EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL SPORTSMAN RESULTS

FRI. GALLERY SAT. GALLERY SUN GALLERY

 

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - FROM NIGHT-TIME TO HOT-TIME AT PACIFIC RACEWAYS

 

1 - #2FAST2TASTY WINNERS - Consider Austin Prock the Justin Ashley of the 2024 Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Last season, Ashley won six of the specialty challenge events and claimed the overall title. Eleven races into 2024, Prock has now won five. 

His latest came at the expense of Ron Capps. Prock went 3.993 seconds at 320.13 mph to secure the win Saturday at Pacific Raceways.

“This team has been very, very consistent. It’s definitely been a fun race car to drive,” Prock said. “We were low in all four qualifying sessions this weekend, and then ended up winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as well. So, another great start for the weekend.

“The biggest deal about the Challenge is those points that stay with you when the points reset, and they are huge. You see so many people win or lose a championship by one or five points, and other people are accumulating them as well, but we’ve definitely been doing a good job of getting them.”

Oh, yeah, that Ashley dude, he's still winning. 

Ashley claimed his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win, taking down reigning world champion Doug Kalitta in the final round with a run of 3.890, 315.49.

“This is really meaningful, especially this time of the year because we’re getting closer and closer to the Countdown,” Ashley said. “The way the points are, they get added after the [Countdown points] reset, so these points and qualifying bonus points are super important. Any time we can get a win in competition, whether it’s on race day or the Mission Foods Challenge, I think it’s really beneficial for us.

“I think we had a really good start to the year, but then there was a stretch recently over the last four or five races where we’ve been struggling. We had a good bounceback in Norwalk, then we ended up qualifying No. 2 here. We’re working on some things, testing out some things, just adjusting the tune-up, so I’m pretty happy with where we’re at, and a win like this is good for the team.”

Aaron Stanfield, who has won back-to-back national events in Pro Stock, now has a Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory, too. He ran a 6.557 at 208.10 to beat a red-lighting Mason McGaha in the final round. 

“I really enjoy the #2fast2Tasty Challenge. We won the championship (for the bonus race) last year, and to just now get our first one, it’s taken us a minute, but it’s a blast, and it’s good to have some continued success,” Stanfield said. “We’ve had a really good race car, and I’ve been driving decent, so hopefully we can continue to build on race day.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera, who has won everything but a Powerball lottery, picked up his third victory of the season in the specialty event. He stopped rival Matt Smith with a 6.745 at 200.32. Smith fouled, ending the race before it started.

“It was a little hot today for sure, so we were battling the track a little bit, but we made a few changes to the transmission to accommodate the heat, and it paid off in the in the final against Matt Smith,” Herrera said. “Unfortunately, he went red, or it probably would have been a really good race.

 

 

2 - LEADERBOARD REMAINS UNCHANGED - Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Prock (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) remained atop their respective fields heading into Sunday’s final eliminations. 

Torrence’s 3.688 elapsed time at a track-record 335.32 was untouchable Saturday. He now has two No. 1 qualifiers this season and 39 for his career. Torrence is the defending event champion, and the 2023 victory marks his last race win.

“I feel confident. That last run was a good, clean run down through there that we needed,” Torrence said. “We probably could have run quicker, but we needed to get good information to go A to B and set up for tomorrow because we’ll have some of these conditions that are very similar. We put ourselves in a good position as No. 1.”

Ashley qualified second with a 3.694 at 331.04, while Brittany Force took third with a 3.701 at 333.08 in her return to action after sitting out Norwalk.

Prock was the standard for Funny Car, as he delivered the quickest run in every qualifying session in Seattle. 

Prock will head into Sunday’s eliminations at the site of his first professional victory and looking for his fourth win of 2024.

Enders remained the driver to beat in the final day of qualifying, thanks to her Friday 6.500 elapsed time at 209.98 miles per hour. For the six-time Pro Stock champion, this is her fifth No. 1 spot this season and 39th in her career.

“We knew we weren’t going to improve on our run from last night, so we were definitely working on a few other things with the race car, just preparing for the Countdown [to the Championship], just trying to get things in order,” Enders said. “That’s at the forefront of our minds, but the weather conditions were obviously not as conducive for great runs today as they were last night. 

