Photos by Alex Owens, Tracy Waters, Marvin T. Smith, Dwayne Culpepper
Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA Southern Nationals outside of Valdosta, Ga.
1 – THE FAMILY NITRO TRADITION – It felt like a movie where Chariots of Fire collided with Funny Car Summer.
Jordan Vandergriff had just won his first NHRA national event Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, defeating top qualifier J.R. Todd in the final round of Funny Car. Then, instead of taking the slow ride back, he climbed out of his Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS and did what the Vandergriff family has done before. He ran.
Full firesuit. Full sprint. Full joy.
Just like his uncle, Bob Vandergriff Jr., used to do in Top Fuel, Jordan took off from the shutdown area and charged back toward the starting line. Halfway there, Bob and Jack Beckman met him with water, laughter, and the kind of scene nobody scripts right.
The win itself was no accident. Vandergriff ran 4.007 at 314.17 mph in the final, capping the best day of his young Funny Car career in only his fifth event driving for John Force Racing. He beat Jeff Arend, Spencer Hyde, and Hunter Green before closing the deal against Todd, who left town as the points leader.
“This moment is something I’ve thought of for a very long time,” Vandergriff said. “Since my last final in 2019 when I lost to Billy Torrence in Dallas, the running up the track was something I always thought about doing. My uncle did it out of pure joy and I had to do it.”
He decided on his celebration plan before the run ended.
“I was contemplating it in the car before the run and I was like, ‘If I get on the radio and they tell me I won, I’m doing it no matter what,’” Vandergriff said.
Then came the halfway point and reality.
“The thought that came through my head when I was halfway up the return road was, ‘I think this is what I trained my whole life for,’” Vandergriff said. “It’s a little longer than you expect, though, so I won’t do it again.”
That may be the most honest winner’s quote of the season.
Vandergriff said he knew in preseason testing the team had something real with crew chief Chris Cunningham and tuner Jason Bunker. Teammate Beckman even joked the over-under was five races before Jordan would be holding a trophy.
“It was five,” Vandergriff said. “So it’s unbelievable.”
The weekend also carried emotion for the John Force Racing family after the recent passing of John’s daughter Adria [Hight], whom Vandergriff credited as a vital part of the organization.
“Adria got this win for me and I truly believe that,” he said. “She was a pivotal part of this organization.”
There were high expectations stepping into a championship-level car. Vandergriff said he wanted them.
“Big shoes to fill,” he said. “I wanted those shoes.”
2 – THE FINE ART OF PLAYING TIP-TOE HAUL-ASS – Along the road to drag racing stardom, Shawn Langdon played plenty of beer-league softball. Competitive guys learn two truths there; i.e., everybody loves the long ball, but championships are usually built on base hits.
On Friday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Langdon became Top Fuel’s cleanup hitter when he blasted to a record 345.00 mph and grabbed headlines across the country. On Sunday, he won the NHRA Southern Nationals by becoming the guy who will dink one through the infield, take first base, and beat you one smart swing at a time.
That is not glamorous racing. That is blue-collar type racing.
Langdon defeated teammate Doug Kalitta in the final round, running 3.808, 333.16, to Kalitta’s 3.954, 314.61. The victory was Langdon’s second of the season, the 24th of his career, and boosted him into the points lead.
After the 345 run, the temptation would have been to come back swinging for the fences again. Langdon said Sunday required something else – and ‘something else’ resulted in a ‘W.’
“Yeah, very satisfying,” Langdon said. “It’s always a good weekend when you can wake up in the morning and see your team on Yahoo Sports, New York Times and all that. A lot of people were following, a lot of people were sending me stuff.”
Headlines are nice. Wally trophies stay on the shelf longer.
Langdon said the real challenge was backing down a car capable of historic numbers and accepting what the racetrack would allow.
“You get the little taste of the 345, and it’s just kind of like … you’ve got to kind of get a little ego check where you just slow it down a little bit and understand you have to make the changes and adapt to what the racetrack’s going to be able to give you,” Langdon said.
Then he gave the weekend its perfect phrase.
Langdon called it “tiptoe haul ass” – ease the car through the bad spots, then hammer it where the surface would allow.
He beat Cameron Ferre, Antron Brown, and Clay Millican to reach the final. The numbers were smaller than Friday, but the execution was cleaner than anybody else’s.
Crew chief Brian Husen kept the final-round strategy simple.
“Brian said, ‘I’m just going to try to get the car to match what I think Doug’s going to run, and I’ll let you and Doug have it out,’” Langdon said. “I didn’t exactly particularly like that scenario, because I wasn’t really hitting the tree well today, but we got it done.”
Langdon also made it clear how he views the Kalitta Air operation right now.
“Yeah, I do,” he said when asked if he had the best car in the class. “I really feel like this is one of the best teams I’ve ever driven for.”
Friday gave him the home run. Sunday gave him the standings lead.
And if beer-league softball taught him anything, it’s this: the box score remembers RBIs more than style points.
“We got the headlines on Friday,” Langdon said. “We got the trophy on Sunday.”
3 – GLENN WON A BRUISER – Some Wally trophies come with clean timeslips and easy smiles. Dallas Glenn earned one Sunday that probably needed ice packs.
The defending NHRA Pro Stock champion won the Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park by surviving one of the roughest elimination days the category has seen in a while. Glenn beat Troy Coughlin Jr. in the final with a 6.642, 211.39, but that clean pass came after a full day of hanging on.
Before the winner’s circle photo, there was plenty of wrestling. Glenn got through a first-round pedal-fest against Jeg Coughlin Jr., then beat Matt Latino in round two with a solid 6.587. He later survived another ragged semifinal against Greg Stanfield before finally getting the kind of run racers expect in a final round.
“Today was definitely pretty weird,” Glenn said. “This is probably the weirdest elimination day of Pro Stock car I can remember. I’ve seen bad rounds before, but never continuously all through the day.”
That is a polished way of saying the race was mean. Glenn said the combination of strong air and a difficult track kept teams chasing setups all day. Cars had power to run big numbers, but the racing surface wanted none of it.
“It was not a good day to be a crew chief,” Glenn said. “They definitely struggled, and I just had to be on my toes.”
When the setup is wrong, the tire chatters, and the car does something stupid, somebody still has to drive it to the stripe. Glenn did that better than anyone else Sunday.
He also admitted that Lady Luck was riding with him on the passenger side of his car.
“I had to be good enough, but anybody makes a clean run against me on either one of those two runs, first round and the semis, I’m dust, easy,” Glenn said.
