Photos by Rhonda McCole, NHRA, Ron Lewis, Adam Dobbs
Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA CHARLOTTE 4 – Wide Nationals
1 – MR. 1,000 – Shawn Langdon made history Sunday by winning the 1,000th Top Fuel race in NHRA history at zMAX Dragway. He was triumphant in a thrilling quad that included Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley, and reigning champion Antron Brown.
Langdon powered his Future Energy Solutions dragster to a time of 3.714 seconds at 330.63 mph to narrowly defeat Ashley at the finish line of the 15th annual American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. This victory marked Langdon’s second win of the season and the 21st of the former NHRA champion’s career and solidified his position as the points leader.
The iconic Don “Big Daddy” Garlits, who won the first Top Fuel race at the 1963 NHRA Winternationals, presented Langdon with the commemorative 1,000th Top Fuel race trophy. Langdon’s performance throughout the event was impressive. He qualified second with a time of 3.665 seconds, reaching over 300 mph at the eighth-mile, and advanced through two quads before the final showdown.
“To be honest with you, coming into the weekend, I thought I’d treat it like any other event,” Langdon said of the race’s historic significance. “But I’m not going to lie, rolling around the corner and seeing ‘Big Daddy’ there made me realize what transpired, and it’s a great feeling. I know years down the road, I’ll be very proud of this.”
Langdon acknowledged the fierce competition he faced in the final round.
“Tony’s having a great year, and Antron and Justin are tough competitors,” he said. “In that situation, I had to step it up. I felt like I tried a little too hard at times, but the great thing about being on a strong team is they carry you when you miss the tree a little bit.”
Ashley finished as the runner-up for the first time this season, while Stewart retained his second place in the points standings after his win two weeks ago at the Las Vegas four-wide event.
2 – HE’S GETTING BACK ON A ROLL AGAIN – Austin Prock continued his impressive run in the four-wide ranks, securing the Funny Car victory Sunday. He recorded a 3.870 second at 332.92 mph in the final round, defeating opponents Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, and Alexis DeJoria.
The victory marked Prock’s second consecutive win in four-wide races, and showcased his championship form from last season.
Prock kicked off the weekend by winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday. His momentum carried into Sunday as he consistently posted the fastest times in each round and won the first two quads. In the final, he quickly overtook defending event champion Hagan and Capps, delivering the quickest run of the eliminations.
“It’s a great day. Anytime you’re holding one of these Wallys, it’s a great day,” Prock said. “The Prock Rocket bailed me out there in the finals. I had my worst light of the weekend, but it was great to be driving this Cornwell Chevrolet SS. We had a lot of challenges with this race car, but my dad and brother, along with Nate Hildahl and the whole Cornwell Tools team, really did their homework and got everything dialed in for a killer run in the final. That was a jaw dropper.”
In a touching moment, Prock noted the presence of NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick – a sponsor of John Force Racing – at the top end after his victory. “That was the last thing I expected,” Prock remarked. “When I saw him, I just lit up. It was a cool celebration down there with him, and then to get a photo with him and the Wally, followed by another with Don Garlits, was really special. Those are pictures you dream of.”
Capps finished as the runner-up for the second time this season.
3 – DALLAS DOES CONCORD – Greg Anderson made a mistake in the clandestine world of Pro Stock secrets. Unfortunately, he left himself open to an assassin in his camp.
Dallas Glenn and Anderson might be teammates, and while the latter, the winningest driver in Pro Stock, had his sponsor Rick Hendrick at the race, there was no way Glenn was going to lay down.
Similarly, there was no way Glenn wasn’t going to take a look at Anderson’s computer screen in the trailer when he had the chance.
“Fortunately for him I caught a glimpse of his run that he made second round, and I knew there was a little bit more left in it, so I knew I was going to have to be extra good there in the final,” Glenn admitted. “Greg and I have managed to be on opposite sides of the ladder for six or seven races in a row, which does not happen very often. So, thankfully I haven’t had to race ’em until the final round.
“But when you know that you’re against a guy who is consistently outrunning you and is very, very hungry for blood, anytime he races against me, it always brings out the best in it somehow. So you definitely have to go up there and bring your A game. If you don’t bring your A game, you’re not walking away with a trophy.”
