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Once the final pair of Top Fuel dragsters crossed the finish line at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, there weren’t many storylines left to write. Maddi Gordon made sure of that.
The Top Fuel rookie delivered her first NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series victory, completing the first nitro double in Ron Capps Motorsports history while adding another chapter to a memorable father-daughter day. Earlier Sunday, her father, Doug Gordon, won the Top Alcohol Funny Car title in the same car Maddi once drove before moving to Top Fuel.
Joining Gordon in the professional winner’s circle were Capps in Funny Car, Aaron Stanfield in Pro Stock, and Richard Gadson in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Gordon’s breakthrough came in just her 10th professional start, and she defeated Antron Brown with a 3.786-second pass at 333.16 mph in the final. The day nearly unraveled before it began when the team scrambled to solve a starting-line parts issue, only getting the car fired moments before Spencer Massey accepted the delay, and Gordon advanced.
From there, she eliminated Tony Stewart, points leader Shawn Langdon and Brown to earn the biggest victory of her young career.
“It literally doesn’t get any better than this,” Gordon said. “We brought three race cars here, we came home with three trophies and three ice cream scoopers, and y’all know me, you know I love ice cream, so that is like the cherry on top.”
The significance wasn’t lost on Gordon, who credited Capps for believing in her before she had proven herself at the Top Fuel level.
“They say people usually stick out an arm or a leg for you. Well, Ron catapulted out of a cannon for me,” Gordon said. “He believed in me even before I won a Top Alcohol Funny Car trophy. He could have thrown any driver in there, but he chose me, and I’m forever grateful for this opportunity.”
Capps completed the milestone day by giving his organization its first nitro sweep, defeating Jack Beckman with a 3.969-second run at 328.54 mph. The victory was the 80th of his Funny Car career and his third of the season, making him the first Funny Car driver to reach three wins in 2026.
Before Gordon’s final, Capps stopped by her car with one final message.
“I went over to her car before the final round and said, ‘Well, you got your head on straight, right?'” Capps said. “You lie in bed, and you dream about stuff like this. This is crazy. We’re just lucky.”
Pro Stock belonged to Aaron Stanfield, who proved once again that races can be won in the first 60 feet.
Knowing Matt Hartford had both the car and the momentum, Stanfield responded with a nearly perfect .002-second reaction time before driving to a 6.626 at 208.75 mph. The holeshot victory, decided by just .006 seconds, gave Stanfield his second victory of the season and the 16th of his career.
“I definitely knew I was going to have to be pretty good on the tree,” Stanfield said. “Matt’s been driving really good here lately and he’s had a fast race car. It feels great as a driver whenever you’re able to do your job and pull off a holeshot win like that.”
Richard Gadson completed the professional winners list by defeating Vance & Hines teammate Gaige Herrera in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final after Herrera fouled for the second straight day. Gadson backed it up with a 6.849-second pass at 197.36 mph for his second victory of the season and sixth of his career.
“Obviously, I didn’t lie yesterday when I told you it’s pretty much an ‘are you willing to red light’ situation,” Gadson said. “I feel like Norwalk owed me one. I got the ice cream scoop that I always hoped for, a double-up with the Mission #2Fast2Tasty win and the overall win. It doesn’t get much sweeter than this.”
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action July 17-19 with the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
SATURDAY QUALIFYING – SATURDAY TURNS UP THE HEAT AS LANGDON, PROCK, ANDERSON AND HERRERA CLAIM NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOTS
Whatever Friday’s early start didn’t deliver, Saturday more than made up for.
With cooler conditions and a track ready to hold power, Shawn Langdon, Austin Prock, Greg Anderson, and Gaige Herrera took control of qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. By the end of the day, all four had secured No. 1 qualifying positions heading into Sunday’s eliminations, while Langdon and Prock added Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victories to complete dominant Saturdays.
For Langdon, Saturday’s performance reinforced what has become the story of the Top Fuel season.
The Kalitta Motorsports driver posted a class-leading 3.695-second run at 333.08 mph to secure his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the year. It continued a season where consistency has become every bit as valuable as outright speed, giving the points leader another opportunity to extend his championship advantage.
