Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The Ford Racing NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas.
1 – LANGDON DROPS ASHLEY IN EPIC MATCH-UP – The marquee second-round duel between Shawn Langdon and Justin Ashley lived up to its billing Sunday during eliminations of the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Loaded with huge Top Fuel championship implications, the round saw second-ranked Antron Brown and fourth-seeded Steve Torrence bow out of eliminations before points leader Justin Ashley and No. 3 contender Langdon pulled to the starting line.
In a classic pairing of the sport’s two best drivers in consistently stellar reaction times, Langdon used a holeshot to dismiss Ashley by 27/10,000ths of a second. Langdon had a .053-second reaction time, Ashley an .052. That .052-second light was the second-worst for Ashley in his 22 most recent launches.
Afterward, an exhausted Langdon said, “Justin and that team really set the bar for the class. After 15 years, there are some runs that get your heart rate elevated, but there aren’t really a whole lot that can. That run did it, and I had to step up to it. That gives me a shot at the championship. I had to throw everything at it.”
Ashley took responsibility for his setback and found a positive in the result. He said, “I truly believe the competition in Top Fuel is the best it’s been in NHRA history. That second-round loss is on me. I have to be better. But big picture, it really speaks volumes about the high level of talent across the entire category. Truthfully, it’s an honor to just be a part of it. Now, we’ll shift our focus to Pomona. Mike Green, Tommy DeLago, Dustin Davis and the team are the best in the business. We’re in this position for a reason. It’s time to bring our A-game both on and off the racetrack for our SCAG Racing family.”
Ashley will arrive at Pomona in two weeks for the Finals in Pomona, Calif., with a 44-point advantage over second-place Antron Brown and 45 points on Langdon.
2 – LANGDON HAS SWING OF EMOTION – Like a broken elevator falling rapidly from a lofty floor to the basement, Shawn Langdon’s emotions sank with a thud in the semifinal round of Top Fuel eliminations. What happened to Langdon following his thrilling victory over Justin Ashley turned his elation into utter frustration. Langdon lined up in the semifinal round against teammate Doug Kalitta. Early in the run, the rear end of Kalitta’s dragster broke.
Ironically, it happened in the same spot in which Billy Torrence’s car did the same thing Saturday evening, soaking the racing surface with fluid that required another extensive clean-up and painfully lengthy delay. Sunday’s incident ended up shutting down all activity and postponing it until Monday morning.
Langdon had his destiny in hands, but he also had an uncooperative steering wheel in them. With Kalitta’s car in mechanical trouble, the round-win appeared to be Langdon’s. But his car drifted in the right lane toward the center line, and Langdon fought hard to save the run. To his dismay, the car crossed the center line and hit a cone. That cut his left rear tire, produced a shower of sparks, and shot him toward the right guard wall. Langdon displayed his superb diving skills, minimizing the damage. But the center-line violation disqualified him and handed Kalitta a generous pass into the final round against Brittany Force.
More devastating to Langdon was the realization that the incident also cost him a golden opportunity to overtake Ashley in the standings as the NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif., loom in two weeks.
Langdon said, “I hit the gas. I felt it kept trying to pull me left. So I just was trying to get a little bit of input in it and just kind of … I know that that right lane, it likes to suck you into the inside and that’s just a common thing. So I tried to cheat it just a little bit right, meaning pointing the car just a little bit right and run that right edge and let it bring me back in. And just from the time I hit the gas it kept pulling me left, pulling me left, and I kept trying to put input in it.
“And the dragsters, if you get your hands up around 12 and six, that’s a lot of input for a dragster. And when it catches it’s going to shoot you across the lane. So you got to keep that in mind. And I just kept putting more input in it and it just was not coming back,” Langdon said. “And by that time, you’re hauling ass down there, and next thing I know, it’s like ‘S—, there’s a block’ and [I] run over that damn thing and the tire blows. And at that point, just trying to salvage what you can and, dang, I hate it for the guys.”
He said, “It’s the first time I’ve ever hit anything in my career. Never hit a cone, never hit a wall. I’ve been taking pride in that for a long time. Feel bad for the guys. They’ve worked their asses off. I feel like s—, I’ll be honest with you. Just trying to hold it together. Hope I didn’t do too much damage. We still got a shot at the championship – that’s the most important thing. Just I don’t want to be the cause of not winning it. Love the sport, love everything about it, and want to be a champion.”