4 – SMITH WAS BOTH LUCKY AND GOOD – Every racer catches a break now and then. The smart ones know what to do with it.
Matt Smith got his early Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, then turned it into his first victory of the 2026 season. Smith ran 6.724, 202.06, on his Denso Auto Parts Buell to beat reigning NHRA champion Richard Gadson in the final round for career win No. 43.
The speed had been there all year. The trophy had not.
“It’s not only rewarding for me, it’s rewarding for our team ’cause our team, we worked so hard this winter to find a little bit of power,” Smith said. “We found some power. We worked with Red Line Oil exclusively over the winter, developing a new oil for us. They came on board with us and we found some power, and we’re showing it.”
That showing nearly got interrupted in round one. Smith had the bye run when trouble hit immediately.
“We got our toggle switch break first round. I had the bye run first round, and as soon as I dropped the clutch, the toggle switch on the fuel pump went out,” Smith said. “So we lost lane choice.”
That mattered because Smith believed the right lane was gold for Pro Stock Motorcycle.
“For our class, the right lane was the [better] lane for our class,” Smith said. “And if you had lane choice, it was worth 200, 300. We stuck it out over there in the right lane from that point forward and took the win.”
He backed it up in round two, defeating Chase Van Sant with a 6.685, 203.06, the quickest elimination pass in the class. Then another issue surfaced.
“Second round, we hurt the motor. I heard a knock on the shutdown,” Smith said. “We thought we broke a rocker arm.”
The team swapped engines before the semifinal against his wife, Angie Smith, then kept rolling.
“It ran pretty good,” Smith said. “Not quite as good as our other one, but we’ll take it.”
Smith made it clear the mission is bigger than one Sunday.
“My ultimate goal is to get seven” championships, Smith said. “That’s what our goal is. We want seven.”
5 – IT’S A SELLOUT, AGAIN – By Sunday afternoon, the hottest ticket in South Georgia was not a concert or a football game, it was a drag race at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
NHRA officials announced a second straight sellout crowd for the debut Southern Nationals, giving the facility back-to-back packed houses in its first national event. Fans sat through Saturday’s lengthy rain headaches, then came back Sunday like nothing happened.
That’s proof the market was hungry.
Plenty of facilities can hold an event. Not many can get people to fight mud, traffic changes, delays, and wet bleachers, then line back up the next day wanting seconds. South Georgia did.
Track owner Raul Torres could hardly have been happier.
“Dreams do become a reality, but it isn’t me,” Torres said. “It’s my staff, my wife, my daughters, everyone in here. Thank you guys. Give yourselves a round of applause. Thank you.”
5B – SECOND START, FIRST TROPHY, ZERO FEAR – Some drivers spend years learning how to win in NHRA Pro Mod. Jason Collins needed two starts.
Making just his second career appearance in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, Collins drove straight to the winner’s circle Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park. He defeated Mike Thielen in the final round of the NHRA Southern Nationals.
That kind of jump usually belongs in fairy tales or bench-racing stories. Collins made it real with a 5.731 at 252.99 mph and a killer .009 reaction time that ended the suspense before half-track.
Wire to wire. No debate. No nerves visible.
After qualifying No. 2, Collins backed up the number all day. He beat Mason Wright, Sidnei Frigo, and Lyle Barnett to reach the final, running as quick as 5.685 along the way. That is not beginner’s luck. That is a car and driver showing up loaded.
“It’s hard to believe,” Collins said. “I mean, I have to thank the Lord. I have to thank my dad and my mom. They spent a lot of money helping me learn how to drive a race car. I know it’s my second NHRA race, but I’ve done a lot of racing in my life.”
That last sentence matters. Second NHRA race does not mean rookie to racing. It means rookie to this room.
Collins also made clear this was no one-man miracle.
“I want to thank Scott Tidwell for putting me in this ride. I want to thank my crew and the guys who do the tuning,” Collins said. “This is a bad racecar. It is very good.”
Then came the line with which other racers in the pits probably nodded in agreement.
“It has aborted one run in about 27 runs, and that was the pedal fest that I won,” Collins said. “So even though it didn’t make it down, it still won the race.”
Thielen reached the final by beating J.R. Gray, Charlotte winner Mike Stavrinos, and Derek Menholt. Good day. Wrong opponent.
6 – MADDI THE BADDIE STRIKES AGAIN – Not only did Maddi Gordon lay down the quickest run of her young career during the weekend, she also had low elapsed time and top speed for the first round in the win over Will Smith. Gordon, who ran 340 in Saturday’s qualifying, proved she was no 340 flash in the pan.
“That’s amazing to back it up and get another 340,” Gordon said. “To run it once is awesome. Run it two in a row, that’s just bad to the bone right there. Oh, man, light it up. I was really nervous. Will Smith’s great out there. They got a great car. But, man, our Carlyle Tools boys, they’ve been busting their butts and it’s showing off. I’m so proud of them. No one else I’d rather drive for than Ron Capps Motorsports, Rob [Flynn] and Troy [Fasching], but this is bad to the bone.”
7 – THE KID IS DANGEROUS – As if the challenges of a complex race track weren’t enough of a monster variable, Matt Latino’s 6.508, 209.75, No. 2 qualifying position was wiped out by a safety equipment violation that pushed him down to the No. 16 qualifier position. Instead of racing Erica Enders in the first round, Latino ended up against teammate and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson.
The safety violation, one Latino admitted he knew better, was when he removed his safety equipment before his car had come to a stop. The sting of the penalty disappeared as soon as Latino gt the best of Greg Anderson in the first round.
Latino left on Anderson, and beat him by a much smaller margin, 6.548, 211.23 to a 6.512, 211.39, and led him him all the way to the stripe for the monumental win.
“Greg and Dallas [Glenn] have handed it to me so many times and I’ve been waiting for the day that I can get them back,” Latino said. “I love these guys. These guys have taught me so much in my very short Pro Stock career. And to be able to go out from the No. 16 spot, it’s been a real rough couple days and I’m just so thrilled to be able to take the FASS Diesel Solutions Ace Race Parts, CDS, Odyssey Battery car into the next round.
“It’s going to be tough. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s a crazy day and anything can happen. And I think it’s turning around for us.”
Latino lost to Genn in the second round.
7B – THE REJUVENATED DODGE WINS ONE – A recent rules adjustment to the Dodge RPM limit and weight might not have had as much to do with Brandon Miller’s first round victory over Cody Coughlin as much as a complex track did, but at this point in the game, Miller will take it.