“We’ve had some really great success here in the past, so I’m hopeful that that trend continues and we can finally get that 50th [win] off our back. It’s a huge milestone for me and for women, but I just want to get back in the winner’s circle. That’s my main goal.”

Eric Latino took the second spot with Friday’s run of 6.518 at 209.82, while Mason McGaha’s 6.520 at 209.85 gave him the third spot.

Pro Stock Motorcycle dominator Herrera retained the No. 1 spot.

He again made four strong runs in qualifying. His Friday run of 6.734 seconds at 201.22 marked the 18th No. 1 spot in his career. Herrera heads into Sunday looking to secure his 12th consecutive win and seventh this season. 

“It was a little hot today for sure, so we were battling the track a little bit, but we made a few changes to the transmission to accommodate the heat, and it paid off,” Herrera said. “Tomorrow I think we’ll have to go at least another [6.]70 and it might even dip in the [6.]60s. It just depends on what the weather’s going to do. It’s an early start, so tomorrow is going to be good.”

Chase Van Sant secured second after going 6.742 at 199.44, and Matt Smith is third with a run of 6.755 at 201.43.

Eliminations for the NHRA Northwest Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. Pacific on Sunday.

3 - ABOUT THOSE #2FAST2TASTY POINTS—What may not be commonly known about the bonus points associated with the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge is that they are accumulated and added to a driver’s Countdown to the Championship total. The bonus points are added to the team’s Countdown point totals. 

Last season, overall 2023 champion Justin Ashley earned 18 bonus points for just the wins, and that does not include his runner-ups or quickest semi-final losses.

This season, five-time #2Fast2Tasty Challenge winner Austin Prock already has 17. He has now won the challenge five times this year, advanced to six finals, and earned the bonus points.

 

 

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5 - McGAHA TURNAROUND - This season, up until Norwalk, has been forgettable for third-generation drag racer Mason McGaha. With four DNQs and just as many first-round losses, a semifinal finish at the Norwalk event gave the Oddessa, Texas, team a glimmer of hope. 

A No. 3 qualifying effort and a runner-up finish at the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty confirmed the team is on an upward trajectory. McGaha explained the impetus for the improvement. 

“We just unscrewed a screwed-up car. We had it in a bind,” McGaha said. “It’s been wanting to go, and we just haven’t been allowing it to go. The last few weeks we have gotten it to its full potential. The driver is getting better, and I have confidence in the car.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 - SNAP-ON TOOLS CEO STILL SINGING THE PRAISES OF USA, NHRA DRAG RACING - NHRA would be wise to bring Snap-on Chairman and CEO Nick Pinchuk in as its sponsorship ambassador. Every time Pinchuk is given the floor at an NHRA event to extol the virtues of his company, he does so only by tying in Snap-on’s investment in NHRA drag racing, a sport he categorizes as the most American of sports. 

Saturday at Pacific Raceways provided more of the same from Pinchuk.

“One of the reasons why Snap-on -- we’re going to have a 105th anniversary next year -- and one of the reasons why Snap-on has been around so long is we know a good thing when we see it,” Pinchuk said. “And we know that the NHRA is a good thing.

“The other thing we know is we do business all over the world. And I can tell you without equivocation, without qualification, without questioning, that America is the greatest country in the world right now.”

In not so many words, Pinchuk said Snap-on name is on a race car because drag racing epitomizes what Snap-on Tools represents. 

Snap-on Tools’ initiative, Makers and Fixers, focuses on the skilled men and women who work with their hands in the essential industries. This season, the tool manufacturer is recognizing their efforts through Cruz Pedregon’s Funny Car.

“The reason is our logo on the car, the Makers and Fixers making and fixing things, have risen brought America to the place it is now, the greatest country in the world,” he continued. “And we saw it just a little while ago in the [COVID-19] pandemic, where Makers and Fixers stood firm, kept our society from disintegrating and kept our society going. We were all witnesses to that.

“And if you come to the NHRA, you see the Makers and Fixers on display. The cars ... roaring down here, flaming 10,000, 11,000 horsepower, faster than 300 miles per hour, making it in under four seconds.

“You see the courage and the special capability of the drivers. And then when you go to the pits, you see the mechanics, how skilled they are to put the cars together in just under an hour. And then around here in the group, in the audience, you see probably I know a number of Makers and Fixers.