Langdon pulled within one point of second-place Antron Brown, poised to take advantage, perhaps, of the points-and-a-half scenario at the In-N-Out Burger Finals in two weeks at Pomona, Calif.
3 – JFR EXPERIENCING TURNAROUND – Brittany Force said Sunday, “We’ve turned the corner this weekend.” She was referring to her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team, which qualified No. 1 for the third time in four races and advanced past a tough trio of Josh Hart, Shawn Reed, and Clay Millican. She reached the final round for the first time all season, and the first time since the 2023 Topeka event, 28 races earlier.
But she just as easily could have been describing the entire John Force Racing organization.
Everyone has been following the family-fueled meteoric rise this season of Austin Prock in the Funny Car class as he stepped in as a substitute for three-time champion Robert Hight. And Prock, with a virtual lock on the championship even before this Las Vegas event ever started, cemented his chances with Monday’s victory over upset-minded Paul Lee. Prock’s 11th final-round appearance of the season was another handful of confetti for the John Force Racing team that was already celebrating the boss’ first visit to a dragstrip since his June 23 accident that still has him sidelined.
Earlier in the weekend, he rewrote the Funny Car record for most No. 1 qualifiers in a single season with his 14th. He passed boss John Force for the distinction.
Jack Beckman, filling in for the team owner, raced to the semifinal round and against Paul Lee came up just 2/1,000ths of a second short of reaching the final round. Beckman qualified No. 2 with a career-best elapsed time of 3.821 seconds.
“Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for me and my PEAK Chevy team,” Beckman said. “It was really frustrating to lose, and we lost to what was the quickest run of the weekend. Paul Lee’s car was going to run a mid-81 against us. We still laid down a .82 with the cylinder out. Even when our car is not perfect, it is still one of the best hot rods out here. And it gives me nothing but excitement pulling into Pomona for the last race. Our push right now is to close the season with a win, 1-2, for John Force.”
In a brief chat on the public-address system, John Force shared that PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, the primary sponsor of his Chevy Camaro Funny Car, “just put me in a four-year program, so I’m excited about that. And Cornwell Tools signed up [Funny Car champion-in-waiting Austin] Prock. They bought [sponsorship for] that car. So I’m back in business.”
And so is Brittany Force. She defeated traction-plagued Doug Kalitta in the final round Monday, winning for the first time since this same race in 2022, when she also started from the No. 1 qualifying berth. It was her 17th career victory.
Afterward, she said the victory “means everything. We’ve been chasing this win for two years at this event. It has been a long road this whole season, but I’m really proud of these guys right here. They’ve never given up. The hard work that has gone into this team – their patience – until we got back here, their fight to never give up, I’m proud of all of them. I have to thank my sponsors: Chevrolet, Monster Energy, HendrickCars.com, Cornwell Tools, GHX, all of them. It took all of us to get here. This win right here … I believe – I always believe – that everything happens for a reason, and I believe that God has a plan. This was His plan, to win, to double up because it’s the first race my dad has come back to since his wreck in Virginia. It’s been a long road. I’m so proud of him. This win right here, this win is for him.”
John Force, naturally pleased with the results, said, “Brittany has struggled all year, but I think they got it figured out, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Her crew chief, Dave Grubnic, said he appreciated everyone’s patience: “We’ve had a struggle this year, and one win isn’t going to be enough to get us back to where we need to be. I’ve got to thank all of our sponsors and the Force family. They’ve been very patient with me. But we’re turning it around. We can see where we’re going.”
Brittany Force said, “This is definitely a special one, and it’ll always be a special one in our book – not just for me, but all of John Force Racing. It’s been a difficult season for us all. And I’ve been out of the winner’s circle for two years since this event here in Vegas. I felt good coming into this race. Our team’s really been pushing hard, and we’ve been seeing the progress on the track. It’s just incredible for our entire Chevrolet team, and all our sponsors.”
John Force thanked his marketing partners and said, “I got to see both of my teams win today with their support and with our entire family at the track this weekend. I’m glad to be back.”