Miller won with a 9.370, 142.96, as both cars struck the tires at the hit.
“We never quit out here,” Miller said. “I let the clutch out, blew the tires off. I look over [and he] wasn’t driving away, and I got it in any gear that it could find and ease back into it. And I drove around him. I couldn’t believe what I was watching, actually.
“it’s a driver’s racetrack out there right now. It’s tough. There’s not many cars are getting down. I saw every car in front of me really didn’t make it, but hopefully that didn’t burn the clutch out of it too bad. And if we could turn this thing around, make round two. It’s awesome. Finally win a round.”
Miller’s day ended in the second round to Aaron Stanfield.
8 – THE FIRST OF THE FIRST – Let the record reflect, Antron Brown was not only in the first pair of Top Fuel cars to race in Southern Nationals eliminations, but was the first to score a round win in beating Shawn Reed. He did it on a holeshot, beating Reed, 3.746, 331.94 to a 3.727, 333.58, recording the first of only two wins in the left lane. Both drivers ran their best runs of the weekend in the opening pair.
“Credit to the racetrack and Safety Safari after last night and qualifying. That left lane was horrible,” Brown said. “So to get back and get it back and groove right there and you got side-by-side runs the first pair down the racetrack, I mean that just shows a testament of what this competition’s all about. I mean, that could have went either way with us and Shawn.”
It’s been a tough row to hoe fthis year or the multi-time Top Fuel champion, who hadn’t won a round of competition since his semifinal finish at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals.
“We just need to get some more laps learning for our hot rod to get it back where it needs to be. I know Brian’s [Corradi] been pulling his hair out with [John] Medlen and Brad [Mason] and everybody over there, but we’re keeping our heads down and we just want to get back in a fight.”
Brown’s day ended in the second round against eventual event winner Shawn Langdon.
8B – FAMILY FEUD – Hunter Green got a chance to square off against his dad, Chad Green, in the second round of Funny Car. It marked the second time the father-son team raced one another in national-event competition since the second-generation Funny Car driver climbed behind the wheel of the team’s second car. The first time they raced, Chad won in Brainerd. On Sunday in Valdosta, it was the kid’s time to take the win light.
He was grateful for the opportunity his dad had provided, even if it meant beating him to advance to his first career nitro Funny Car semifinal round.
“It’s really cool to get to line up against him after watching him for all these years,” Hunter said. “Obviously we’d rather do that in a final, and I’d rather whip him in a final.”
Chad, relishing in a proud father moment, quickly transitioned from being a defeated competitor to watching his son’s accomplishment with pride.
“We definitely wanted that win big time, but when we spun the tires right there, I saw Hunter go by me, I couldn’t help but have a big smile on my face just for him,” Chad said. “So I’m happy.”
9 – U-G-L-Y – There’s an old saying that suggests something was so ugly that it would make a train take a dirt road. To hear some of the professionals speak off camera, a dirt road might have been a legitimate option.
In the first 16 first-round nitro races, there were 12 wins in the left lane and only four in the right. Pro Stock was just the opposite, with seven wins in the left lane. Aaron Stanfield was the only winner in the right lane for Pro Stock, where the first four races resulted in severe tire shake at the hit.
The second was a bit more even with Top Fuel producing three left lane wins, and Funny Car with three in the right.
Shawn Langdon, whose 345 mile-per-hour prowess in qualifying made him Friday’s top storylines, pointed out the Kalitta team, who lost crucial lane choice to Antron Brown in the second round, remained true to their objective of going A-to-B as opposed to their proven rapid transit method from Friday.
“We’re getting win lights and that’s all that matters on Sunday,” Langdon said after beating Brown with a pedestrian 3.812 at 332. “So I know with first round smoking the tires, we’re trying to make a good run and lost lane choice to Antron. So we knew we had to make a good run, but it’s just tough. You don’t want to call it a handicap lane, but obviously a lot of people have struggled over there. You just got to get it right. And fortunately Brian [Husen] and everybody at Kalitta got it right there.”
Six-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders reached the second round where she beat Kenny Delco, one of four bottom-qualified entries to make it past the first round, and came prepared for the unexpected in the first couple of rounds.
“You go up there and when Richard [Freeman], bends down and tells me, ‘Just be ready for anything’ that you know what’s ahead of you is totally unexpected and unchartered territory,” she said. “Pedaling is not something that we practice because it’s extremely hard on parts and clutch units and it’s not what you want to do, but you got to do anything you can to get the win.”
10 – SPORTSMAN RESULTS – If at first you don’t succeed, try again. That’s exactly what NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman icon Dan Fletcher did. When he lost the Stock Eliminator final, he didn’t sweat it. Fletcher made the most of his second opportunity, in Super Stock, and became a 110-time NHRA national-event winner.
Fletcher headlined the sportsman winners that included Michael Brand (Stock), Sherman Adcock (Super Comp), Tracy Barnes (Super Gas) and James Brown (Top Dragster).
“It was really good fortune for us,” Fletcher said. “It was a really big scramble for us. We didn’t get any eliminations until this morning. You gotta get by … by a couple of thou here and there. I don’t think I was particularly good in the final. I’d rather be not good and win than good and lose.”
Fletcher used a .027-second reaction time and a 9.518 run on a 9.49 dial to defeat Casey Smith, who ran 8.902 after a .055 light.
The veteran then doubled down by reaching the Stock Eliminator final, but Brand denied the sweep. Brand left first with a .028 reaction time and ran 8.767 on his 8.77 dial to edge Fletcher’s 10.974 breakout on a 10.98 dial for his seventh career Wally.
Adcock captured Super Comp by doing what wins often require in the category – leaving first and staying clean. He posted a .022 reaction time and 8.888 to hold off Lauren Freer, who ran closer to the 8.90 index at 8.880, but gave up too much at the tree with a .046 light.
In Super Gas, Barnes earned the first Wally of his career with a sharp starting-line advantage. Barnes cut a .011 light and ran 9.920 to beat Chris Lewis, whose 9.890 breakout effort came after a .016 reaction time.
Brown won his first Wally in his first final-round appearance after opponent Chris Roe took too much finish line. Brown ran 6.631 on a 6.65 dial at 202.85 mph, overcoming Roe’s better .025 reaction time and quicker package.
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – A MIRACLE SETS THE STAGE FOR AN EXCELLENT FAN EXPERIENCE AT SGMP
1 – NO WAY IN HELL WE RACE TODAY – By mid-morning, Saturday at South Georgia Motorsports Park looked like a race day slipping away. Rain kept falling, parking lots were taking on water, and the renewal of the Southern Nationals was staring down the kind of start nobody wanted.
