in securing the win with his .076-second reaction time and propelling his 3.832 blast ahead of Billy Torrence’s quicker 3.829 while Kalitta (3.894) and Josh Hart (3.873) fell behind.
“I’ve had a lot of success at the four-wides for whatever reason,” said Millican. “I truly do enjoy the craziness on the starting line. I think that has to do with the bracket racing background. This is all about Rick Ware Racing. This is Rick’s home track, and it’s nice to know that no matter what happens tomorrow we got Rick Ware Racing a win at home. That is a big deal for all of us.”
Not to be outdone, the Funny Car final was decided by a double holeshot. Jordan Vandergriff netted his first career win in the bonus program. Vandergriff, who was conducting the top-end interviews for FOX Sports coverage last year, found himself on the other end of the microphone following a .067 that led his quad paired with a 3.930 E.T. that bested J.R. Todd’s equal time, Ron Capps’ quicker 3.929, and Matt Hagan’s traction-plagued 5.820.
“I’ve wanted to be in this position for so long, and I hope this helps prove that I belong,” said Vandergriff. “To line up against those guys — them, three former champions and me, a former FOX announcer — you have to be on top of your game. All year, I’m trying to do my best and lean on my Cornwell Quality Tools guys at John Force Racing.”
Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson added to his accolades with a victory at the bonus event. The Hendrickcars.com Chevy Camaro ran a 6.549 at 207.11 mph that was quick enough to drive around leaves by Aaron Stanfield and Matt Latino and stay in front of KB Titan Racing teammate Eric Latino.
“We were a little bit off from where we thought we should be when we came out yesterday, but we got the job done,” said Anderson. “I love this racetrack. It’s great to win here in front of Rick Hendrick. That man does so much for us, I can’t even begin to tell you.”
Like Anderson, Pro Stock Motorcycle victor Gaige Herrera had the best performance of his final-round quad, though the Vance & Hines/Revzilla rider sealed the deal with a class-leading .018 light as well. His 6.759 was only .001-second quicker than Matt Smith’s 6.760, so Herrera would have been vulnerable with anything shy of a .037 light. It was a two-horse race in the final with Richard Gadson unable to stage and John Hall off the gas early.
3 – EXCITED BUT NOT DESPERATE – Erica Enders has spent years beating people in Pro Stock. Now she is considering whether to challenge something that cannot be raced door-to-door; i.e., fear, heat, and 11,000 horsepower.
Erica Enders is preparing for Top Fuel licensing later this season, a move that instantly became one of the more intriguing side stories in the NHRA pits. A six-time world champion does not need resume filler, which is why this carries an unusual amount of attention.
“Aaron and I are going to go get fitted and get our seats poured after Chicago,” Enders said. “So things are clicking along, and I’m sure July will be here before we know it.”
That timeline points toward Indianapolis in midsummer, where the heat alone can test people before the engine fires. Then comes the added gear required for Top Fuel.
“Five more,” Enders said when asked about the added firesuit layers. “I go from a 15 to a 20, but it’s the same suit I wear in Pro Mod.”
More layers, more weight, less comfort. Then the car starts.
“Listen, this whole deal is just set up for punishment,” Enders said. “I already know. It’s gonna be hot, and it’s definitely crazy, but with an opportunity like that in front of us, we can’t say no.”
That answer explains why champions keep chasing new things long after they have enough trophies.
“You gotta try it,” she said. “You don’t have to like it, but you can try it.”
Enders said she has not overthought the moment yet, but she knows that will change when the engine fires for the first time.
“I’m sure the nerve level will be right at ‘s*** your pants’ come fire-up day,” she said. “But it’ll be something cool to add to my resume.”
She also made clear this is respect for Top Fuel, not some lifelong nitro obsession.
“I just … It doesn’t do nothing for me,” Enders said. “They stink and they’re loud.”
Then she laughed and delivered the truth racers understand.
“But also it’s the pinnacle of the sport and the fastest race cars on the planet,” Enders said. “Having driven everything but Top Fuel and motorcycles, it’ll just be cool to click it off the list.”
4 – HOPE FOR THE MOPAR CONTINGENT — The first event since the recent NHRA Pro Stock rules adjustment allowing Ford- and Dodge-powered entries to rev up to 11,000 RPM — 500 RPM higher than that DRCE combinations that dominate the category — has eyes on the Dodge Dart driven by Brandon Miller. Early returns are hopeful with Miller’s Roy Johnson-built powerplant posting a 6.61 during Friday qualifying to place him on the provisional bump spot heading into Saturday; he ended up 19th. In gauging the effect of the rules change, Miller cautions that they won’t know the true extent of the benefit until they have some time to develop with the RPM parameters in mind.
