If the old adage that suggests speed kills is true, then it was the weapon of choice for Funny Car speed merchant Bob Tasca III as he ran through the Funny Car field at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
Tasca picked up his third win of 2024, stopping a rebounding Ron Capps in the final round.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined Tasca in the winner’s circle at stop No. 12 on the 20-race Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Tasca needed only a 4.088, 277.15, to stop Capps, who was back in action with a replacement car after crashing his NAPA Toyota last weekend.
Tasca qualified No. 1, and though qualifying is measured in elapsed time, it was his 338-mph run that stole headlines. Even more impressive is that it was achieved while racing into a 10-mph headwind.
Tasca opened eliminations with, added a weekend-best run of 338.77 in the first round win against Buddy Hull and then drove past Paul Lee and points leader Austin Prock to reach the final round.
“It’s so hard to win these things and that’s a testament to my crew, to Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks,” Tasca said. “They pulled it back and still ran 337 mph. I was a bit surprised in the final. It was pulling great, and then it knocked the tires off. You have no idea how that feels. I looked out the side window because I expected him to come by me. Fortunately, I got it to recover.
“I thought if we could get the car to run like it ran in Q4 we could beat him and I said that to Todd. I said, ‘Let’s run as quick as we can and if he beats us, I’ll be the first to congratulate him.’”
Capps advanced to the finals for the second time in three races and the 149th time in his career by getting round wins against Cruz Pedregon, defending event winner J.R. Todd, and reigning world champion Matt Hagan.
Brown was determined not to become a significant media headline as he defeated motorsports icon Tony Stewart in the Top Fuel final. The victory was the third in 2024 for the Matco Tools-sponsored driver, who has 77 career NHRA professional victories.
Brown defeated Shawn Reed, Steve Torrence and Brittany Force to reach the final round.
Brown, who qualified seventh, powered to his fifth Top Fuel victory at Sonoma, which ties him with Doug Kalitta for the most in class history at the facility.
“Sonoma has a special meaning to me. It’s like a piece of heaven out here, and just being here puts me in the zone,” Brown said. Tony and I know each other well. When I started as a team owner, he was putting together TSR, and we talked a lot about budgets and spreadsheets and all that.
“He was also a hero of mine when he ran NASCAR and IndyCar. I know how good of a driver he is. He understands the science so as soon as he showed up I knew what he could do. I did tell him to come on over but there are a lot of sharks in the water here. His time is coming, and it won’t be one win. It will be a lot of them, but this is a good win for us. My team stays poised and they were incredible all weekend. I’m super-pumped for all of them. We went down the track every single lap, and that was an awesome, awesome job to get a win like this.”
Stewart’s first final in Top Fuel came after defeating Shawn Langdon, Justin Ashley, and Ron August Jr., who upset points leader, No. 1 qualifier, and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta in the first round.
Stanfield remained red-hot in the Pro Stock ranks, which meant Elite Motorsports did as well, as Stanfield won for the third time in four races while taking down first-time Pro Stock finalist Cory Reed in the championship round with an impressive run of 6.540 at 209.98. It’s also the 11th career win for Stanfield, whose efforts over the past two months have helped propel Elite Motorsports to six straight victories.
Stanfield has three wins in a row and now has a second career victory at Sonoma Raceway after defeating Mason McGaha, defending world champion Erica Enders, and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson.
“This is a great win, but I want to shout out to Cory Reed for going to the final in his second race,” Stanfield said. “This week, we lost a good friend, Tim “the Iceman” Kelly, to cancer, and I wanted to get it done for him. I know Cory is fresh to the class so I would have been surprised if he played any games, so I just did my normal routine. I think I’m driving better this year, and I’d love to continue that.
“We didn’t have a great ladder since all the hitters seemed to be on one side. I had to race Erica, and we’re teammates, but we still want to beat each other. Then there was Greg, and you’ve got to be on your game anytime you race him.”
In just his second career Pro Stock start, Reed, who previously raced in Pro Stock Motorcycle, advanced to the final round by taking down Deric Kramer, Eric Latino, and Jerry Tucker. Dallas Glenn remains the points leader in the class.
Smith, a six-time world champion, won everything Sonoma Raceway offered, winning his first national event of 2024. He beat teammate John Hall in the final round with a run of 6.700 at 203.77.
Smith, who qualified No. 1, set the track record with a stellar 6.655, won the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout on Saturday, and then snapped a winless streak that stretched back to the Countdown to the Championship opener last September in Reading, Pa.
Smith, now a two-time Sonoma winner, took down Eiji Kawakami and Seattle winner Chase Van Sant to reach the final round against Hall.
“This is very big,” Smith said. “This is a Denso event which is our sponsor, and we won everything there is to win. We put a lot into getting our bikes ready for this weekend. We’re gaining ground on the rest of the field, and that takes a team effort.
“It’s all in the 60-foot area. Our class is so dependent on that. The Suzukis have stepped up their game, and we need to follow them. I learned to leave low and take power out to get the bike to leave the starting line. I’m 51 and getting older, but I can still do this. To me, the magic number is seven. If I get that seventh title this year, I promise I’ll get off the bike and put some young kid on it who can do the job.”
Hall reached his second final round this year and the fourth in his career by defeating Angie Smith, defending world champion and points leader Gaige Herrera, and Hector Arana Jr.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 15-18 with the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