The forecast was ugly, the grounds were saturated, and every hour lost tightened the squeeze on getting qualifying completed. For a first-year NHRA national-event facility, it was an early gut check.
Then the people charged with fixing problems got to work.
The Safety Safari attacked the racing surface while fans were rerouted into the oval track and infield. Near the entrance, one of the day’s most unexpected scenes unfolded as NHRA president Glen Cromwell helped direct traffic.
When reminded that selling the South Georgia deal probably did not include parking-lot duty in flood conditions, Cromwell laughed and said, “Not at all. I expected 75-degree weather and sunny.”
Asked why he was out there, Cromwell gave the kind of answer racers appreciate. “We’re all team players here at the NHRA, and we do everything we can to make sure that our stakeholders have a great experience here because we know here at the NHRA it’s about having a great experience.”
Veteran surface specialist Kurt Johnson understood the challenge. The track had to be dried top and bottom, rubber checked, and the shutdown area repaired after water turned the sand trap into a pool.
“It’s a team effort,” Johnson said. “I mean, every one of them’s out there doing something.”
He summed up the climb in one sentence: “The odds were stacked against us.”
The fans helped change those odds. Veteran Funny Car driver J.R. Todd noticed traffic outside the pits while it was still raining hard.
“I was surprised,” Todd said. “It was nine, 10 o’clock in the morning, it’s raining pretty good. There was traffic out front of the pit area. Fans rolling out like, ‘Man, these people are dedicated.’ Then sure enough, they hung around. It’s awesome.”
At 5:30 p.m., the first Top Fuel dragsters rolled into the staging lanes. Fifteen minutes later, Will Smith fired his Bluebird dragster to open the third qualifying session.
By nightfall, SGMP owner Raul Torres thanked the crowd that refused to leave.
“I just wanted to thank every last person that stuck around eight, nine hours today while the rain passed,” Torres said. “The good Lord knows our community needed the rain more than we needed the sun.”
2 – REMOTE CONTROL — Tuner Alan Johnson was tuning the Team Kalitta Top Fuel dragsters remotely, but everything looked like he was standing on the starting line.
That was the takeaway Saturday as Doug Kalitta drove to the No. 1 qualifying position at South Georgia Motorsports Park, proving one of drag racing’s sharpest minds does not need to be physically present to leave fingerprints all over a race car.
Kalitta, the points leader, went 3.657 seconds at 342.37 mph before a capacity crowd, earning the 67th No. 1 qualifier of his career as NHRA made its debut at the Georgia facility.
The veteran is chasing back-to-back victories after winning last weekend in Charlotte, and early signs suggest the veteran team is finding rhythm at the right time. When Kalitta’s car moves crisply, the rest of the field usually starts looking over its shoulder.
“That thing left and it started to square the tire, and then it just kind of cleared up and just ran,” Kalitta said. “I could tell it was running strong and running hard. Alan, he’s the master, I can tell you that.”
Johnson was not on-site, but Kalitta said his presence was felt in every decision made around the car. Communication with assistant tuner Mac Savage kept the program sharp and the execution clean.
“He’s actually watching over us pretty close,” Kalitta said. “Between him and Mac, they got something going on that the communication’s good. And Alan, he’s the master. I can tell you, him and Mac, they had my car dialed in nice on that one, and never any doubt that Alan could tune this thing from wherever.”
Kalitta said the consistency of the crew allows Johnson’s approach to translate whether he is trackside or miles away. That kind of repeatability is how elite teams turn unusual circumstances into ordinary success.
“So my guys, they’re just putting the thing together the same, and something that’s repeatable for what they’re trying to do tuning this thing,” Kalitta said. “So really, the team effort to be able to run that today.”
After Saturday’s run, Kalitta will get a first-round bye on Sunday. On a weather-affected weekend where many teams scrambled simply to make a clean pass, Kalitta’s camp found a way to strengthen its position.
When asked how much he and Johnson communicate during a race weekend, Kalitta gave a revealing answer: Drivers may hold the steering wheel, but they know who is steering the larger picture.
“He’s very focused on what he’s doing, and I’m definitely not somebody who’s trying to run his tune-up by to see what I think,” Kalitta said. “Him and Mac, they got a handle on this thing. And to be honest with you, I am just incredibly fortunate. I look up and he’s my guy. And really, my whole team there. It’s a hell of an opportunity.”
A day after setting a track speed mark at 345.00 mph, Shawn Langdon followed with a 344.91 mph blast and qualified second behind his teammate with a 3.683. Billy Torrence took third after a 3.710, 338.00 mph.
3 – POLE POSITION, NOW FINISH IT – J.R. Todd has done just about everything this season except collect a trophy on Sunday. That made Saturday’s No. 1 qualifying effort in Funny Car feel less like a celebration and more like unfinished business waiting on race day.
Todd stayed atop the field at South Georgia Motorsports Park with Friday’s 3.887, 339.28 run in his DHL Toyota GR Supra. That proved good enough for him to earn his second No. 1 qualifier in the past three races and the 16th top spot of his career.
The bigger story was what happened when the team rolled up for Saturday’s lone session. Crew chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith weren’t interested in protecting a pole. They wanted to swing for 340.
“Rolling up there when we did with the conditions the way they were, Dickie and Todd said, ‘We’re going to throw it out. We got nothing to lose being that we’re on the pole right now,’” Todd said. “I was a little unsure that 88 would hold up, but once it got down to Hagen running in front of us and seeing what they did, Dickie said, ‘Leave it alone.’”
The run never made it cleanly to the finish line, but it told Todd plenty. This team is not racing scared.
“So it was trying to run, but it got there and just came loose,” Todd said. “We were definitely trying to put 340 on the board. That would have been cool. But either way, I’ll take a win over 340 any day.”
That is where the conversation changes for Todd in 2026. He has had a fast car, a consistent car, and a car capable of winning multiple races already. What he has not had is enough Sundays ending with photos and hardware.
“You definitely want to win. I want to win everywhere that we show up,” Todd said. “I feel like we definitely had a car that could have, should have won two races so far this year.”
Todd opens eliminations against Daniel Wilkerson and carries lane choice into a day he hopes offers more balance than qualifying did. He also knows points leaders do not wait around while missed chances pile up.
“But as long as we keep going to later rounds, I’ll be happy to maybe save those wins in the bank when we need them later in the year,” Todd said. “Either way, we’re going out there to win every race possible.”
