Saturday at zMAX Dragway delivered what the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge was designed to create — meaningful rounds, pressure situations, and drivers treating bonus racing like it counted.
By the end of the afternoon, Clay Millican, Jordan Vandergriff, Greg
Anderson, and Gaige Herrera left with specialty-race victories at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals.
For Millican and Vandergriff, the wins carried extra weight, as it was their first victory in a four-wide format.
Millican had reached eight prior four-wide final rounds without closing the deal. He changed that Saturday, driving the Rick Ware Racing Parts Plus dragster to a 3.832 at 325.14 mph to win a Top Fuel quad that included Billy Torrence, Josh Hart, and points leader Doug Kalitta.
Kalitta left first, but Millican’s .076-second reaction time put him in position to hold off Torrence, whose quicker 3.820 came too late after giving away ground on the starting line. Kalitta fell off the pace with a 3.894 to end up third.
“To win on a holeshot is crazy, but we went right down the racetrack,” Millican said. “The team is slowly but surely getting better and better. We had our struggles; I had to learn to drive a canopy car. I’m still not quite there yet.”
Millican said the bigger picture was momentum for eliminations and delivering a home-track win for team owner Rick Ware.
“We are planning on going back-to-back, but it’s really cool that Rick can say he won at his home race,” Millican said. “It’s a big deal for us and it’s a big deal for Rick.”
Funny Car produced the tightest finish of the session.
Vandergriff used a .067 reaction time and a 3.933 at 325.85 in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to win on a double holeshot over Ron Capps, J.R. Todd, and Matt Hagan. Vandergriff tripped the timers .0022 seconds ahead of Capps.
Todd matched Vandergriff’s elapsed time, while Capps was quicker at 3.929. Neither left early enough to keep the John Force Racing driver from claiming the win.
“This is my first time racing four-wide, and it’s interesting, for sure,” Vandergriff said. “This last run, I was in lane two and it’s a little trickier looking across the tree, but it seemed to work out.”
The former FOX Sports interviewer said the process of driving a Funny Car is slowing down for him as he gains experience.
“I’m getting more and more comfortable in the car,” Vandergriff said, adding, “I’m starting to get the handle on the steering wheel and feel for the car.”
Greg Anderson continued to be the man to beat in Pro Stock.
Fresh off securing his third straight No. 1 qualifier of the four-race season, Anderson added a #2Fast2Tasty victory with a 6.549 at 207.11 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, defeating Matt Latino, Aaron Stanfield, and Eric Latino.
The six-time Pro Stock champion has opened the season looking like the
category’s pacesetter and made no effort to hide his satisfaction.
“I got Dallas today,” Anderson said, referring to teammate Dallas Glenn. “We got him [two weeks ago] in the final at Pomona and today in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, so it was a good day for GA and a good day for Hendrick Cars, and a great day for KB Titan.”
That sounded like a veteran enjoying both speed and scoreboard leverage.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Herrera again proved why he remains one of the toughest riders in the class.
The two-time champion rode his Suzuki to a 6.759 at 199.20 and used a class-best .018 reaction time to defeat Matt Smith, Richard Gadson, and John Hall.
Smith nearly stole it with a 6.760, but Herrera’s start was the deciding edge.
“It’s a boost for the team and myself, just for working hard on not only on the bike, but me physically,” Herrera said. “It was a tough quad between John Hall, Matt, and Richard. I knew I had to be on the tree.”
Herrera said the format gives racers a reason to attack twice during a weekend rather than solely on Sunday.
“It’s awesome Mission does this,” he said. “After Friday, it’s basically two days of racing. You wake up Saturday and Sunday with a different attitude.”