“It’ll take a lot of time,” said Miller. “I think it’ll take many races to figure it out. We’re relearning how to run the car, basically. Everything changes quite a bit. It’ll take some races. I’m sure it’d be worth something. It’s not instant results. You don’t put the RPM on it and you’re that amount faster. You’ve got to work on the engines and work on the car and relearn everything. It’s worth a little bit right now. Enough to qualify? I don’t know. We’ll see. But with time, I think it’ll be a little faster, for sure.”
Miller, who won this event during his Top Sportsman championship campaign in 2023, ran four events in 2024 and six last year. The change to the rules package entices him enough to compete at more races this season.
“It makes you want to come back more and more,” said Miller. “And if we have an opportunity to improve, I’ll take any chance you can get. It does make me want to go to more races, obviously. Between the hood scoops coming next year and the RPM, I think we could be pretty good. It’s all going to be a big learning curve with everything. Nothing’s easy. But with that change and the hood scoops, it’s going to put everybody in a blender and shake it up and we’ll see what happens.
“The fans love it. The Mopar fans are like none other. All the Mopar fans are extremely happy we have the RPM. Is it going to help a lot? I hope it does, but all the fans, they love it. They are one of a kind. They are diehard.”
5 – TESTING THE TETHERS – Two weeks ago in Pomona, Calif., Daniel Wilkerson got the kind of test no Funny Car driver wants but every team can learn from.
When Daniel Wilkerson’s Funny Car exploded, the incident became the first real proving ground for a new body-tethering concept developed during the offseason by crew chief Tim Wilkerson and chassis builder Murf McKinney. The goal was to keep the safety benefits of tethers while reducing the force a driver can face when an engine comes apart.
Funny Car body tethers became one of last season’s hottest pit discussions after multiple explosions renewed questions about whether bodies were staying attached too long in catastrophic failures. Few argued with keeping debris out of the grandstands, but many wondered if there was a better answer for the person inside the car.
Pomona gave the Wilkerson team its first hard look under race conditions.
“I think our burst panel assembly worked better than the tethers because the front latches still did not quite give up like I would like to see them give up,” Tim Wilkerson said. “They still held on. But not being double shear, they actually let it flex. It didn’t ruin any of that stuff. Didn’t break the front end. The body’s negotiably not bad at all. So I’m pretty excited about that.”
That evaluation carries weight because Tim Wilkerson has long been one of drag racing’s most hands-on driver/builders. He tunes, fabricates, diagnoses problems, and looks for answers others miss.
The verdict after Pomona was encouraging, but incomplete.
“I talked to NHRA about it because what happens is when you step on the gas, you think about it, the car tries to drive up underneath the body,” Tim Wilkerson said. “So I need to make that latch even junkier than I made it because it didn’t break it. It just moved the bar just a little bit. So I need to make it so it breaks it.”
That may sound backward, but racers understand controlled failure points can save expensive parts and limit bigger damage.
“Knock on wood, it really did a lot of what I thought it would do,” Wilkerson said. “So I’m optimistic about it, put it that way.”
Just as important, the body survived far better than many Funny Car shells do after explosions.
“I probably could have ran it if I’d have worked on it just a little bit because it just had a couple of cracks around where the injector scoop is at,” he said.
Now the body is back with McKinney for another round of changes. In the Wilkerson camp, one test usually means the next version is already being built.
6 – HERE FOR YOU – It’s only taken a few seasons for motorsports icon Tony Stewart to understand drag racing fans. Now he sounds like one of them.
Tony Stewart came to NHRA carrying championships, trophies, and a résumé that spans NASCAR, IndyCar, and sprint cars. What he did not bring was a full appreciation for what drag racing feels like until you stand next to it.
After two seasons in NHRA competition, Stewart said the sport’s biggest selling point remains the same one longtime fans have known for decades; that is, television cannot explain nitro.
“I think the best way to tell you that is in the last two years, fans that have come to drag races for the first time and they will come by and see us and they’re like, ‘It’s our first time,’” Stewart said. “I said, ‘Well, what brought you here?’ They said, ‘You.’”
