Whatever Friday’s early start didn’t deliver, Saturday more than made up for.
With cooler conditions and a track ready to hold power, Shawn Langdon, Austin Prock, Greg Anderson, and Gaige Herrera took control of qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. By the end of the day, all four had secured No. 1 qualifying positions heading into Sunday’s eliminations, while Langdon and Prock added Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victories to complete dominant Saturdays.
For Langdon, Saturday’s performance reinforced what has become the story of the Top Fuel season.
The Kalitta Motorsports driver posted a class-leading 3.695-second run at 333.08 mph to secure his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the year. It continued a season where consistency has become every bit as valuable as outright speed, giving the points leader another opportunity to extend his championship advantage.
Langdon isn’t shy about embracing the top spot.
“I absolutely love being the No. 1 qualifier when there are 15 cars,” Langdon said. “I feel our cars have made a pretty good statement over the last year or two. Our Kalitta cars have made some really incredible runs throughout the season and so I think anybody that pulls up to us on Sundays, they’ve got to bring a pretty fast race car.”
Thanks to the short field, Langdon’s No. 1 berth resulted in a first-round bye run. He will face the Kalitta-Billy Torrence survivor in the quarterfinals.
Josh Hart qualified second with a 3.722-second run at 332.51, while Epping winner Leah Pruett claimed the third position after a 3.731, 334.07.
It was Prock, though, who may have made the loudest statement of the weekend so far.
The two-time Funny Car champion earned his first No. 1 qualifier since joining Tasca Racing in the offseason, blasting to a track-record 3.863 seconds at 337.41 mph in his Ford Racing Mustang. He also produced the quickest run in three of the four qualifying sessions and backed it up by defeating Ron Capps for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory.
The performance reflected months of steady improvement for a team that began the season rebuilding from the ground up.
“It’s been a great weekend for us so far,” Prock said. “We pretty much gobbled up every point that was available except one yesterday in Q2. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished this weekend. We came in here with a plan that we were going to press harder and try to become the dominant race team that we know we’re capable of being.”
Prock credited the progress to the work his team has invested throughout the first half of the season.
“I can’t say enough about this Ford Racing team. It’s an honor to work with them,” Prock said. “We’ve really made incredible progress each weekend in these 10 races. Our progression has been very linear. It’s just kind of been a steady pace. The entire show has been better this weekend and that’s great for these packed Norwalk grandstands.”
Alexis DeJoria qualified second with a 3.886 at 330.31, while Ron Capps held onto the third spot with Friday’s 3.891 at 326.63.
Pro Stock qualifying honors continued to belong to Greg Anderson.
The six-time NHRA champion claimed his seventh No. 1 qualifier of the season after powering to a 6.550-second pass at 209.36 mph. The performance once again demonstrated why KB-Titan Racing continues to dictate the pace in the category.
Dallas Glenn qualified second after his own impressive weekend, while Matt Hartford rounded out the top three with a 6.564 at 209.04.
Pro Stock Motorcycle featured another familiar face atop the ladder.
Gaige Herrera secured his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier with a 6.768-second run at 199.64 mph, giving the 2023-24 class champion another favorable starting position for eliminations. Herrera will begin race day looking to add another event victory while continuing his season-long battle with Vance & Hines teammate Richard Gadson, who unseated him as champion in 2025.
Gadson qualified second at 6.790, and Joey Gladstone qualified third after posting a 6.795 at 198.70.
Eliminations for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park.
SATURDAY #2FAST2TASTY – SWEEP SATURDAY BELONGS TO LANGDON, PROCK; GLENN AND GADSON POST #2FAST2TASTY WINS
The nitro divisions in Norwalk, Ohio, became an object lesson in sweep-ology.
By the time Saturday’s qualifying sessions ended, Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Austin Prock (Funny Car) had each doubled up by winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and claiming No. 1 qualifying positions. Dallas Glenn pocketed $40,000 in the GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout, while Richard Gadson continued his growing rivalry with teammate Gaige Herrera by collecting another Mission Challenge victory.
If there was one theme to the day, it was taking advantage of every point and every dollar available before eliminations even begin.
Nobody did that better than Langdon.
The Top Fuel points leader defeated Kalitta Motorsports teammate Doug Kalitta with a 3.695-second run at 333.08 mph to earn his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory of the season. The same run also secured his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the year, another reminder that the Kalitta camp continues to set the standard in Top Fuel.
The numbers tell an even bigger story.
Between Langdon and Kalitta, Kalitta Motorsports has won seven of the eight Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenges contested this season. Saturday’s victory only widened Langdon’s advantage as he chases another world championship.
“The magic is really just the consistency that these cars have shown over the last couple seasons, being able to make the semifinals of the races, being able to get into the show of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty and then making good quality runs during the Challenge,” Langdon said. “Both cars have been really good the last few seasons, so that’s just the end result of that.”
Funny Car may have produced the loudest statement of the day.
Austin Prock entered the weekend believing his Tasca Racing team had finally begun finding the answers after an up-and-down start to the season. By Saturday evening, the two-time Funny Car champion had the results to prove it.
Prock defeated Ron Capps in the Mission Challenge final with a 3.875-second pass at 333.49 mph before locking down his first No. 1 qualifier since joining Tasca Racing with a track-record blast of 3.863 seconds at 337.41 mph. He also recorded the quickest run in three of the four qualifying sessions.
“It’s been a great weekend for us so far,” Prock said. “We’ve pretty much gobbled up every point that was available except one yesterday in Q2. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished this weekend. We came in here with a plan that we were going to press harder and try to become the dominant race team that we know we’re capable of being.”
Prock said the steady improvement has been months in the making after the team worked through early mechanical issues that masked its true potential.
Now he believes the car is beginning to resemble the one capable of contending for another championship.
While the nitro categories grabbed much of the attention, Glenn left with the biggest check of the day.
The KB Titan Racing driver became the fourth different winner in the four-year history of the GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout, earning $40,000 after Matt Hartford fouled in the final round. Glenn was ready regardless, posting the quickest Pro Stock run of Saturday with a 6.556 at 207.98 mph in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro.
The Callout victory came after Glenn defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Aaron Stanfield earlier in the day. He also qualified second, giving him a chance to leave Norwalk with both the bonus race title and an event victory.
“We made a fantastic run there in the final,” Glenn said. “I’m really excited about tomorrow. I’ve been wanting to get one of these ice cream scoop trophies for a long time. I’m really excited about that, and that nice big bonus check should be pretty nice, too.”
Glenn admitted specialty races haven’t always gone his way.
“I don’t feel like I do well in these races, but I just came in trying to do my own thing,”
