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.