That part flatters the star. What comes next tells the real story.
“I said, ‘If you have time, come by before you leave and tell me what you thought,’” Stewart said. “And they haven’t seen a nitro car go down the racetrack yet. And the No. 1 overwhelming response is, ‘We had no idea.’”
Stewart said that phrase comes up repeatedly from first-time spectators. He believes it says more about NHRA than it does about any celebrity drawing new eyes to the gate.
“That’s what four out of five people would say, literally, almost word for word is, ‘We had no idea,’” Stewart said. “And I think it really is a testament to what this sport is truly about.”
He praised television coverage, but added there are limits to what a screen can deliver.
“TV does a great job of showing things,” Stewart said. “But to be here, to feel it, smell it, to be able to go in the pits, with the ticket that you bought to get in the gate, get you everywhere but the starting line, to be able to walk up to the pits, see the drivers, see the teams do the warmup, smell the nitro methane, to feel and hear what these cars are like.”
Then Stewart described what many first-timers discover when four nitro cars leave together.
“It will literally make your insides, your body, move,” Stewart said. “They think that’s a joke that I’m exaggerating.”
He even admitted his own first encounter left a mark.
“I got car sick the first time I came because I literally felt my insides moving,” Stewart said. “It made me car sick for the rest of the day.”
For Stewart, the lesson is simple: NHRA does not need a new identity. It needs new people through the gate one time.
“We just got to get people here, get them here one time, get them a good experience and they’re going to come back.”
7 – OUTLAW STATE OF MIND – The line told the story before a tire ever turned. Fans packed in shoulder to shoulder Friday at zMAX Dragway for autographs from the Street Outlaws stars making their NHRA 4-Wide Nationals debut in the new Outlaw Street category.
For a sanctioning body founded in the 1950s to move racing off the streets and into organized competition, it was a full-circle moment. NHRA welcomed a group whose fame came from televised street-racing culture, and the fans responded like they were seeing headline acts.
Ryan “Fireball” Martin, Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington, Scott Taylor and Paige Coughlin were among the featured names. If anyone still wondered whether the Street Outlaws audience would follow them to an NHRA event, Friday offered a loud answer.
Martin said the roots are more common than some admit.
“I think, for me to start off with, we all started with street cars, I feel like, in one way, shape or form,” Martin said. “Even anybody in NHRA, they had some car and they thought, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to a local drag strip.’”
Ellington echoed the point and did not soften it.
“I don’t care what anybody says, everybody has started off on the street,” Ellington said. “We’ve all street raced a little bit.”
That message landed because this wasn’t a novelty act. These are racers with large fan bases, proven cars, and years of competition under pressure, even if much of it happened outside traditional sanctioning-body walls.
Taylor said the category was born from a conversation at this very facility.
“About two years ago, I came to this racetrack,” Taylor said. “I said, ‘I’d like to come out here and race with you guys.’ … A year and a half later, we’re sitting here about to go down in front of thousands of people.”
Coughlin, from one of drag racing’s most decorated families, may be the strongest symbol of the crossover. She grew up in NHRA competition, then found her place in outlaw-style doorslammer racing.
“I’ve been here since I was born. NHRA has been my home,” Coughlin said. “But I also get to race with my family again, which I’m really excited about.”
Then came the reminder that no matter where racers come from, some goals remain universal. The Wally trophy still carries weight.
“It’s the biggest thing in drag racing,” Ellington said. “I don’t care what organization you’re from, everybody knows what a Wally is.”
8 – PROUD UNCLE — Capco Contractors Top Fuel co-crew chief Bobby Lagana Jr. broke the news during a starting line interview with Joe Costello following the semifinals of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge that brother Dom and sister-in-law Sara welcomed their first child Saturday. After spending several hours in labor, Sara delivered son Bryson Dominick Lagana.
The new addition to the Lagana family is particularly inspiring on the heels of a comeback by Dom following a 2020 car accident that left him fighting for his life for several months with extensive injuries that led to amputations above both knees. Dom continues to be involved in the sports through his business, 142 Speed Shop, and helping teams including independent Top Fuel racer Kyle Wurtzel.
9 – SLOW IS FAST — Spencer Massey has finally been able to establish a baseline with his new Top Fuel dragster team. That followed weather-thwarted attempts to test that led to his first attempts being in competition at the IHRA season opener in Benson, N.C., last month. Crew chief Scott Graham made big moves to slow down a driveline that wanted to kick in much quicker than the setup he’d refined with drivers Pat Dakin and Krista Baldwin over the past 15 years, and the result was a respectable 3.781 at 327.98 mph in the second session that left plenty of meat on the bone.