One can best believe that Anderson wanted this win.
“Greg, he came over and punched me in the shoulder again because I know he really wanted to win with Rick Hendrick here, and (Hendrick) doesn’t make it out to too many of our races here,” Glenn said. “It was pretty special to get out of the car and have him come and congratulate me. He’s such a big figure in motorsports, but that was really cool down there, and for it to be the 200th KB Titan win kind of really shows how amazing this team really is.”
Oh, and that 200-win milestone.
“I think (Greg’s) got like 108 of those 200,” Glenn admitted. “So I don’t feel like I’ve a hundred percent contributed as much as he has, but he’s been doing it a lot longer than me and he’s very tough. It’s not easy getting these wins and you have to do everything right a lot in order. There’s way more ways to do it wrong than there are to do it right.”
4 – MATT SMITH WINS THE HOME RACE – Matt Smith scored another win at the closest track to his King, North Carolina, home, taking the win on his Denso Auto Parts Buell. Smith posted a strong run of 6.736 seconds, 202.91 mph, to hold off rivals Gaige Herrera, Richard Gadson, and Steve Johnson to secure the win at zMAX Dragway, his home track.
Despite facing tough competition in Herrera, the No. 1 qualifier and two-time reigning NHRA champion, and Gadson, who won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday, it was Smith’s experience and skill that ultimately prevailed. He left the starting line with an impressive .014-second reaction time, and continued to deliver the quickest run in the final quad, successfully fending off Gadson’s time of 6.738 seconds and Herrera’s 6.747 seconds.
“This has been a long weekend. We had a lot of gremlins in our pits,” Smith said after the race. “This morning, we cranked my bike up and it started squeaking. We have another engine called ‘Old Faithful,’ so we put in a new engine, and it went smoothly after that.”
Smith’s victory marked the 42nd of his career, pushing him into the points lead over Herrera. He expressed gratitude to his team, highlighting the effort that goes into managing multiple bikes.
“Hats off to my crew guys. I can’t say enough about them. It’s a lot of work to run four bikes with three mechanics. I do the fuel maps and clutches and I also get to ride, but it’s a lot of work,” Smith noted, reflecting on the demands of the competition.
With this win, Smith found himself on the positive side of his record in final-round runs. He went into Sunday’s final with a 41-win, 41-runner-up slate. “Now, I’m 42 and 41, so at least I’m on the positive side now,” he said.
Gadson finished as the runner-up.
5 – J.R. GRAY WINS PRO MOD – J.R. Gray capped off an impressive weekend at zMAX Dragway by clinching the victory in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. He was tops in a competitive final-round quad that included Billy Banaka, Alex Laughlin, and Mike Janis.
The Charlotte event marked the third of 10 races in the Pro Mod category for the 2025 season and was sponsored by Culp Lumber. Gray showcased dominance throughout the weekend in his Al-Anabi Performance Camaro, finishing the final round with an outstanding run of 5.656 seconds at 255.73 mph – his best run of the day.
Gray advanced confidently through the eliminations, starting with a solid 5.667-second pass at 256.65 in his opening quad. He improved in the second round, securing his spot in the final with an impressive 5.659 seconds at 256.31 mph. In the final round, he delivered a stellar reaction time of .025, quickly chasing down Banaka to secure victory.
The win marked Gray’s first victory of the season and the second of his career, and he climbed to second in the points standings. Gray also qualified No. 1 with a strong time of 5.680 seconds at 254.76 mph, demonstrating consistent improvement in each round of eliminations.
“We’ve been cutting good lights all day long, and we were just going up to do the same thing again in the final round,” Gray said. “I’m happy with the light and happy with the performance. This team, these guys have made this thing a bullet.”
Banaka finished as the runner-up with a run of 5.705 seconds at 249.26 mph, while Laughlin took third place.
Pro Mod competitors return to action May 15-18 at Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.
6 – MR. HENDRICK’S DRAG RACING PASSION – A 14-year-old Rick Hendrick couldn’t get to the drag strip quick enough to watch his motorsports heroes Ronnie Sox and Don Garlits make runs down the quarter-mile. All these years later, holding iconic NASCAR status as a team owner, Hendrick chose to visit zMAX Dragway. As he sees it, the straight-line sport still lights his fire.