4 – PROCK INCHES UP ON FUNNY CAR TITLE – Seattle runner-up Paul Lee is starting to flex some muscle, with Jonnie Lindberg and John Medlen tuning his Funny Car. So his final-round match-up Monday with class leader Austin Prock wasn’t exactly the underdog versus the top dog. But Prock still is the top dog in the class heading into Pomona. He scored a wire-to-wire victory, while Lee experienced some sort of mechanical issue at about 700 feet downtrack as Prock won handily, by about 77 feet. Prock won for the fourth time in the past six races and for the eighth time this season.
“I’m feeling amazing. Me and Brittany (Force) have been talking about doubling up all year long, and to get it done when John (Force) is finally back at the racetrack, the Good Lord was looking down on us, blessing us today. It’s been a wild weekend, a long weekend, but it’s going to be a (dang) long day. Thank you, Cornwell Tools. Thank you, Chevrolet. Thank you GHX, Rick Hendrick, HendrickCars.com. Thank you, everyone. Let’s go!
“I mean, this team has just been lights out this year,” he said. “Outstanding job by each and every one of the Cornwell crew. They all carry their weight and pick up weight from, you know, if a guy’s behind or struggling. They all got each other’s back, and that’s what makes a team. We win and lose as a team, and we won as a team today.”
Prock will take a 188-point lead to Pomona. The maximum number of points a driver can earn at the Finals is 191. While second-place Beckman would need a miracle, a stunning turn of events, to close that gap, the anticipation is that Prock could clinch the championship in qualifying at Pomona.
4A – LEE CONTINUES TO SURGE – While Austin Prock has been running roughshod over the Funny Car field this season, Paul Lee has been sneaking up the ladder into prominence. Lee scored his second final round appearance in what has proven to be his best season ever.
Up until this season, Lee had never reached a final round in Mission Foods Funny Car competition and he has now reached two in 2024. His transformation began first by qualifying strong. He qualified in the top-half of the field in 11 of 15 races. Seven of those were in the top five.
Lee is winning rounds, too. He’s got 12 round wins headed into Pomona. How far has he progressed? In the last two seasons, Lee had six round wins combined.
Oh yeah, don’t forget the win Pep Boys All-Star Callout win at Indy.
The Las Vegas performance bodes well for Lee, who last year started his run to prominence with a career-best No. 5 qualifying effort at the time.
Credit rookie tuner Jonnie Lindberg, and his mentor John Medlen for a good portion in surging upward. But don’t forget, it was Lee who had the foresight to pair the rookie tuner with a semi-retired legend in Medlen. – Bobby Bennett Jr.
5 – PRO STOCK CHASE GETTING ‘INTERESTINGER AND INTERESTINGER’ – The Pro Stock championship chase took a wild twist in the first round when No. 12 qualifier Cristian Cuadra upset No. 5 starter Dallas Glenn, shaking points leader Glenn from his points lead.
Glenn said, “I felt good on the [Christmas] Tree. He just did his job a little better. I knew they were going to hop him up for me. He definitely did what he needed to do. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope that everyone else loses soon.”
Each of the next six in the standings behind Glenn won. By the end of the semifinals, the only other contenders still in the race were Glenn’s two biggest challengers: Aaron Stanfield and Greg Anderson.
Stanfield used a holeshot to defeat No. 1 starter Anderson in the finals by a mere 21 inches, or .0057 of a second. With that sixth victory of 2024, Stanfield assumed the points lead with one race remaining in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He also recorded Chevrolet’s 400th Pro Stock victory since 1970.
That gave him a 32-point edge over Glenn, who dropped to second place. Anderson is third going into the Finals, 24 behind KB Titan teammate Glenn and 56 points off Stanfield’s lead.
Stanfield grabbed the points from longtime leader Glenn in the opening race of the Countdown, but Glenn took it back and held on through the past three races.
He said his Elite Motorsports team “all went back and studied what happened [Sunday], and they made the right calls here. It’s a little tricky when you don’t have as many race cars on the racetrack. Man, I’ve got the greatest guys out here at the racetrack, and thank you to [Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage], Jason and Nikki Johnson, the Melling brothers, Joe Janac, and all these Elite Motorsports boys. This was a big day for us, and it’s Vegas baby!”