Chad Green moved to second with a 3.894, 323.89, while Jordan Vandergriff held third with Friday’s 3.924, 325.14 pass.
4 – ANDERSON OWNS SATURDAY, BUT SUNDAY LOOKS LIKE WORK – Greg Anderson keeps stacking No. 1 qualifiers the way other people stack receipts. Winning on Sunday is harder, but Saturday has belonged to him lately.
Anderson grabbed his fourth straight top spot, using Friday’s 6.498, 210.60 run in the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro to lock down the field. Nobody else at South Georgia Motorsports Park got close enough to make him sweat.
He also backed it up by making the best run of Saturday’s session, pushing his career total to 144 No. 1 qualifiers. At this stage of his career, numbers like that stop being stats and start sounding like ownership papers.
Still, Anderson knows pole positions don’t turn on win lights. Not on a track that changed all weekend and may change again Sunday.
“It’s been a marathon day, but to get that extra run, we’re very appreciative,” Anderson said. “The air was good yesterday and better again today, and it should be even better tomorrow.”
That sounds positive until you hear what came next. Anderson may have the quickest car, but he does not believe the job is finished.
“We’re just struggling to match our cars up with the starting line and there’s no excuse for that,” Anderson said. “We’ll figure it out by tomorrow.”
That is the kind of quote only veterans give. Younger drivers talk about confidence. Champions talk about problems before they become losses.
Anderson opens eliminations against Troy Coughlin Jr. with a chance to win for the second time this season and possibly leave with the points lead. He also knows reaction times and horsepower may not be the whole story if the surface turns tricky.
“We’ll make the right adjustments. They’ll be fine tomorrow,” Anderson said. “The crew chiefs are going to have to make a lot of decisions that they may not want to make.”
Then came the warning every Pro Stock driver in the lanes heard loud and clear.
“Drivers have to be ready for anything, not just cut a good light, but it just could be a pedal-fest out there,” Anderson said. “You never know. So you’ve got to find a way to get the finish line first.”
Eric Latino qualified second at 6.508, while Aaron Stanfield was third at 6.525.
5 – SMITH LIKES HIS ADDRESS ON THE LADDER – Matt Smith keeps showing up where everyone else wants to be — at the top.
Smith’s 6.669 at 203.03 mph on his Denso Auto Parts Buell from Friday held through Saturday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, giving the six-time champion his second straight No. 1 qualifier this season and the 61st of his career. More telling, he remains the only Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to crack the 6.60s in 2026.
That is not luck. That is separation.
Smith wrapped up bike qualifying Saturday with a clean statement pass, going 6.728 at 199.29 in the lone session after weather delays. While others were still trying to find footing, Smith looked like a rider already thinking about Sunday rounds.
He should be. He opens eliminations with a first-round bye and the kind of confidence that comes from staring down the rest of the ladder from above.
“I am looking forward to raceday,” Smith said. “I like my chances in the first round” with a bye.
Smith also understood what the crowd meant after sitting through a marathon weather day. South Georgia waited a long time for NHRA to arrive, and the motorcycle crowd made sure nobody forgot it.
“You know, this is the South, and I’ve run so many races down here in Georgia. There’s a lot of motorcycle racing fans down here, and they stuck around to watch us today,” Smith said. “We put on a good show.”
Then came the part every racer noticed.
“This is a great facility, a fast facility, and hopefully there’ll be a good fanbase turnout” Sunday.
Gaige Herrera qualified second at 6.705, while reigning champion Richard Gadson was third at 6.730.
6 – MADDI, THE 340 BADDI – Freshman Top Fuel driver Maddi Gordon is gaining experience in a hurry. Friday, she briefly led a qualifying session. Saturday, she learned something her boss Ron Capps has never known — what 340 mph feels like in a Top Fuel dragster.
Gordon qualified No. 4 at South Georgia Motorsports Park with a career-best 3.748 at 340.05 mph, another milestone in a brief rookie season full of them. It also delivered one of the weekend’s better twists: the newcomer reached 340 before the veteran who hired her.
That is drag racing. One week you are learning procedures, the next you are entering airspace.
Gordon said the education never stops in Top Fuel. Every pass teaches something, and every radio conversation matters.
“I’m learning every pass. That’s the beauty of this race car is you never stop learning, and that’s our love about the sport, too,” Gordon said. “But that first pass was so exciting for all of us. We got three points, and you see a lot of cars going out there and smoking the tires.”
What fans hear as thunder, drivers hear as information. Gordon said she enjoys listening to the crew work through decisions before she stages.
“I hear Rob and Troy … It’s the coolest thing. We have the radios and I can hear them talking about timing match, primary clutch, all this stuff,” Gordon said. “So, I’m just loving to hear all the changes they make beforehand, and I get to stomp on that loud pedal, as Clay Millican says.”
The speed mattered. Drivers remember their first 300, their first 330, and their first 340.
“Man, I am so proud of our team,” Gordon said. “To do what we’ve done in a short amount of time, I am just so proud of them. With Carlisle Tools, Monster Energy and Napa, this is a dream.”
She said the possibility had come up the night before. Saturday gave her the answer.
“Last night, Joe was asking me, ‘Do you know what it would feel like to go 334, 340?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I’ve never done it,’” Gordon said. “Well, now I can tell you, Joe, it is rad.”
Then came the number over the radio after the finish line.
“I’ll tell you what, it felt fast when I heard Chuck scream over the radio and all I heard was 340,” Gordon said. “I was like, ‘I’m getting a big Joe Sabo hug. This is just so awesome.’”
7 – ANOTHER FAN IN HIGH PLACES – NHRA did not just draw racers and fans to South Georgia Motorsports Park this weekend, it also picked up a little attention from Washington.
Congressman Austin Scott was on hand Saturday, taking in the debut Southern Nationals and getting introduced to Top Fuel the proper way — loud and violent. His visit came in time to witness one of the headline moments of the weekend, the second-fastest run in Top Fuel history.
Scott admitted the experience hit harder than expected.
“Man, I just thought I’d done some cool stuff,” Scott said. “That’s awesome. I’m going to tell you that. So welcome to Cook County. Appreciate y’all being here. I can’t wait to see some more racing today.”
That kind of reaction is common for first-timers who stand too close to a Top Fuel car. You can explain 12,000 horsepower all day, but the first launch usually does the talking for you.
The larger takeaway for Scott was not only the speed, but the turnout. Saturday’s crowd packed the property despite weather delays, muddy lots, and every excuse in the world to stay home.
Asked about the family atmosphere and what he had seen, Scott praised the event and the community response.