“A lot of the parts are the same or close to what I was working with at Dakin’s, but some of the stuff is different,” Graham explained. “Spencer acquired the car complete from Bobby and Dom Lagana, and they refined it enough that I didn’t want to change their nozzling and things like that just for the sake of replicating what I used to have.”
The former Nitro Ninja dragster has the same crew that raced with Baldwin last year. The team is based out of Dakin’s race shop adjacent to Commercial Metal Fabricators in Dayton, Ohio. Massey, who had subbed for both Dakin and Baldwin on occasion, carries a similar outlook to racing as Dakin in regards to a no-frills approach with the focus on racing hard and having fun.
“What we are trying to implement here is make the car go fast and not look like dummies out here,” said Massey. “There’s a lot of guys out here that’s been in it for 20-plus years and they have all the right parts, and pieces, and people in place. That’s what I wanted to get right for this wintertime. We could have come out at the end of last year and thrown it all together, but I want to make sure it was right. I want to get all the people that we need in place, get all the right parts, and make sure we’re ready.
“Without having big-money sponsors, we can pick and choose which races we want to go to and do it the way we want to do it. Don’t get me wrong, if somebody wants to come in here and put their name all over the side of it, I’ll be more than happy to do that as well. But more importantly, we just need to take care of all our guys and we all need to enjoy ourselves. We’re going to have fun. That’s going to happen no matter what.”
Massey’s first NHRA start as a team owner resulted in a top-half start from the No. 8 position. His performance and his past success as a driver in the four-wide format makes him a dark-horse pick for Sunday eliminations.
“That’s why I like running this place,” said Massey. “With the four wide, it kind of brings me into my bracket racing world. I bracket race on my off time, which is just as fun as running a Top Fuel car, just a different level. The more you get to see a [Christmas] tree, the more you get to react, the better you’ll be. The four wides are different than our normal NHRA Top Fuel race. You have to stage with three other guys versus one other one. It doesn’t mess me up, knock on wood, anyway. I see it as a challenge. And if I have a challenge, I want to be the best at it.”
10A – MANAGING THE MANIA — The popularity of Top Fuel rookie Maddi Gordon has the Carlyle Tools driver in demand from fans and media, creating unique conditions for the crew. Tightly scheduled media appearances sometimes leave a window for routines such as warming up the car, to which the crew narrows their target for the startup time beginning with crew chief Rob Flynn making the head gasket thickness call with enough time for the crew to finish assembly of the engine.
Flynn treats it as a welcome circumstance resulting from “Maddi Mania” attracting new fans to the sport. Though Flynn has experience working for high-profile and popular drivers including Kenny Bernstein and Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, his role as lead tuner for the rookie driver stands apart.
“The difference with her is that she captivates a whole new group of people,” said Flynn. “I have family that doesn’t go to the races who are now asking if I can get them tickets for Norwalk because of Maddi.”
With round-wins in each of her first two starts in mostly hot conditions, Flynn turns his focus into dialing in the dragster’s performance when the track surface gets cool.
“We are catching up to it,” said Flynn. “We made our quickest run in Pomona when the track got good. We need to take it up another notch. We’ve made 30 or so runs, including licensing, which is not a lot.”
Flynn expressed no trepidation about Gordon racing in the four-wide format because she has done so in a more-chaotic staging environment in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class. Gordon is No. 14 heading into eliminations with a 3.82 best, putting her in a quad alongside Doug Kalitta, Antron Brown, and Clay Millican.
10B – ANOTHER PB(R) FOR RICHARDS — The Bluebird Turf Funny Car team has a tradition of toasting a Pabst Blue Ribbon at the end of the day when they set a personal best in speed or elapsed time. As a result of a busy offseason since bringing Aaron Brooks aboard as crew chief, driver Dave Richards and team have had plenty of reason to cheer. His career-best 332.59-mph speed mark during Friday was second only to No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps’ 333.91.
Saturday night, Richards celebrated another personal best with a career-high No. 7 qualifying position. He had qualified as high as No. 8 twice in his career, and it is his first top-half position of the season. He will take on Jordan Vandergriff, Daniel Wilkerson, and Jeff Diehl in his first-round quad.
