Struggles in qualifying only proved to be a speed bump for the defending NHRA Funny Car champion Austin Prock. The Cornwell Tools-sponsored driver picked up his fifth win of the season Sunday , stopping the surging rookie Spencer Hyde in the final round at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Greg Stanfield (Pro Stock), and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) picked up victories at the 12th stop on the 20-race Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Prock, who entered eliminations as the fifth qualifier, put the smackdown on the field, starting with a first-round win over Cruz Pedregon highlighted by low elapsed time of the race at 3.833 seconds, 340.90 mph. Coupled with Brittany Force’s NHRA record 343.16 during Top Fuel qualifying, Prock’s run marked the first time that both nitro categories had seen 340-plus runs in the same event.
Prock then scored convincing wins over Paul Lee and No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan to reach the finals.
Hyde declared Prock the most dominating Funny Car racer on the planet.
“Just for me to be able to live out my dream and drive a Funny Car, and then someone to give you a compliment like that is unbelievable,” Prock said, adding, “My teammate Kyle Larson [NASCAR Cup Series runner-up at the Brickyard 400 for HendrickCars.com], come close today, but we got it done for you, Mr. H. [Rick Hendrick], Cornwell Tools, everybody a part of this whole team.
“We dug so deep after struggling last weekend, and I appreciate what [Hyde] said – the most dominant Funny Car in the category. A lot of people have forgot about that after a few bad runs, and, oh, we’re back in the winners circle.”
Hyde scored victories over Alexis DeJoria, Ron Capps, and Prock’s teammate Jack Beckman, who seemingly had their semifinal duel in the bag until he crossed the centerline and was disqualified for that infraction.
Kalitta scored a milestone win, parking his Mac Tools dragster in the Sonoma Raceway winners circle for the first time in two decades. Kalitta stopped Antron Brown in the final round, running a 3.752, 334.57, to easily beat the Matco Tools driver, whose dragster lost power short of the finish line.
“Just really proud of my team here,” Kalitta said. “[Team owner Connie Kalitta] is in the crowd and gives us everything we need. … In beating Antron, he is always tough, and it’s been a while since we made it to the final, so I’m glad we managed to get this win. Just can’t say enough about [crew chief] Alan [Johnson] and my whole team here. They do one hell of a job.”
Kalitta’s road to the final included wins over Ron August Jr., Josh Hart, and a bye run into the final as the highest-seeded racer left in competition at that point.
Brown scored wins over Ida Zetterstrom, Justin Ashley, and Kalitta’s teammate Shawn Langdon to reach the final.
Pro Stock provided an emotional moment as the father-and-son duo of Greg and Aaron Stanfield met in the final round, with Greg beating his son. The victory ended a long dry spell for Elite Motorsports dating back to October 2025 in Las Vegas.
It was a day of tire shake and tricky conditions for the Pro Stock category as Stephen Bell, Matt Latino, and 2024 world champion Greg Anderson were taken down by the eventual winner.
“I’m trying to hold the emotions back,” Greg Stanfield said, voice cracking with emotion. “But that was special, running Aaron. Big time. Big thank you to Joan, David Janac, the Rod Shop, Gill and Rick, Kurt, Pat Quinn – everybody. Elite Motorsports has done a great job. That was breathtaking.”
Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Richard Gadson had 24 hours to stew over a loss in the final round of the GETTRX All-Star Callout on Saturday. On Sunday, he delivered a bit of payback by beating Matt Smith Racing’s John Hall in the final round.
Hall was quicker off the line, but the Vance & Hines Suzuki drove around him on the top end to hand Gadson his second victory this season.
“Normally, you have to wait a little while before you can get your redemption – you’ve got to think about a loss for a long time,” Gadson said. “But I got to come back the next day and try again, and all day my main thing was revenge. I made a joke. I said, ‘I wish that were Matt instead of John.’ But I’ll run into him sooner or later.”
“You know what? They won the battle yesterday, but Vance & Hines, RevZilla, Motul, we won the war. I feel like I had a strong bike all weekend. We just couldn’t find it today. I had the best bike on Friday and Saturday, and Andrew and Eddie, once they put their heads together, Gaige, once we all came up with a game plan, I went up there knowing I had the motorcycle to win this race.”
The NHRA is idle until Aug. 14-17, when the 43rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals from Brainerd (MN) International Raceway is scheduled.