Hendrick sponsored three John Force Racing entries this weekend in Top Fuel racer Brittany Force, Funny Car driver Jack Beckman, and Pro Stock runner-up Greg Anderson.
“I’ve just always been a fan,” Hendrick said. “I raced and drag raced boats and then ended up in NASCAR. But I’ve always loved drag racing.”
It was as if Hendrick were at home while riding on the golf cart at zMAX Dragway, and the facility is, indeed, a home away from home. Hendrick has raced from time to time at the track’s NASCAR night, where members of the roundy-round fraternity come out to unleash their straight-line needs.
Hendrick was running at the NASCAR Night in a B&B Race Cars, back-half chassis Camaro that looked like a precursor to the Factory Stock Showdown division.
“A lot of fans of NASCAR and drag racing here are like me who love drag racing,” Hendrick said. “I’ve had a ’31 Chevrolet I ran in C/Gas when I was 14 years old and still have that car today. I love to smell the fuel. I love to smell the tires, and the fans and the history of drag racing. Just being able to talk to Jack about old days when I had Tommy Grove and Richard Broome and we ran the Top Fuel boat.
“Drag racing is part of my DNA, and to be involved with these champions has been a lot of fun for me.”
7 – ERICA GETS HER FIRST ROUND WIN OF 2025 – Erica Enders finished with a semifinals showing, leading the Elite Motorsports team’s efforts.
Enders qualified on the bubble of the 16-car Pro Stock field with a 6.574 seconds at 209.30 mph. She faced off in a challenging first quad match against top qualifier Dallas Glenn, along with competitors Matt Latino and Mason McGaha. Her day came to an end one round later when she finished behind finalists Eric Latino and Cory Reed.
“Leading up to the first round, I would summarize things the same as I have the last few races: we’ve struggled,” Enders said. “But I think we really hit on something in the first round that seemed to make the car happy. We’ll keep picking away at it. I feel optimistic because I feel like there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel now.”
The one round win has instilled a measure of confidence in Enders.
“It definitely gives us collectively a pep in our step. We’ll take that into testing. We’re going to test until we figure it out because sucking sucks.”
The Pro Stock class returns to action at New England Dragway on May 30-June 1.
8 – ETERNAL FIRST ROUND – The first round of the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series was expensive. It was also detrimental to the schedule as it took 1 hour, 45 minutes to complete.
The unfortunate action began when Doug Foley won his quad, but not before an engine exploded and decapitated the injector hat. Debris knocked over one of the timing blocks, causing Clay Millican’s win light to come on when Antron Brown was actually second.
In Funny Car, Cruz Pedregon also blew the engine and lost in the first round.
There were three timing snafus this weekend. In Troy Coughlin’s case, it was likely something was hanging low under the car.
9 – TOP NITRO RUNNERS GONE EARLY – Nitro low qualifiers Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Paul Lee (Funny Car) were eliminated early.
Kalitta lost on a holeshot to Steve Torrence and Tony Stewart, and finished third ahead of Lex Joon.
Lee lost to Matt Hagan and David Richards, who, after smoking the tires, managed to drive around the Lee, the No. 1 seed, by .007.
10 – RACERS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS – “I gotta get my head together. We gotta turn this thing around. I’m letting my reputation down as the king of the four-wide.” – Steve Torrence, after winning in the first round.
“When I was younger, I thought (drag racing) was boring. You just went straight. Now that I am older, I’ve learned to appreciate the details and skillset that goes into this. I’d love to try it sometime.” – Jade Avedisian, Toyota NASCAR Development Driver and 2023 Extreme Outlaw Midget dirt national champion.
“See! With drag racing comes maturity.” – NHRA announcer Joe Castello responded.
“Tony Stewart loves this four-wide s***, so we are gonna keep doing it.” – TSR Racing crew chief Neil Strausbaugh after his driver advanced to the semifinals.
“I don’t do the same thing every time. They think they have me figured out. But they don’t.” – Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith on changing his staging routine in the second round.
