A sellout crowd witnessed no changes at the top of the qualifying sheets Saturday at Maple Grove Raceway. The leaderboard from Friday held firm as Spencer Hyde (Funny Car), Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all secured No. 1 positions at the 40th annual NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish.
The unchanged state at the top of the charts capped a landmark Saturday for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, which recorded its fifth sellout of the 2025 season. For Maple Grove, it was the fourth straight year the Koretsky family has announced capacity crowds on Saturday since purchasing the Reading, Pennsylvania, facility in 2022.
Funny Car rookie Hyde added another milestone to his first season with Friday’s 3.868-second run at 330.07 mph in his Head Contractors & Engineers Ford Mustang. He will begin eliminations Sunday against Phil Burkart as he chases his first victory.
“We’ve been waiting 15 races to do this, so it’s good,” Hyde said. “It’s good for me, it’s good for my guys, and it gives them some confidence and motivation to hopefully go out and win this thing tomorrow. This is definitely a good start [to the Countdown], and it’s a good time to get hot. We’re hungry and we’re here to race.”
Reigning champion Austin Prock took second at 3.882 and Paul Lee was third after posting the best runs in both Saturday sessions, including a 3.893 at 328.22. Turning the provisional pole in a No. 1 slot capped Hyde’s strongest weekend of the season as the Countdown to the Championship began this weekend.
In Top Fuel, Millican’s Friday blast of 3.704 at 336.32 in the Rick Ware Racing PowerEdge dragster held through Saturday’s two sessions, giving him his first No. 1 of the year and the 27th of his career. He backed it up with a 3.796 after suffering an engine explosion in Q3, which underscored both the fragility and resilience of his program.
“I certainly wasn’t pleased with Q3. That was a big boomer, and I hadn’t had one that big in a long, long time,” Millican said. “But the boys and girls who make this thing go did a great job getting us right back up there for Q4, and we ended up second-quickest (in Q4). To come back and make that kind of run in the heat was pretty dang impressive.”
The broken engine will be inspected overnight, but Millican’s confidence remains strong. “We’ll find out, and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Justin Ashley qualified second with a 3.738 at 331.69, while Doug Kalitta held third at 3.756 at 335.40. Points leader Tony Stewart landed in 11th, and will face eight-time champion Tony Schumacher in the opening round.
In Pro Stock, Glenn’s 6.502 at 210.50 from Friday kept him on top in the RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro. It gave the points leader his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 11th of his career. His race day will open with a duel with Shane Tucker.
“We have a really good car and were able to make a decent run this morning and get a bonus point, so heading into that final session, I felt like we had a shot at getting two or three more bonus points,” Glenn said. “Unfortunately, we had a little oops and were shut off and missed out on those points, but being the No. 1 qualifier does help. We’re going to look and see if we can try to get four win lights tomorrow. The car is fantastic, it looks nice and I’m ready for tomorrow.”
Aaron Stanfield was second at 6.505, while Erica Enders, fresh off her U.S. Nationals victory, qualified third with a 6.506. Greg Anderson, the reigning champion, improved to fourth after making the quickest run in each Saturday session.
Herrera, the dominant force in Pro Stock Motorcycle, proved untouchable with Friday’s 6.745 at 200.20 aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki. It marked his fifth No. 1 of the season and further established him as the championship favorite.
“The track has been very consistent today in the heat, and that gives us good data going into tomorrow,” Herrera said. “I’m happy to get the win for Vance & Hines and all the guys back at the shop. I feel like tomorrow we’re going to have a very strong field. Between me and Richard [Gadson], I’m glad we’re on opposite sides. I definitely don’t want to race him early.”
Herrera said the atmosphere at Maple Grove, with a sellout crowd embracing Pro Stock Motorcycle, gave his team additional energy. “This crowd really loves the bikes,” he said. “I’ve got friends here who had never seen nitro cars before today, and now they want to come to more NHRA races. It feels like home — like we brought our bike crowd into the NHRA world.”
Matt Smith held the second spot with a 6.753, while Gadson rounded out the top three at 6.763. With the leaderboard unchanged, eliminations for the Reading Nationals begin Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT.