“So Snap-on knows that America is the greatest country in the world. We know that the Makers and Fixers made it so. It’s an American calling to make and fix things.

“We know it’s on display every time the cars go down here on the runway. And so being here is such a special thing. All I can say at the end of this, it’s my privilege to be here and Snap-on and NHRA. Boom-shaka-laka.”

7 - THAT WAS INTERESTING - The semifinal match between Steve Torrence and Doug Kalitta had an odd feel. It was like a throwback to the old NHRA Winston No-Bull Shootout, where a throttle blip caught the other driver’s attention. 

Torrence had a noticeable double-step, and Kalitta responded with a .007 reaction time. Kalitta took the stripe on what technically was a holeshot victory, winning 4.34 to 4.23. Torrence has a .165 reaction time.

 

 

8 - TWO-WHEEL SPEED MERCHANTS - Angie Smith and Gaige Herrera have traded Pacific Raceways' track record throughout qualifying. Smith started the war of velocity with a 200.62 blast.

When Smith sat out the second session, Herrera snatched the track record with a 201.22-mph run.

In the Q3 session, Smith won the battle with a 201.63 speed when Herrera could only muster 200.32. Interestingly, Angie's husband Matt Smith ran an identical speed, but since hers came first, it is recognized.

9 - THE MATT SMITH RACING DRAMA/NO DRAMA - Multi-time champion Matt Smith cleared the air about why he sat out Friday's Q2 session through his team’s social media channels. 

“Our DENSO Auto Parts #Buell is No. 7 after our Q1 run yesterday at the #NorthwestNats,” the statement read. “As many saw, we decided as a team to sit out Q2 because we want to save our stuff on this western swing. A run that late doesn’t do anything for the tune-up for raceday so we decided as a team to sit it out. Ready to get back after it today!”

10 - DRAG AND DRIVE MAYHEM, SATURDAY EDITION - The Drag and Drive exhibition stopped the action Saturday nearly two hours as an entry wounded an engine. 

The Pro Stock car division waiting in the lanes for the Q3 session returned to the pits, and NHRA opted to adjust the schedule so that the Pro Stock divisions ran after the fuel cars. 

 

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - IT'S FRIDAY NIGHT PRIMETIME... IN SEATTLE?

 

1 - STEVE—OHHHHHH — Steve Torrence put an exclamation mark on the first [planned] night-time run as he established a speed record for Pacific Raceways, running 335.32 miles per hour. However, it was his 3.688-second elapsed time that made all the difference. 

If Torrence’s run holds, it would yield his second top qualifier of the season and 39th in his career. 

“It was really cool,” Torrence said. “A lot of fans here, a lot of people to go out and race in front of at night. It’s late -- it’s 1 a.m. where I’m from -- but it was special. The track owners here, and the people here at Pacific Raceways did a great job trying to put on a good show for the fans, and that’s what it’s about. We got to get people out here to looking at us and watching us and enjoying what we do. 

“To go out and run 335, that’s a stout run. Tonight’s a hero run for all of us, and not really going to be relevant for anything tomorrow or race day. But you get to pound your chest a little bit and say, ‘Hey, we are low E.T., we’re No. 1.” 

Torrence’s last national-event win came here in Seattle last season. 

 

 

2 - AUSTIN PROCK CARRIES THE BANNER TO NO. 1 -- It’s been a long time since John Force Racing only fielded one Funny Car at an event. However, since team owner and flagship driver John Force crashed at the NHRA Virginia Nationals in June, Prock has been the only flopper out of the team’s stable. 

Prock is making the most of the full attention. He was the quickest driver in both sessions (3.955 at 324.36 mph in Q1) at the 11th stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Series. If the run holds, it would be his eighth No. 1 qualifier in the 11 races this  season.

Prock topped the field with a 3.838-second elapsed time at 328 miles an hour. 

“Just remarkable stuff,” Prock said. “Two great runs today. But under the lights, how much fun was that here to do that for the first time? That was cool. It was the coolest for the fans. These fans here have never seen nitro cars, header flames, under the lights, so I definitely could tell everyone had a great time tonight. 