“We are so fortunate that we have a sponsor like SCAG and Bluebird Turf that lets us get the parts we need to compete,” said Richards. “Sometimes you can really tell by the way the car puts you back in the seat that it’s on a good run. I felt sure that on the Friday run.
“We were able to bring in Aaron over the winter, and he is doing a great job. I feel like this team is really about to break out.”
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – MATT SMITH HAS VISIONS OF BEING THE GREATEST; ELECTRIFYING FORD WOWS CROWD
1 – LANGDON STAYS A STEP AHEAD IN TOP FUEL — Shawn Langdon and the
Kalitta Air Top Fuel team dominated Friday qualifying at zMAX Dragway,
comfortably topping the field in speed and elapsed time during both qualifying sessions. Langdon recorded the only 3.7-second run of the opening stanza with a 3.760 at 336.15 mpg, and he laid down the only 3.6-second recording in the night session with a blistering 3.674 at 339.82 mph. The Brian Husen-tuned dragster qualified in the top three
in each of the season’s first three events.
“It’s just a testament to the team,” said Langdon. “The guys have done a great job, giving me a great race car and all the hard work that they did in the offseason, a lot of things that they looked at to try to improve on from last year and the last two years, and just little by little, it’s been showing, so it’s a good feeling.”
Langdon’s performance affords him the opportunity to zero in on earning more little points and bonus money in Saturday’s Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge that coincides with qualifying.
“With the Mission #2Fast2Tasty, obviously there’s a little bit of money on the line and some coins, so that’s been one of the things that we tried to put emphasis on this year — being able to get those little points,” said Langdon. “We felt like we had a lot of round-wins the last couple of years, but we felt like we missed a little bit on the little points, so [Husen has] been doing a really good job of that this year.”
2 – CAPPS CRUISES TO TOP OF FUNNY CAR PACK — Ron Capps and the NAPA
Toyota Funny Car team displayed their collective experience on a header flame-illuminated run down zMAX Dragway that put them atop the qualifying sheet with a 3.883 at 333.91 mph in the final quad. That surpassed the 3.899-second run that Jordan Vandergriff had put down ahead of them.
“This is classic zMAX,” said Capps. “Everybody was tiptoeing because
we’ve been in a few tracks where we balanced cool conditions, hot conditions — really hot in Phoenix — so this place is always good. When the sun goes down, it’s great. We started hearing the good numbers ahead of us, and I could hear ‘Guido’ [crew chief Dean Antonelli] on the radio ask ‘T-Buck’ [assistant crew chief Tom Buckingham], ‘What’d they run?’
“He said, ‘Jordan ran 3.89,’ Then he came right back to the box and opened it up. He’s in there for like a minute and a half. I went, ‘Okay, he’s getting after it.’ He didn’t say anything to me, so that means he’s getting after it.”
Capps will try to hold on to earn the 39th No. 1 qualifying position of his career. Forecasted cloud cover in the afternoon could leave that up for grabs.
3 – NO PLACE LIKE HOME – Greg Anderson went to work Friday in Charlotte the same way he has most of this season — by making everyone
else chase him.
Anderson, the six-time champion and fresh off a victory in Pomona, powered to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot in Pro Stock at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals with a 6.498-second pass at 211.23 mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
Anderson was the only driver to break into the 6.40s Friday, putting himself in line for a third straight No. 1 qualifier this season and the 143rd of his career.
That kind of number speaks for itself. So does the timing.
Charlotte is home race territory for sponsor HendrickCars.com, making
a strong showing at zMAX Dragway more than another qualifying round for the veteran standout.
“It did feel very good. I can’t lie,” Anderson said. “Sometimes when you make a run, you say to yourself that we felt pretty damn good, and that’s what I said going down the race track. The scoreboard matched what I thought. I had fun today.”
There was also a little extra pressure from the top of the company ladder.
“Mr. H was out here today, and he had a good time,” Anderson said. “He left before the second run and he called a little bit before it went up, and he’s like, ‘Make sure you don’t lose that pole.’”
Anderson said the assignment was understood.
“So I guess I got a little extra pressure there and got orders from the boss, and we got the job done,” he said. “So you don’t want to lay an egg in front of the boss.”
While Anderson led the field, the rest of KB Titan Racing remained close behind.
Dallas Glenn, the reigning NHRA champion and current points leader, sat second after a 6.521 at 210.77. Matt Latino continued his strong season, landing third with a 6.527 at 210.64.
