Final round-by-round results from the 35th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway, the 12th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

Bob Tasca III smoked the tires in his first three qualifying runs at the Denso NHRA Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

That changed dramatically in Q4 Saturday.

Tasca clocked a 3.938-second lap at 324.05 mph to rocket to the top spot on the qualifying ladder.

Another weekend, another dominant performance by Gaige Herrera.

Herrera, who is in his first season driving for the powerhouse Vance & Hines team, has been nothing short of amazing aboard his Suzuki.

Herrera has won five of the seven NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle national events in 2023. He has one runner-up finish and six No. 1 qualifying positions.

NHRA Funny Car owner-driver Ron Capps has the confidence expected of a 74-time winner who can tame an 11,000-horsepower, nitro-burning terror of a race car.

But that self-assurance went AWOL earlier this year, when Capps got out of his rental car at that small racetrack in North Carolina. He had competed before in circle-track events – at the Prelude To The Dream and at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals – and had tested in IROC Series and SCRA sprint cars. However, he suddenly felt like a David surrounded by a gang of Goliaths.

The Camping World SRX (Superstar Racing Experience) Series had announced in April that Capps is the first full-time drag racer to be invited to run in the Thursday Night Thunder program. After all the “attaboys” from SRX CEO Don Hawk, the drag-racing community, and friends that he’ll be in the mix at the August 10 edition at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway at Rossburg, Ohio, some trepidation set in.

During the final qualifying session, Top Fuel’s Antron Brown miraculously guided his Matco Tools Toyota safely down the right lane and into the turnout area without incident, despite a malfunction with his wing strut early in the run.

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.