“Another great day for this Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. These guys are just animals. I keep saying it: They impress me every weekend. They were making adjustments all the way until we fired the race car in the water box. Just fine-tuning this, saying, 'Read the racetrack, read the competition,' and they made some obviously really good calls, but that thing got away from me down there. When they spin that far down the track in a nitro Funny Car, it’s like opening up the left board at Eldora. It turns in a hurry. So I’ve been watching Eldora all weekend, so that’s on my mind.” (Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway in Ohio is hosting 410 dirt sprint-car action Wednesday through Saturday.)

Prock is in Saturday’s Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where he will race Bob Tasca III.

 

 

 

3 - ANYTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR ENDERS -- Erica Enders was in the second pair of Pro Stockers to make a qualifying run during the class’ E2 session. The early run was due in part to her 10.525, 85.16 in the first session. 

It did little to slow Enders as she drove to the top with a 6.500-second elapsed time at 209 miles an hour. If the run survives Saturday’s two sessions, it will be her fifth No. 1 this season and 39th in her career. 

“That first run by no means was anything that we were proud of, and just super frustrating when something like that happens,” Enders said. “We’ve had a couple of issues with that particular failure, so it’s beginning to get a little frustrating. I knew when I aborted the run, I did it to save my clutch. But at the same time, as I was coasting down, I’m like, [crew chief Mark] Ingersoll is freaking out right now because we’re going to be first out for the night session. But they continue to prove over and over that that really doesn’t matter. And when their backs are against the wall, and the pressure’s on, they always seem to do really great.

The first session produced more than its share of tire shake. 

“Everybody’s pushing the envelope,” Enders explained. “But the track is very different this year than it has been in years past, so everybody’s trying to change the way that they approach it. The starting line, obviously, in Pro Stock is very important because you’re trying to use all the horsepower you have while managing the crazy torque numbers that we make. That first session, all of our cars were really sluggish to 60 foot, and the couple of the KB guys were in the .970s. When you’re getting crushed two-plus hundredths going by the Christmas tree, that’s equal to three or four at the other end. 

“It makes it really hard to win when you don’t get after it down low. I feel like you see a lot of people shaking for that exact reason. But that isn’t because we forgot how to race, it’s just the variables are very different this year than they have been in years past.”

4 - YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING -- With four races remaining in the NHRA Mission Foods Series regular season, Gaige Herrera became the first competitor to clinch a spot in the Countdown to the Championship. When a racer wins every race in the season, that's understandable. 

To put Herrera’s achievement in perspective, even if he sat out this weekend and next in Sonoma, he’d still be the point leader -- and that's even if second-place Matt Smith won both races.  

Friday night, Herrera went to the top with his run of 6.734, and at a track-record speed of 201 miles an hour. It would be his fourth No. 1 this season, 18th in his career, if his run survives through qualifying on Saturday. 

Clinching his playoff spot could provide the team with the opportunity to test for the Countdown. 

“We do venture off a little bit on trying things, but my bike’s been so fast and consistent. It’s hard to venture out of that line,” Herrera said. “I’m sure we’re going to try a little different things. My bike’s fast as it is, so it’s like you don’t want to mess something up that’s working good. So we’ll see what happens.”

Interestingly, Herrera’s nemesis, Matt Smith, and his team sat out the final session Friday. The team gave reason.

But for Herrera, he revels in doing what he does. 

“It seems like I have a lot more fans than I do haters, and it’s awesome to interact with them,” Herrera said. “That’s what this is all about. It’s for the fans. It’s not only for the race. It’s for the fans, to put on a show, and I’m enjoying every second of it.”

5 - SEATTLE UNDER THE LIGHTS IS A HIT -- After Dave Richards made the first run of the first historic Pacific Raceways night-time qualifying session and went to sixth with a 4.072, it indicated things to come. The No. 1 qualifying position changed seven times in the final nitro sessions. 

That’s exactly what Jason Fiorito, president of Pacific Raceways, envisioned when he and his team brought in the temporary lighting to make this happen. 

“It’s been something that I would’ve loved as a fan of the sport, to do all along,” Fiorito said. “We’ve had some challenges with the county over time, and there’s always been a little trade-off at the national event with the Friday and Saturday curfew versus the Sunday curfew. And we’ve always worked with the county on getting us the ability to extend Sunday in case something happened and we needed to finish the show. But over time, the NHRA and the competitors have become so efficient that we really haven’t had to push Sunday. So, it opened up the potential for extending Friday and Saturday.”

The tradeoff was in giving up a few hours of Sunday’s curfew in order to extend Friday’s. Big things could be coming for racing under the lights in Seattle.