“I’ve literally been here since 2005,” Scott said. “I was heading home with the kids … came back, and, man, this is good as good gets, and so appreciate y’all being here. It’s a nice time.”
8 – TOUGH DAY IN THE OFFICE – While his protégé Maddi Gordon was making headlines, bossman Ron Capps was grinding through a rough day at the office.
That is drag racing. One side of the pit celebrates milestones while the other side digs through weather swings, missed guesses, and the kind of decisions that can make or break a Funny Car in seconds.
At South Georgia Motorsports Park, where NHRA is making its first national-event appearance, no team had history to lean on. No notebook. No proven map.
For Capps’ operation, that meant trusting crew chief Dean Antonelli, known as Guido, to build a setup from experience instead of data.
“The success with these cars and the teams is data that you’ve collected over the years,” Antonelli said. “So we just kind of look at our raw data from situations that are similar, like the coefficient of the rubber, track temp, coverage of the rubber on the track.”
That first swing missed. Capps, the points leader and already a two-time winner this season, qualified No. 13 with a 4.399 at 200.08 mph.
Antonelli said the plan was aggressive, but changing conditions spoiled it. “Like Q1, we didn’t make it, but I was trying to run a high 85, low 86, which is what we ran E1 in Charlotte [in] similar conditions. And it got warm right before we ran – about 10 degrees warmer – and it was just too much.”
Antonelli said, “It was overlaying, everything was doing what it was supposed to. I was just too aggressive. So that was our first approach.”
Even the weather delays got under his skin. “This mist rolled in. It’s never like a rain, it’s just this annoying pesterance,” Antonelli said. “It’s like the gnats that you can’t get rid of.”
9 – MENHOLT DELIVERS IN PRO MOD – Derek Menholt did more than take the No. 1 qualifying spot Saturday, he lowered the boom on the Pro Mod field.
Driving his ’69 Camaro, Menholt blasted to a 5.623-second pass – the quickest run in Pro Modified history – at 254.09 mph to claim the top position heading into eliminations. He was sharp from the hit with a .929 60-foot time and carried the charge to 3.692 at 202.21 mph by the eighth-mile.
Jason Collins qualified second with a 5.652 at 253.04 mph in his ’69 Camaro. Lyle Barnett was third after a 5.661 at 253.99 mph in his ’68 Camaro.
Mike Stavrinos took fourth with a 5.668, while J.R. Gray rounded out the top five at 5.686.
The tightest fight came at the bottom of the ladder. Nick Januik grabbed the final No. 16 spot with a 5.786 at 249.44 mph in his ’20 Corvette.
10 – ON TAP – Lucas Oil Sportsman Drag Racing Series action begins at 8 a.m. Professional eliminations for the NHRA Southern Nationals begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE KALITTA SPEED FACTORY ON DAY ONE IN GEORGIA
1 – THIS OUGHT TO SHUT THEM UP – Talk is cheap until the scoreboard comes on.
After preseason testing in Gainesville, there were some who looked at the big numbers from Shawn Langdon and the Kalitta Motorsports bunch and brushed them aside with the same old excuse; I.e., it was only testing.
On Friday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Langdon left everyone stunned with big numbers – on the record, this time.
Langdon took the provisional No. 1 spot in Top Fuel at the NHRA Southern Nationals with a 3.724-second pass at 345.00 mph, the fastest run in NHRA history. The blast broke the previous mark of 343.51 set last season by Brittany Force.
It also put Langdon in line for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 25th of his career. More than that, it turned shop talk into fact.
“Yeah, it was special,” Langdon said. “I think it was for the guys. I was happy for them, and especially Brian [Husen, crew chief]. We were able to do that in testing and some people had different ideas on what they thought, if it was legit or not.
“So I know we kind of talked about it and Brian was like, ‘Well, we’ll just do it in the season and we’ll prove that it was legit.’”
That is a racer’s way of keeping receipts.
Langdon said he knew the run was good, but not 345 good, until he saw the board. At that speed, drivers feel violence more than numbers.
“I was actually a little surprised,” Langdon said. “You don’t really notice the mile an hour because you’re on the rev limiter down there.”
Then came Langdon’s comment that put the competition on notice for the rest of the weekend: The record run came after the team backed the car down after seeing early conditions get tricky.
“But [with] what was played out in front of us, we backed everything off and didn’t back it off enough,” he said.
Read that again.
They tried to be safe and still ran faster than anyone ever has.
That should make the rest of the class uneasy, if not queasy. A team that can miss the tune-up a little and still rewrite the record book.
2 – BEACH TO BAD NEWS FOR EVERYBODY ELSE – J.R. Todd went from the sandtrap to the top of the ladder in less than a week.
After burying his Funny Car in the run-off area during eliminations last weekend in Charlotte, Todd came back Friday at South Georgia Motorsports Park and grabbed the provisional No. 1 spot at the NHRA Southern Nationals.
Todd’s 3.887-second run at 339.28 mph was the quickest Funny Car elapsed time of the season and the fastest speed of his career. It also put him in line for his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 16th of his career.
Jordan Vandergriff was second at 3.924, and Matt Hagan held third with a 3.933.
The numbers were strong, but the message was stronger. Todd’s team took the same primary car that took a trip into the sand last Sunday, cleaned it up, checked it over, and sent it right back to the top.
“I’m just happy that the car is going up and down the track and making good competitive runs,” Todd said. “We just need to put all that together on Sunday, which I think we’re really close.”
Charlotte could have turned into one of those weekends that lingers. Instead, Todd said the crew changed the steering box, checked the car on the scales, and trusted their work.
“Honestly, we most likely could have run it for the final,” Todd said. “We just didn’t have enough time to go through it and get it all cleaned up.”
That rebound says more than one Friday time slip ever could. Todd is qualifying near the front, making repeatable runs, and eager to change roles from dark horse to potential favorite.
“So we get stuck qualifying 8, 9, 10, 11. You’re at the back of the pack on race day – just not ideal,” Todd said. “Now … ideally you want to be up there qualified in the top five if you can.”
Todd also credited crew chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith for reading a tricky track and resisting the temptation to get greedy in the second session.
“So we went back and slowed it down, just wanted to make sure we got down the track,” Todd said. “We weren’t trying to throw down like we did there in Q1.”
One week ago, Todd was trying to keep a wounded car out of the wall. Friday, he looked like the guy nobody wants first round Sunday.
3 – SMITH ANSWERS EARLY – If anyone wondered who meant business Friday in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Matt Smith provided the early answer.