4 – SMITH SEEKING G.O.A.T. STATUS – Matt Smith came to zMAX Dragway chasing more than a qualifying bonus. He came chasing a place no one
else in Pro Stock Motorcycle has owned outright.
Matt Smith moved one step closer Friday night when he rode to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals with a 6.739-second pass at 203.09 mph. If the run holds through Saturday’s final sessions, Smith will break the Pro Stock Motorcycle record for most No. 1 qualifiers.
He entered the weekend tied at 59 with Angelle Sampey, another legend in the category. For Smith, it is one more marker in a career already loaded with championships and wins.
The top spot did not come easy.
“Yeah, the first session we had a [inaudible] out, so it missed once in low gear, once in second, and then once in third, and then it went three, four misses in fourth, and I just shut it off,” Smith said. “I knew something was wrong.”
That forced a quick turnaround while also juggling a large team
effort. Smith’s organization is trying to field five motorcycles this weekend.
“So we came back, we fixed it, and we’re trying to run five bikes this weekend, and it’s a handful,” Smith said. “But all in all, we sat Michael Ray out that round so we could focus on our stuff.”
The second run changed everything.
“And with the first bike out, we went to No. 1,” Smith said. “So I didn’t think it’d stick. I drove to the center line, but all in all, it did stick, and we’re number one. So [this] Extenso Red Line Oil bike is pretty mean right now.”
Smith said doing it in North Carolina made the moment better. zMAX Dragway has long been one of his strongest tracks.
“At our home track, for the hometown fans, North Carolina – I mean, this is where I’ve always lived, and it’s just a great place to race at,” Smith said.
But qualifying records are not the real prize.
Smith said he dropped 20 pounds during the offseason after weight-rule changes and remains focused on one goal above all others.
“So I went on a massive diet,” Smith said. “I lost 20 pounds over the winter and I got down so I could do this.”
Then he made his target plain.
“And I really want to win that seventh championship,” Smith said. “That’s my goal. If I do that, I become the greatest in Pro Stock motorcycle ever.”
5 – THEY’RE HAVING A BABY! – Funny Car racer Spencer Hyde’s shirt did all the talking on Friday. The Rookie of the Year Funny Car driver revealed that wife Courtney Enders is pregnant with their first child.
5 – KYLE LARSON’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE – Kyle Larson had Talladega
waiting on Saturday, but on Friday he looked perfectly content
standing where the air shakes and nitro burns.
Kyle Larson spent part of Friday at zMAX Dragway, less than 24 hours before he was due in Alabama for another NASCAR weekend. Instead of preparing for restrictor-plate strategy and left turns, Larson was doing what plenty of racers do when nobody is watching — hanging around another form of speed.
Larson moved through the John Force Racing pit area with family in tow, dressed casually and looking more like a fan than one of the most versatile drivers in American motorsports. He also spent time with HendrickCars.com-backed teammates Josh Hart and Jack Beckman.
There was one thing he hoped might happen before the day ended.
“I would like to sit in it while they’re running it, but that’s about the extent that I want to go,” Larson said. “I don’t ever want to go down the track, but … I’ve been in [J.R. Todd’s Funny Car] before while they fired it and it’s unreal. So just the smell, the noise, all of it, it’s so cool.”
That is a common first reaction around nitro cars. Television can show flames and scoreboards, but it cannot duplicate the chest-rattle of a warm-up or the sting of nitromethane in the air.
Larson said many stock car racers quietly appreciate drag racing more than people realize. His own connection to NHRA deepened through friendship with Todd.
“I’ve known J.R. Todd since like 2011, so I’ve been around it quite a bit,” he said. “When you have a friend in it, you pay more attention to it and you’re even a bigger fan.”
He also grew up attending NHRA events at Sonoma Raceway in California,
giving him an early appreciation for the sport.
Asked what 11,000 horsepower might feel like, Larson gave the day’s
most honest answer.
“I know what 900 feels like and that’s a beast,” Larson said. “So, gosh, so much more than that would be incredible.”
Then he laughed at the idea of trying it.
“There’s only however many lucky amount of people that have experienced that in their life, but I guess it’s not one that I really want to experience just because I would be scared.”