Anderson made his fifth final round of the year and the 181st of his career. He owns the esoteric statistic of becoming one of just seven Pro Stock drivers to compile 10 or more victories against a single opponent without a loss. When he eliminated Cristian Cuadra, it was his 11th triumph over the young driver from Mexico. The biggest one-sided Pro Stock match-up is Bob Glidden’s 17-0 record against Gordie Rivera.
6 – MATT SMITH IN DEEPER HOLE – Chase Van Sant put a dent in Matt Smith’s bid for a seventh Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, knocking him out in the quarterfinals. Smith lost, despite posting low elapsed time of the round at 6.865 seconds on the quarter-mile.
Points leader Gaige Herrera resumed competition Monday and eliminated Hector Arana Jr. in the semifinal round, then beat Angie Smith in the final to extend his 62-point advantage over No. 2 Matt Smith to 123 points.
Monday’s victory was Herera’s 10th of the season.
His teammate and rookie-of-the-year contender Richard Gadson is third in the standings, a distant 231 points off the pace and out of contention.
7 – PRO MOD CROWN GOES TO LAZIC – Jordan Lazic became a first-time NHRA Pro Mod champion and the first Canadian to do so. At the start of race day, 16 drivers had a chance to claim the title in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+. And one by one, they faded away, leaving the first semifinal match-up Sunday between Lazic and 2022 king – and Bahrain 1 teammate – Kris Thorne to determine the champion.
Lazic, who missed the first two of the scheduled 10 races, prevailed in the winner-take-all scenario as he pulled away from Thorne on the quarter-mile course. He denied Thorne in his bid for a second championship in three seasons.
The Pro Modified champion, from Kelowna, British Columbia, advanced to the final and benefitted from Mike Janis’ red-light foul start to earn the event trophy, as well. For Lazic, it was his first victory of the season and first overall.
“It’s crazy. My phone is flooded. No Canadian has ever won this deal,” Lazic said. “If I had a whole season, hopefully I can be more dangerous.”
At the start of eliminations (which paid out points and a half), Khalid Al Balooshi was the points leader, but the top seven racers were separated by just 50 points. Al Balooshi and No. 5 Mason Wright lost in the opening round. Third-seeded Lazic took out No. 2 Justin Bond in the second round, and No. 4 Ken Quartuccio also lost in the quarterfinals.
8 – WINNERS LIST – Among the winners Monday were Shawn Cowie (Top Alcohol Dragster), Madison Gordon (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Johnny Pluchino (Mountain Motor Pro Stock), Brett Speer (Super Stock), Joe Sorensen (Stock), Toby Payne (Super Comp), Josh Dalrymple (Super Gas), Taylor Chimiski (Comp Eliminator), and Tim Boychuk (Legends Nitro Funny Car). Also winning Monday were Summit Series standouts Omar Leon (Street Legal EV), C.W. Hoefer (Sportsman), Alvie Merrill (Pro ET), and Zach Meziere (Super Pro).
9 – ‘GROWING YEAR’ GROWING TO CLOSE FOR CAPPS – Funny Car veteran Ron Capps, now in his third season as a team owner, has one more chance to claim his first victory of the year. He has come close, reaching the final round five times. He and his Dean “Guido” Antonelli-led team have been in the championship conversation all season, and Capps is set to finish in the top 10 for the 20th consecutive year.
“This has been sort of a growing year for where we want to be with our team,” said Capps, who launched his team in late 2021. “We came off the two championships (2021-22) and wanted to build on that. Guido and our NAPA Auto Care team have done a great job of that. We want to get this Toyota GR Supra as far up in the points as we can, and we want to finish the year strong.”
He’s third in the standings behind points leader Austin Prock and Jack Beckman.
10 – JCM HELPS MILITARY FAMILIES – Top Fuel’s Tony Schumacher carried the Leatherwood Distillery livery back on his JCM Racing dragster at Las Vegas and will do so again at Pomona. Through Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11), Leatherwood Distillery will donate 50 cents from every bottle sold to benefit both A Soldier’s Child and Brother’s Keeper Veteran Foundation. JCM Racing will present a donation check on behalf of Leatherwood to A Soldier’s Child organization during pre-race ceremonies at the NHRA Finals at Pomona.