Smith opened NHRA’s first national event at South Georgia Motorsports Park by taking the provisional No. 1 spot with a 6.669-second run at 203.03 mph. It was the first pass in the 6.60s this season and the quickest run of 2026.
The six-time champion is now in line for his second straight No. 1 qualifier and the 61st of his career, one race after becoming the category’s all-time leader in top qualifying spots. He was quickest in both Friday sessions.
“I mean, it’s really good debut,” Smith said. “We’ve been testing a lot. Even before when we left Charlotte, we went and tested again at Rockingham. So we’re out here trying to be better, and it’s showing every day we’re getting better and better and that’s the name of the game.”
Charlotte winner Gaige Herrera was second at 6.723, 200.23. Reigning NHRA champion Richard Gadson was third at 6.730, 201.37.
Smith said the number did not surprise him. In fact, he looked at the weather, looked at the track, and expected it.
“I caught it by looking at the weather,” Smith said. “We were right at 1600 feet. I said we should run 69 to 70 and it went 6.999. So it was as close to 70 as you can get without being a 70.”
That confidence came a week after frustration in Charlotte, where a red-light start sent him home early. Smith owned it the way veterans usually do.
“I was upset with myself. I was upset with the whole situation,” Smith said. “I’m human. I’m 52 years old and I make mistakes, so that’s all it is to it.”
“So all in all, we’re out here to try to win races and that’s what our sponsor pays us to do,” Smith said. “And hopefully the [Matt Smith Racing] camp doesn’t mess up on Sunday here, and we can turn on four win lights and win this thing.”
4 – ANDERSON DOING ANDERSON THINGS – If qualifying is supposed to expose weakness, Greg Anderson keeps treating it like target practice.
Anderson powered to the provisional No. 1 spot Friday at the NHRA Southern Nationals with a 6.498-second run at 210.60 mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. No other Pro Stock driver reached the 6.40s at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
The six-time champion is now in line for his fourth straight No. 1 qualifier this season and the 144th of his career. At some point, dominance stops being surprising and starts becoming routine.
Eric Latino was second at 6.508, 209.75, and Aaron Stanfield was third at 6.525, 210.60.
“It’s great. It’s fantastic. That’s why we used to come here to test,” Anderson said. “It’s a good racetrack. So, it seems to like most stock cars well.”
Friday’s conditions invited aggression. Cool air and strong power numbers tend to make racers believe they can take more than the track is willing to give.
“And there were quite a few of us that got a little over-centered today, just because the air was so good, too,” Anderson said. “You make a lot of power out there today.”
That included Anderson himself in the second session. Even while leading the field, he said there was more work left to do.
“We all missed, and I’m including myself, the second run. We missed two,” Anderson said. “We missed a little bit on the starting line and just got a little bit too aggressive. But other than that, we just have to make the adjustment for tomorrow. It’s not a big adjustment.”
That is the uncomfortable part for everyone else. The man on top still thinks he left something out there.
Anderson said the 16-car field – fewer entries than usual – changed the Friday mindset. With every car already in the show, teams attacked instead of playing it safe.
“You didn’t necessarily have to do that today because you’re all qualified,” Anderson said. “So everybody went up there going for the hole, basically. And half of us made it, half of us didn’t.”
He expects the field to tighten quickly as teams learn the starting line and adjust to the new venue. Veterans know confusion rarely lasts long in Pro Stock.
“Today’s in the books and a lot of lessons learned today and tomorrow should be better,” Anderson said. “Sunday should be better yet.”
Anderson also praised the local response to NHRA’s first trip to the facility. He said the welcome has been noticed.
“It’s a neat place to race,” Anderson said. “And people here are very appreciative of us being here. And I love that. I like that a lot, and I love coming here.”
Friday belonged to Anderson again. The rest of Pro Stock now gets two days to figure out how to stop him. If they don’t, Anderson already gave the warning: “We should be flying the rest of the weekend.”
5 – DON’T THROW LIKE A GIRL – Maddi Gordon had one mission before stepping onto the mound at Truist Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before an Atlanta Braves game Thursday.
Do not throw “like a girl.”
For a driver who recently moved from Top Alcohol Funny Car into a Top Fuel dragster for Ron Capps Motorsports, the moment carried a different kind of pressure. There was no Christmas Tree, no crew chief in her ear, and no chance to pedal the result.
“But it was great. It was really cool,” she said. “I didn’t realize I was going to get to go on the mound until I got there and they said, ‘Hey, you can go on the mound if you want.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ ‘But you don’t have to – it’s 60 and a half feet.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, if I can go on the mound, I’m going on the mound.’”
That answer fits Gordon’s reputation. Present the tougher option and she usually chooses it.
She was not walking into unfamiliar territory. Gordon played varsity softball in high school and carried enough arm strength in those days to know what competitive throwing feels like.
“We did buy a baseball in Charlotte and we practiced with Ted in the parking lot and then Ron [Capps] outside the stadium, but we didn’t practice 60 feet because we didn’t think I would throw that far. Thought it all went good.”
The preparation was pure drag racer logic. Limited time, borrowed space, and figure it out as you go.
When the throw was over, Gordon gave the kind of blunt review racers respect.
Back home, she knew plenty of people were watching. Coaches, former teammates, and friends likely had the same thought as the ball left her hand.
“Seriously,” Gordon said. “They’re like, ‘Come on, do us proud.’”
Her pitch was not Randy Johnson fast, nor did it cover 60 feet as quickly as her Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster.
“Yeah,” Gordon said. “It was a wee bit slower, but it made it all the way there and it was … MLB standards would have been a ball, but I think it would have been hittable.”
6 – MEMORIES OF 333 – A drag racer rarely forgets where a personal best happened, especially when it came at 333 mph.
That is why Clay Millican returned to South Georgia Motorsports Park this weekend with more than another race on the schedule. He came back to a place where, in 2007, he made what was then the fastest run of his career.
“It was … on our way to Gainesville,” Millican said. “And I made what was at that particular moment, my fastest run ever. I went 333 miles an hour on this racetrack.”
The speed was memorable. What happened next made sure he would never forget it.
“And the funny part of that is the track crew followed me back to the trailer and they’re like, ‘Please don’t do that again,’” Millican said. “They said, ‘We’re not really prepared for a full quarter-mile runs’ – at that particular day anyway.
“They just said, ‘We prefer you didn’t run it out the back door like that.’”
That version of South Georgia is gone. The facility has since been refurbished and polished into NHRA’s newest national-event stop.