Langdon isn’t shy about embracing the top spot.
“I absolutely love being the No. 1 qualifier when there are 15 cars,” Langdon said. “I feel our cars have made a pretty good statement over the last year or two. Our Kalitta cars have made some really incredible runs throughout the season and so I think anybody that pulls up to us on Sundays, they’ve got to bring a pretty fast race car.”
Thanks to the short field, Langdon’s No. 1 berth resulted in a first-round bye run. He will face the Kalitta-Billy Torrence survivor in the quarterfinals.
Josh Hart qualified second with a 3.722-second run at 332.51, while Epping winner Leah Pruett claimed the third position after a 3.731, 334.07.
It was Prock, though, who may have made the loudest statement of the weekend so far.
The two-time Funny Car champion earned his first No. 1 qualifier since joining Tasca Racing in the offseason, blasting to a track-record 3.863 seconds at 337.41 mph in his Ford Racing Mustang. He also produced the quickest run in three of the four qualifying sessions and backed it up by defeating Ron Capps for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory.
The performance reflected months of steady improvement for a team that began the season rebuilding from the ground up.
“It’s been a great weekend for us so far,” Prock said. “We pretty much gobbled up every point that was available except one yesterday in Q2. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished this weekend. We came in here with a plan that we were going to press harder and try to become the dominant race team that we know we’re capable of being.”
Prock credited the progress to the work his team has invested throughout the first half of the season.
“I can’t say enough about this Ford Racing team. It’s an honor to work with them,” Prock said. “We’ve really made incredible progress each weekend in these 10 races. Our progression has been very linear. It’s just kind of been a steady pace. The entire show has been better this weekend and that’s great for these packed Norwalk grandstands.”
Alexis DeJoria qualified second with a 3.886 at 330.31, while Ron Capps held onto the third spot with Friday’s 3.891 at 326.63.
Pro Stock qualifying honors continued to belong to Greg Anderson.
The six-time NHRA champion claimed his seventh No. 1 qualifier of the season after powering to a 6.550-second pass at 209.36 mph. The performance once again demonstrated why KB-Titan Racing continues to dictate the pace in the category.
Dallas Glenn qualified second after his own impressive weekend, while Matt Hartford rounded out the top three with a 6.564 at 209.04.
Pro Stock Motorcycle featured another familiar face atop the ladder.
Gaige Herrera secured his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier with a 6.768-second run at 199.64 mph, giving the 2023-24 class champion another favorable starting position for eliminations. Herrera will begin race day looking to add another event victory while continuing his season-long battle with Vance & Hines teammate Richard Gadson, who unseated him as champion in 2025.
Gadson qualified second at 6.790, and Joey Gladstone qualified third after posting a 6.795 at 198.70.
Eliminations for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park.
SATURDAY #FAST2TASTY – SWEEP SATURDAY BELONGS TO LANGDON, PROCK; GLENN AND GADSON POST #2FAST2TASTY WINS
The nitro divisions in Norwalk, Ohio, became an object lesson in sweep-ology.
By the time Saturday’s qualifying sessions ended, Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Austin Prock (Funny Car) had each doubled up by winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and claiming No. 1 qualifying positions. Dallas Glenn pocketed $40,000 in the GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout, while Richard Gadson continued his growing rivalry with teammate Gaige Herrera by collecting another Mission Challenge victory.
If there was one theme to the day, it was taking advantage of every point and every dollar available before eliminations even begin.
Nobody did that better than Langdon.
The Top Fuel points leader defeated Kalitta Motorsports teammate Doug Kalitta with a 3.695-second run at 333.08 mph to earn his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory of the season. The same run also secured his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the year, another reminder that the Kalitta camp continues to set the standard in Top Fuel.
The numbers tell an even bigger story.
Between Langdon and Kalitta, Kalitta Motorsports has won seven of the eight Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenges contested this season. Saturday’s victory only widened Langdon’s advantage as he chases another world championship.
