If there’s one valuable lesson Bob Tasca III learned long ago in drag racing, it’s not how you start but how you finish that matters most.

Tasca dominated the Funny Car category, while Austin Prock emerged victorious in the Top Fuel class during the final qualifying session of the 12th event in the 21-race nitro series at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Sophomore phenom Gaige Herrera also emerged triumphant as the No. 1 qualifier and winner of the NHRA All-Star Callout event in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Tasca drove to his fourth No. 1 qualifier this season during the final session thanks to run of 3.938 at 324.05 in his 11,000-horsepower Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang, making a huge move after struggling during the first three sessions. He wasn’t able to make a run under the lights on Friday, but more than made up for to close out qualifying as he looks to defend his Sonoma victory on Sunday. 

J.R. Todd and Steve Torrence emerged as the victors in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Sonoma. 

Todd, a two-time NHRA champion, secured his first win in the race-within-race specialty series with an impressive run of 3.977 at 322.81 mph in his DHL Toyota GR Supra. Blake Alexander, his final-round opponent, suffered a mechanical issue at the starting line. 

This victory marked Todd’s first win of any kind since the season-opener at Gainesville back in 2021. His breakthrough performance on Saturday followed a series of strong performances during the Western Swing, including a runner-up position in Seattle. 

“Any win is a good win,” Todd said. “I feel let the last two slip away from us in Denver and the final round in Seattle. It’s been a while since we’ve won anything, so this is good momentum headed into race day, and hopefully, we can finish it off tomorrow. I feel like we’ve been building momentum since (Norwalk) with our DHL Toyota GR Supra.

Alexis DeJoria rolled off the trailer in Sonoma, Calif., Friday and was ready to go.

DeJoria clocked a 3.942-second time at 326.56 mph IN Q1 to grab the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the Denso NHRA Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

Reigning back-to-back NHRA nitro Funny Car world champion Ron Capps had the exact same elapsed time as DeJoria in Q1, but didn’t record a mph, so he was bumped to the No. 2 spot on the ladder.

If DeJoria keeps the No. 1 spot through Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions, it would be her first of the season and the seventh of her nitro Funny Car driving career. Her last No. 1 qualifier came in the Las Vegas fall race in 2021.

DeJoria, who drives the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, has had plenty of success in Sonoma. In eig

 Like he has been during every dominating performance this season, Gaige Herrera was cool and collected as he kept his secret all week.

Everyone wondered who the Vance & Hines Mission Suzuki racer would choose for his first-round opponent in Saturday’s NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Call-Out.

They found out Friday night. Top-seeded Herrera, goaded by Matt Smith to choose him and joining playful Eddie Krawiec in making fans think he’ll pick his teammate in what would be an unusual strategy twist, selected “my buddy” Chase Van Sant.

On a tricky track Friday night in Q2 at the at the Denso NHRA Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals, Top Fuel driver Austin Prock shined.

Prock, piloting his John Force Racing dragster, clocked a 3.704-second time at 331.36 mph to grab the provisional No. 1 spot.

If Prock holds his position after Saturday's two rounds of action, it would be his first No. 1 qualifier of the season in his Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Top Fuel dragster and the second of his career. He captured the lone No. 1 spot of his career last year in Dallas.

Top Fuel driver Austin Prock emerged as the provisional No. 1 qualifier at the 35th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals with a run of 3.704 seconds at 331.36 mph. 

Joining him atop their respective Camping World Drag Racing Series divisions were Alexis DeJoria (Funny Car) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle)

Currently fifth in points, Prock expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance.

“I haven’t been that quick in a while,” Prock said. “I love working with this team and I have not had much success on the Western Swing in my career. I was very proud of what we did tonight. We dropped a cylinder on the first run and I was pretty mad. But I knew we were going to go up there and make a good run, and it rebounded nicely. 

The NHRA Heartland Nationals will move over to the Missouri side next year.

According to the NHRA in a prepared statement, the sanctioning body will remain in the Kansas City Market in 2024 with the newly constructed Flying H Dragstrip in the Kansas City area. This news comes as Heartland Motorsports Park, a longstanding venue for NHRA events since 1989, prepares to host its final event, the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor, on August 11-13.

The decision to add the Flying H Dragstrip to the schedule comes after Heartland Motorsports Park faced ongoing tax and land disputes with Shawnee County, ultimately leading to its closure. 

In a press release Friday, Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan., announced that the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by Pet Armor, Aug. 11-13, will be the final national event at the facility.

The reason given for Heartland Motorsports Park closing its doors is due to an ongoing fight over property taxes. Heartland Motorsports Park owner Chris Payne owes Shawnee County more than $2.6 million in taxes.

Steve Torrence has won four NHRA Top Fuel championships facing the best of the best in Top Fuel. However, there was one team he wanted to avoid dealing with either in qualifying or eliminations last weekend in Seattle. 

The BooCrew wanted a piece of the 'ol champion at the NHRA Northwest Nationals..

Last season, they started to give the Kilgore, Texas-based Torrence the business. Well, actually, according to Torrence, it's been a few years running. And this year, they were amped up to give more of the same trash-talking.

Things aren’t always what they seem. Tony Schumacher knows that, and that’s why he’s patient and methodical ... and a wee bit frustrated when he hears the uninformed chatter about his Top Fuel future and whether he, who has won 86 times, can win a race again.

"We didn't have the same team last year. I had horse**** parts last year. The car was junk. There was no way to win in that thing. We won this race here by the other car [Brittany Force’s] smoking the tires. We needed people to fall on their swords to win. But it's all new stuff now. And it's not stuff they used. It's a lot of DSR parts they didn't use before. So it's figuring 'em out,” he said.