Millican believes the fans are ready for what nitro racing brings.
“I tell you what, this is going to be awesome,” Millican said. “I mean, there is no question this part of the world is used to radial cars, grudge racing and all that sort of thing, but we’re going to burn some noses and make some eyes water.”
That is Millican’s way of saying South Georgia knows drag racing, but not quite like this. He expects the crowd to leave with a different standard for loud and fast.
“It’s going to be a freaking amazing event down here,” Millican said. “South Georgia is going to be on a different level after this weekend when it comes to drag racing.”
Millican also believes the track still has the same trait it had when he first ran here – speed. If the weather holds, he expects eye-popping numbers again.
“But the track is known for being good here,” Millican said. “And, of course, me and you know, and people that follow drag racing, all tracks are good if the weather’s good.
“So if we keep this cloud cover and keep the rain off the ground, I think it’s going to be fast out there because this place is known for going fast.”
Millican welcomed the contrast between Charlotte’s polished stage and South Georgia’s blue-collar backdrop. He said this place feels closer to the roots from whence many racers came.
“I don’t know what the extra fork is on the table,” Millican said. “I’m used to … having your sandwich in a paper towel, but I love this facility and I love the history that it has here.”
7 – RACING WITH A PURPOSE – For Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr., this season’s paint scheme means more than sponsor placement and horsepower.
The uncle-and-nephew tandem has aligned with Children of Valor, a program focused on helping children from military families with tutoring and educational support. On a racetrack where thousandths of a second matter, they are carrying a message built around patience, service, and opportunity.
Children of Valor works with students whose parents serve in Special Operations and other branches of the military. When those children need academic help, the organization connects them with tutoring resources designed to keep them on course.
“It’s a really neat deal,” Troy Coughlin Jr. said. “It’s a non-profit organization that when you have parents, when you’re a child in school and your parents are in special ops or really any military branch at that, Children of Valor supplies tutoring options for you.
“So if you’re struggling in school, you can get some tutoring. They’ll dispatch it right to you.”
Coughlin said the team recently met a young guest whose story reminded them why the partnership matters. Sometimes, help in the classroom opens doors far beyond it.
“Last week we had a kid named Thomas Moore with us and he has told his story,” Coughlin said. “It’s a pretty cool little testimony about how he found his passion for cars and trucks, and it was all via Children of Valor. The tutor that he had led him to his passion and what made him happy.”
For racers raised around engines, garages, and family tradition, that kind of testimony lands close to home. Purpose can begin with one conversation, one mentor, or one person willing to help.
Coughlin said the program also fits naturally with the values inside the family operation. Patriotism has long been part of the Coughlin identity, and this gives them a way to turn that belief into action.
“So it’s a really neat something to be a part of, and it really goes with our program really well because we’re really patriotic people here and it’s a great cause,” he said.
The value of carrying the organization on the race car, Coughlin said, is not symbolic. It is personal every time they pull into the beams.
“It gives us a sense of pride,” Coughlin said. “I mean, being a citizen of the United States and it’s the greatest country in the world.
“I definitely love it and I think it’s a wonderful place to be, and it’s because of those parents in this case out there fighting for our freedom.”
Then he mentioned what matters most. Winning rounds is one thing, but helping families build futures is another.
“So it’s a big deal. It feels cool,” Coughlin said. “It feels like you’re playing your part, finding some funding to get them the tutoring that they need, that they can better their education and really follow their dreams.”
8 – MENHOLT LEADS PRO MOD QUALIFYING – Derek Menholt claimed the provisional No. 1 spot Friday in Pro Modified qualifying at the NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
Menholt drove his 1969 Camaro to a 5.657-second pass at 253.14 mph to lead the opening order. He was one of 10 drivers to run quicker than 5.725 seconds in a tightly packed field.
Jason Collins qualified second with a 5.672, 251.11 mph in his ’69 Camaro. Chip King was third at 5.694, 253.75 in his 1970 Charger. Billy Banaka took fourth with a 5.695, 255.34 mph, the fastest speed of the session. Steve Jackson rounded out the top five with a 5.702, 253.71 mph.
Justin Bond was sixth at 5.708, followed by Lyle Barnett in seventh at 5.711. Sidnei Frigo qualified eighth with a 5.716, 252.14 mph. Mike Stavrinos was ninth at 5.722, while J.R. Gray completed the top 10 with a 5.724. Spencer Hyde held 11th with a 5.754, followed by Mike Castellana at 5.783 and Mason Wright at 5.788. Mike Thielen was 14th at 5.810. Alex Laughlin and Rashid Al Balushi currently hold the final two qualified spots with runs of 5.934 and 5.949, respectively.
9 – SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING BEFORE THE RAIN – Chelsea Tindle, Jeff Longhany, and Wayne Brooks paced their respective categories before rain halted Friday sportsman qualifying at the NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
Qualifying was completed in Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, and the opening session of Top Dragster before weather moved into the area. Sportsman action is scheduled to resume when conditions allow.
In Super Stock, Chelsea Tindle of Freeport, Florida, claimed the top position with a 9.535-second run in her GT/IA 2004 Cavalier, 1.115 seconds under the index. Troy Huntzberry of Hagerstown, Maryland, was second at 9.632 (-1.068) in his SS/IA Camaro, while Georgia racer Jeff Adkinson ranked third at 9.211 (-0.989) in his FSS/F Camaro.
Marion Stephenson and Michael Howard rounded out the top five. Both stayed within a second of the leader on the adjusted index.
Stock Eliminator was led by Jeff Longhany of Wade, North Carolina, whose B/SA 2000 Corvette ran 10.130 seconds, 1.120 under the index. Thomas Mace of Jacksonville, Florida, followed in second at 10.907 (-1.093), while Jim Marshall of Indian Land, South Carolina, was third at 11.061 (-1.089) in his Camaro.
Gene Monahan and Jacob Rutledge completed the top five in a tightly packed field. The top five were separated by just over a tenth on the adjusted index.
In Top Dragster, Wayne Brooks of Monroe, Georgia, led the opening session with a 6.126-second pass at 230.02 mph. Robert May of Kinsey, Alabama, was close behind at 6.129, 228.96 mph, while TJ Tindle placed third at 6.176.
Ross Laris and Casey Spradlin completed the top five after the first qualifying round.
Sportsman eliminations and remaining qualifying rounds continue Saturday as the Southern Nationals weekend moves forward.
10 – ON TAP – Sportsman competition, scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday will be contingent on the amount of overnight rain. Professional qualifying continues at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday at the NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