“The magic is really just the consistency that these cars have shown over the last couple seasons, being able to make the semifinals of the races, being able to get into the show of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty and then making good quality runs during the Challenge,” Langdon said. “Both cars have been really good the last few seasons, so that’s just the end result of that.”
Funny Car may have produced the loudest statement of the day.
Austin Prock entered the weekend believing his Tasca Racing team had finally begun finding the answers after an up-and-down start to the season. By Saturday evening, the two-time Funny Car champion had the results to prove it.
Prock defeated Ron Capps in the Mission Challenge final with a 3.875-second pass at 333.49 mph before locking down his first No. 1 qualifier since joining Tasca Racing with a track-record blast of 3.863 seconds at 337.41 mph. He also recorded the quickest run in three of the four qualifying sessions.
“It’s been a great weekend for us so far,” Prock said. “We’ve pretty much gobbled up every point that was available except one yesterday in Q2. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished this weekend. We came in here with a plan that we were going to press harder and try to become the dominant race team that we know we’re capable of being.”
Prock said the steady improvement has been months in the making after the team worked through early mechanical issues that masked its true potential.
Now he believes the car is beginning to resemble the one capable of contending for another championship.
While the nitro categories grabbed much of the attention, Glenn left with the biggest check of the day.
The KB Titan Racing driver became the fourth different winner in the four-year history of the GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout, earning $40,000 after Matt Hartford fouled in the final round. Glenn was ready regardless, posting the quickest Pro Stock run of Saturday with a 6.556 at 207.98 mph in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro.
The Callout victory came after Glenn defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Aaron Stanfield earlier in the day. He also qualified second, giving him a chance to leave Norwalk with both the bonus race title and an event victory.
“We made a fantastic run there in the final,” Glenn said. “I’m really excited about tomorrow. I’ve been wanting to get one of these ice cream scoop trophies for a long time. I’m really excited about that, and that nice big bonus check should be pretty nice, too.”
Glenn admitted specialty races haven’t always gone his way.
“I don’t feel like I do well in these races, but I just came in trying to do my own thing,”
FRIDAY QUALIFYING – LANGDON, CAPPS, ANDERSON AND HERRERA SET FRIDAY’S PACE AT NORWALK
It was a Friday NHRA event at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park missing the traditional night-time qualifying. When rain threatened Friday’s schedule race officials moved up qualifying and were able to get in two qualifying sessions, but in doing so the traditional post-racing fireworks show was scrubbed.
Some didn’t mind, as qualifying presented some performance fireworks of its own.
Friday’s final qualifying session rewarded the teams willing to chase cooler conditions, and Shawn Langdon, Ron Capps, Greg Anderson, and Gaige Herrera capitalized by taking provisional No. 1 spots at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
Langdon led the Top Fuel field with a 3.742-second pass at 335.23 mph in his Kalitta Air dragster, the quickest run of either session. The points leader is on track for his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season after extending his streak to six consecutive final-round appearances despite seeing a three-race win streak end in Bristol. Langdon fell to Leah Pruett in the finals of the event whose ending was washed out in Epping, N.H., then lost in the Bristol-event title round to Antron Brown.
“We’re very pleased with how the car ran and I think with what we’re trying to accomplish, [crew chief] Brian [Husen has] been making great calls,” Langdon said. “Fortunately, the car’s responding well and it’s pretty glued in. We’re very happy with the setup right now.”
Tony Stewart qualified second at 3.767, 335.07, while rookie Maddi Gordon continued her impressive season with a run of 3.793, 335.40 to claim the third spot.
In Funny Car, Capps used a late-session charge to become the only driver in the 3.80-second range, posting a 3.894, 328.38 in the NAPA Auto Care Toyota. The run moved the three-time NHRA champion into position for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 40th of his career.
“Conditions obviously got cooler three or four cars before us,” Capps said. “I could see the cloud cover coming, and ‘Guido’ [crew chief Dean Antonelli] got back in the box about four or five times more than usual.”