6 – SCHUMACHER SHAKES IT OFF — A horrific weekend of carnage spawned
by two rear-end failures at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals wasn’t
enough to slump the shoulders of eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony
Schumacher. The Rick Ware Racing-owned American Communications
Construction team bounced back Friday with an opening 3.812-second,
321.14 mph hit that placed them No. 2 on the qualifying sheet.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and you have bad weekends that you put behind you and keep going,” said Schumacher. “Steve Chrisman and everyone in his shop located what they thought was the problem. Youget strapped in the car the next time and almost want to ask, ‘OK, it’s all good, right?’ Like Clay [Millican, his teammate] says, ‘You just stand on the gas and go.’”
The opening run was uplifting for a team that worked through not only the rear-end failures that took out most of the major mechanical components between the third member and the cockpit, but also a Phoenix event that preceded it that featured a couple of top-end explosions. Schumacher’s confidence trickles down to cushion the spirits of a team that has spent the first part of the 2026 season working overtime.
“That’s what leadership is,” said Schumacher. “You can’t get fazed by it. Everybody signed up to compete for wins and championships with a winning organization and winning crew chiefs. We have the right guys in place. It’s not always going to be easy.”
7 – ELECTRIFYING RECORD — Among the most captivating entries to go
down the “Bellagio of drag strips” didn’t feature an internal combustion engine. The Ford Racing Mustang Cobra Jet 2200 wowed the zMAX Dragway crowd with Pat McCue wheeling the 2200-horsepower EV vehicle to times in the 6.80s at over 220 mph, saving the best for last in an exhibition run with a 6.832-second blast, easily the quickest recorded quarter-mile attempt by an EV-powered vehicle.
“This car really for us is an endeavor to really push the limits of electrification and technology and really just see how far we can get in the quarter mile with an electric car,” Nick Kuhajda, Demonstrators Program Supervisor at Ford Performance. “We’re really happy with the results. We’re now the quickest and fastest quarter-mile pass by an electric car in history. And that allows us to really push battery cells to the limit, and to push motors and inverters to the limit and even push the driveline and all those things.”
The potential of the power developed at Ford Racing and through NHRA and IMSA racing was evident immediately. The biggest challenges en route to today’s performance markers lay in the driveline.
“We can make all that power and torque, but really being able to manage it and put it down to the ground,” said Kuhajda. “We have a five-speed transmission, and we have what’s called a reverse-acting centrifugal clutch. We want this car to launch with direct drive from zero RPM. We had a problem that when we directly linked the motors and the transmission. Every time it shifted, we would spin the tire because there’s all that rotating inertia we have to manage.
“So the racers have been perfecting this technology for 70 years, and we took their slipper clutches and reversed the action of the counterweights. The car will leave fully locked up in direct drive. At the top of the gear, there is just enough pressure relief that that impulse on the shift will just cause it to slip. That allows us to manage that tire, and that was a big moment for us to be able to put the power down and keep it down.”
Intrigue to the performance of the EV-powered machine has drawn a constant crowd of fans at the Ford Racing display just across from the nitro pits.
“I’m so proud of the team here,” said Kuhajda. “We had a specific mission and that mission would drive us to be innovative, to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone. This car was built by people who love the sport, and it shows. I think the fans really responded to that.”
8 – EXPANDING HER RACING BORDERS – Ida Zetterstrom has never shown much interest in staying in one lane though she’s got four to choose from this weekend.
Ida Zetterstrom is set to make her 2026 NHRA Top Fuel debut this weekend at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C., driving the Shawn Reed Racing Top Fuel dragster. For a driver built on movement, adaptation, and chasing the next challenge, four lanes may be the perfect place to start.
But while her attention is centered on Top Fuel, Zetterstrom recently
reminded everyone she has little interest in limiting herself to one category. Not long ago, she slipped into Jim Whiteley’s supercharged Pro Modified in Bradenton, Fla., during the World Series of Pro Mod.
It wasn’t a ceremonial joyride. It was a racer finally checking off something she had wanted to do for years.
“So I loved it,” Zetterstrom said. “I will say that I never made any full passes in that car. I made the three shakedown runs, but we needed to adjust a little bit for my weight compared to the previous driver when we made the first passes, so we shook a little bit. So, no full passes yet.”
Even without a complete lap, she came away impressed by the different feel of the car. Zetterstrom is accustomed to a Top Fuel dragster, not a bodied car with the engine out front and a transbrake button in play.
“I would obviously have to make more passes to be able to talk about the full driving experience when it comes to downtrack,” she said. “But other than that, I’d never been in a door car like that before. And I haven’t raced with the engine in front of me sticking up to it. This was obviously a blown car. So all that was different.”