“Well, we’re testing out the appeal of this to fans,” Fiorito said. “Permanent lighting is millions of dollars. Those permanent lights are not cheap, and they take a lot of permitting, structural engineering, and then construction and acquisition costs. So we wanted to test this, first to see whether it has the potential of filling the stands. 

“If the appeal is there, then we’d certainly talk about putting up permanent lighting. But I just wasn’t willing to take the risk on millions of dollars. A couple hundred grand is something I could stomach. The NHRA is sharing those costs with us to just test the market and see what happens with Friday attendance based on it.”

6 - LEE, LINDBERG, MEDLEN CONTINUE TO DELIVER -- Except for a two-race stumble, Paul Lee’s McLeod Funny Car, tuned by rookie crew chief Jonnie Lindberg and mentored by John Medlen, has delivered the goods repeatedly in 2024. The team has qualified in the top half of the field in seven of the nine events it has attended. Five of those efforts have been in the top five. 

On Friday night, Lee went to third provisionally on the strength of a 3.917 elapsed time at 327.03 miles per hour. Even though the run stood through two pairs of Funny Cars before being bumped down by Ron Capps, Lindberg admitted the team didn’t get all of it.

Lee didn’t seem to mind as the nigh-ttime experience provided plenty of thrills.

“Night runs are the best,” Lee said. “The sport was built on night runs. [Night] racing is what got me hooked as a teenager going to the events at Atco Dragway in New Jersey and watching the Top Fuelers and Funny Cars run. The flames ... it’s the coolest thing in the world. I just love driving at night.”

As for the run itself, “We’ll take that. We are happy with the run.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 - THE DAY OF THE PRO STOCK DEBUTS -- Two drivers made their Pro Stock debuts and a third kinda-sorta. 

Cory Reed, the former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout, made his first competition runs in a Pro Stock car, while 18-year-old Brandon Litton made his inaugural qualifying runs aboard a Matt Smith Racing bike. 

Reed was eighth at the end of the day with a 6.534, 210.01, while Litton was No. 11 with a 7.073.

“I’m lost; don’t know what to do with my hands,” Reed joked, borrowing a line from the movie 'Talladega Nights.' “I’m lucky to be here. We’re just lucky to be out racing again.” 

Much of Reed’s crew is the same from his former Pro Stock Bike team. 

The kinda-sorta debut was Sienna Wildgust, who announced her departure from KB Racing to Elite Motorsports last month, and she ended up 15th after the first day of qualifying.

8 - LATINO FINDING HIS GROOVE -- Former Pro Modified racer turned Pro Stock competitor Eric Latino held the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the end of the Q1 session with a 6.541. He ended the day as second quickest with a 6.518, 209.82. 

 

 

 

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9 - BRITTANY RETURNS -- After sitting out the NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, last month, Brittany Force returned to competition for the first time since her father was injured in a June 23 accident. 

She ended up third in a fast session thanks to her 3.701, 333.08.

“It feels really good to be back with this team.” Force said. “Just to get back with this team and this community has supported my dad through this entire thing and it has been tough. I couldn’t have done this without them. Thank you, everyone.”

Although she saw her track speed record broken, it still was a very good first day for two-time Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force, who returned to the cockpit of her national record-holding Flav-R-Pac dragster following her father's crash in Virginia.

The second-generation drag racer was fourth quickest in the first session (3.866, 319.45 mph).

10 - WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING SHIFT LIGHT -- In the heat of the battle, sometimes things go wrong. That was of little comfort to Pro Stock racer Matt Hartford. 

“We had a fast hot rod and thought we could go to the pole,” Hartford said. “We put a little in it before we ran. There weren’t any shift lights after third gear. I decided to murder the rev-limiter headed into the three-four (shift) and four-five.”

Hartford believed his actions cost the car two-hundreths of a second on the  6.527 elapsed time at only 207.94 miles per hour.

“I’m typically calm when I get out of the car; I was not this time,” Hartford explained. “I was screaming on the radio about it.” 

10a - SHORT FIELDS -- Three of the four pro classes failed to fill the 16-car fields. Top Fuel had 14, while Funny Car was one short at 15. The Pro Stock Motorcycle division had 11.

The lone full field was Pro Stock, with 17 entries. ​

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