Austin Prock sits second with a 3.905 at 334.15, followed by Alexis DeJoria at 3.918, 330.63.
Anderson continued his command of the Pro Stock category, pacing both sessions with a 6.550 at 209.36 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. The six-time NHRA champion also earned the first selection in Saturday’s GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout.
“Yeah, it was big, but tomorrow’s the big day,” Anderson said. “We had to set it up today. I think we got all the points we can get today.”
Reigning Mission Drag Racing Series champion Dallas Glenn qualified second with a 6.561 at 209.07, while Bristol winner Matt Hartford was third at 6.564, 208.71.
Herrera carried the momentum from his Bristol victory into Norwalk, leading both Pro Stock Motorcycle sessions with a 6.779 at 199.64 aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki. After a slow start to the season, Herrera is on pace for his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier.
“I wouldn’t say it’s back to normal, but it feels good,” Herrera said. “We’ve kind of been struggling for a bit now, but we made some changes to the bike itself, so hopefully I’ll have the same bike in the sun tomorrow.”
Joey Gladstone, filling in for team owner Matt Smith, who is still recovering from multiple gall bladder-related surgeries, qualified second at 6.795 and 198.70, while Angie Smith rounded out the top three with a 6.805, 200.11.
Qualifying continues at noon EDT on Saturday at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The first round of the GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout begins at 11:30 a.m.
Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, 10th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel — 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.742 seconds, 335.23 mph; 2. Tony Stewart, 3.767, 335.07; 3. Maddi Gordon, 3.793, 335.40; 4. Clay Millican, 3.799, 339.11; 5. Josh Hart, 3.803, 332.34; 6. Leah Pruett, 3.806, 330.72; 7. Spencer Massey, 3.814, 327.11; 8. Antron Brown, 3.828, 329.50; 9. Billy Torrence, 3.839, 329.83; 10. Shawn Reed, 3.879, 279.79; 11. Tony Schumacher, 3.886, 278.17; 12. Will Smith, 3.926, 273.27; 13. Doug Kalitta, 4.172, 219.69; 14. Justin Ashley, 4.211, 301.87; 15. Scott Farley, 4.669, 162.51.
Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Toyota GR Supra, 3.894, 328.38; 2. Austin Prock, Ford Mustang, 3.905, 334.15; 3. Alexis DeJoria, Chevy Camaro, 3.918, 331.53; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Dodge Charger, 3.931, 325.30; 5. Del Worsham, Toyota Supra, 3.934, 332.67; 6. Jordan Vandergriff, Camaro, 3.936, 329.18; 7. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.938, 322.50; 8. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.945, 327.59; 9. Dave Richards, Mustang, 3.961, 332.59; 10. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.966, 332.34; 11. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.988, 325.06; 12. Blake Alexander, Charger, 3.991, 322.34; 13. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.992, 327.43; 14. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.996, 322.96; 15. Bobby Bode, Mustang, 4.125, 267.06; 16. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.134, 299.33.
Pro Stock — 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.550, 209.36; 2. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.561, 209.07; 3. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.564, 209.04; 4. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.577, 209.30; 5. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.577, 207.46; 6. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.579, 209.26; 7. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.580, 209.92; 8. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.591, 208.07; 9. Cody Anderson, Camaro, 6.593, 209.10; 10. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.593, 209.04; 11. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.598, 208.84; 12. Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.617, 208.26; 13. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.624, 209.23; 14. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.633, 208.55.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.779, 199.64; 2. Joey Gladstone, Buell, 6.795, 198.70; 3. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.805, 200.11; 4. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.814, 198.44; 5. Brayden Davis, Buell, 6.829, 197.94; 6. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.841, 196.76; 7. John Hall, Beull, 6.855, 199.46; 8. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.876, 196.19; 9. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.877, 194.52; 10. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.914, 197.10; 11. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.951, 195.36; 12. Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 7.064, 189.31; 13. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 7.090, 163.26; 14. Bud Yoder II, Buell, 7.227, 181.62; 15. Odolph Daniels, Suzuki, 9.102, 98.32.