The attraction did not begin in Bradenton. Zetterstrom said she grew up around Pro Mod because her father built engines for teams in the class, making those pit areas familiar territory long before she ever drove one.
“But I loved the experience,” she said. “I had been wanting to get in a Pro Mod for a long time; kind of grew up around them.”
For now, any return trip depends on money and opportunity. Her priority remains building a full-time Top Fuel future in NHRA competition.
Still, she left little doubt where she stands.
“I am horrible at just being on the sideline,” Zetterstrom said. “I absolutely hate it. I want to get in a car. And when I’m thinking about what I would like to get in other than Top Fuel, Pro Mod seems like the right challenge for me.”
9 – LAUGHLIN MAKES THE SAVE — Alex Laughlin’s diverse driving skills
were put on display after the finish line during the first Pro Mod qualifying session. With no parachutes deployed to stop the DIXXON ’68 Camaro, Laughlin attempted to apply the brakes when the car locked up the tires and sent him sliding right from the center of Lane 3 into Lane 4, where his input slid it back left before all but the wheelie bar and right rear spill plates scrubbed the retaining wall. Fortunately, Mike Thielen had to shut off early in Lane 4 and was nowhere near the incident.
“The parachutes didn’t come out,” Laughlin explained. “I could tell after about a second, second-and-a-half that they weren’t there. You try to be as easy on the progression of the brakes as you can. There is not a lot you can do once the carbon brakes get hot and it starts hopping. It ended up locking the tires up and spinning around backwards. I just pretended like I was on road course last weekend on the go-kart. I J-turned back into it. It got the wheelie bar, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t be back up there for next round. It don’t know what it ran, but it felt fantastic.”
Informed that he recorded a 5.738 at 249.76 mph that provisionally put him in the top spot, Laughlin instantly shifted from analytical to spirited.
“Woo!” he exclaimed. He finished the session in the No. 3 position behind only Mike Stavrinos (5.717) and Justin Bond (5.719). After sitting out the second session to make repairs, Laughlin ended up in the No. 6 position heading into Saturday while Bond leads the pack at 5.661 seconds.
10 – FLYIN’ HIGH AGAIN — One would be hard-pressed to find a happier
team in the Pro Stock Motorcycle pits than Flyin’ Ryan Racing on the
first day of qualifying. Teammates Ryan Oehler and Brayden Davis were Nos. 1 and 2 after the first session with respective runs of 6.756 and 6.762 seconds. Oehler’s run kept him in the No. 2 spot after the night session while Davis improved to a 6.759 for the No. 4 spot. More importantly, the reliability issues that have impeded their bikes’ great potential seems to be behind them,
“It’s early in qualifying still, but if we can keep this momentum going, it’s going to be a real successful weekend for us,” said Oehler. “Definitely making two solid runs side by side and the same group, too, it gives us the momentum. We’ve got to keep it together, we’ve got to minimize mistakes, and we’ve got to keep the program alive. We have to keep the engines healthy. If we can do that, that’s what good weekends are made of.”
Some of the answers to the reliability issues that Oehler faced came from places he didn’t expect — his competitors.
“We’ve had to change engine combinations around, change connecting rods, manufacturer,” said Oehler. “We started working with CP-Carrillo just this last year. There’s a lot of good camaraderie out here. You go to a competitor like Matt Smith and you ask him, like, ‘Hey man, what connecting rods are you running?’ And he said, ‘I’m running CP-Carrillo rods. I got a special rod with a new alloy.’
“So you immediately think, ‘Oh, he’s lying. It’s somebody else.’ And then you find out he’s being genuine and actually wants to see the class continue to be healthy and see people that have been down in the dirt come back. But my dad back home has just been on the engine dyno almost every day. And we’ve worked different combinations and
different things that you should be doing as an engine developer, not trying to figure out what crankshaft and what connecting rod you need
to run so that your stuff lives. So now that we can get the engine living, we can actually focus our time on the stuff that really makes you fast.”
Oehler continued, “We’ve spent so much time just having to grind to keep things going. On one motor we have, every single bolt hole has Time-Serts — there’s a lot of bolt holes in one of these. The Star motor we ran in testing got hurt right away in Gainesville and we made a mistake, and then we were running with backup motors. We just got to keep chipping away at the 60 foot. Now we’ve shown the offseason power.”
