Competition Plus’ random water-cooler topics from the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
1 – ENDERS FINALLY CLAIMS 50th – Erica Enders broke a 30-race winless streak in dramatic fashion Monday, capturing her 50th national-event victory with a Pro Stock win at the U.S. Nationals.
Enders powered her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance Chevrolet to a 6.564-second run at 209.95 mph, running down the quicker start made by Matt Hartford. It was her fourth career win at Indianapolis, and her first victory in more than a year and a half.
“That monkey’s been on my back since Gainesville, the season opener 2024, and it’s been grueling,” Enders said. “You lose confidence in yourself and your equipment, but my guys didn’t lose confidence in their abilities or in me.”
She qualified third and defeated Greg Stanfield, defending Indy winner Aaron Stanfield on a holeshot, and points leader Dallas Glenn before meeting Hartford. The victory moved Enders from 12th to eighth in points entering the Countdown to the Championship that begins in two weeks.
“Without them, I wouldn’t be here and I kind of wondered if I still had it,” Enders said. “We finally got No. 50. As a little girl in 1994, rolling under that arch for my first final round at the inaugural Junior Dragster Nationals – the feelings are very similar. To get my 50th here at Indy, I don’t know a better book that can be written.”
Hartford reached his second final of the year and 19th overall with wins against David and Cristian Cuadra, and Fernando Cuadra Jr. He will start the playoffs ranked third. Glenn clinched the regular-season championship with a second-round victory, giving him the top seed for the playoffs with four wins and nine final-round appearances.
Enders admitted the drought had been as difficult as any stretch in her career. “It sure felt like it took forever,” she said. “It’s about the people that surround you. They’re the most important part of the puzzle. When I joined Richard Freeman at the end of 2013 at Elite Motorsports, I said I’d finish my career here. I finally found my people.”
She credited recent improvements at the Norwalk Night Under Fire and national events for sparking her turnaround. “I’m hopeful this is a comeback you guys can write and preach about,” Enders said. “I’m not saying we’re going to go out there and win the world title, but I’m glad our season has made that turn, and we’re going to give it our all.”
2 – DANG, GIVE SOMEONE ELSE A CHANCE – Austin Prock capped a flawless weekend by defeating John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the Funny Car final at the U.S. Nationals. In notching his seventh win of the season, Prock also clinched the regular-season championship for the class.
Prock’s Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS covered the track in 3.903 seconds at 332.92 mph to beat Beckman, who qualified No. 1. The win gave Prock back-to-back Indy victories and 19 career triumphs, with 15 coming in his last 32 Funny Car starts.
“To win Indy in my [2024] rookie season was really special, and to come back again this year and do it is just surreal,” Prock said. “It was a dream of mine to win a championship, but you never know if that’s going to happen. So many stars have to align, and I’ve been surrounded by the right people.”
Earlier Monday, Prock knocked off Julie Nataas, Bob Tasca III, and Blake Alexander to reach the final. He enters the Countdown to the Championship as the points leader, though his advantage will reset under the playoff format.
“We battled through a lot of adversity this weekend,” Prock said. “Even when the number comes up on the board and it might be low E.T. or a good run, it’s never perfect. When I make a mistake, I own up to it, and it makes me hungry to be better and learn from it.”
Prock said lane choice factored into the team’s approach throughout eliminations. “That right lane here can get treacherous,” he said. “NHRA did a great job keeping the lanes pretty fair all weekend, and we were able to get the win over Tasca in the unpreferred lane.”
Beckman reached his fourth final round of the year by defeating Justin Schriefer, Paul Lee, and Alexis DeJoria. He will start the playoffs second in points, with Matt Hagan entering third.
Prock credited the depth of John Force Racing, which placed two Funny Cars in the final and saw Brittany Force qualify No. 1 and reset the Top Fuel speed record. “It couldn’t have been a more perfect weekend for JFR,” Prock said. “All the race cars are performing well, and everybody gets along. That goes a long way.”
Though his points lead will shrink, Prock said he isn’t focused on the reset. “It happened last year and it’s a shame, but all we have to do is just keep doing our job,” he said. “If we do that, maybe we’ll be world champs again.”
3 – PROCK NEEDS AN ACCOUNTANT – Austin Prock has put on a clinic in the Funny Car class since he entered it – and he has competed in only 34 Funny Car races. But after parlaying his 21st final-round appearance into his seventh victory in 14 starts so far this year, he revealed that he’s kind of lousy at arithmetic.
He sat atop a Cornwell Tools toolbox, trying to calculate his earnings after scoring back-to-back Indianapolis victories at this Cornwell Tools U.S. Nationals. He admitted that “I’m horrible at math.”
He said, “I think it’s north of $250 [thousand].”
Prock is right, he’s not skilled in math.
He earned $330,000 – $100,000 for winning the race, $150,000 for being regular-season champion, and $80,000 for winning Saturday’s Funny Car All-Star Callout bonus event.
4 – CAT’S IN THE CRADLE – Justin Ashley stood in the U.S. Nationals winner’s circle nearly two decades after leaping into his father Mike’s arms when he won the same race. At just nine years old, Ashley imagined one day holding the same trophy, and that dream became reality in Top Fuel.
Ashley defeated Tony Stewart in the final round, running through a field that included Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, and Tripp Tatum. His victory added his name to a list of Indy winners that includes Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Joe Amato, and Tony Schumacher.
“I think I certainly hoped so, and that was my goal,” Ashley said of following in his father’s footsteps. “Anything’s possible, but to actually do it and to actually accomplish it is almost beyond words.”
Ashley admitted that while his team has struggled in recent races, its confidence never wavered. “I approach each and every race the same way with the expectation to win,” he said. “It’s certainly, man, a full field, the challenge having to go through Antron, Doug, Tripp, and then Tony Stewart. I’ve heard of that guy. He’s supposed to be a pretty good driver.”
Ashley said the history of Indy added to the moment. “When I look back at the history of the sport and I’ve seen videos of [Joe] Amato winning Indy, and then to actually do it right now and do exactly what he did, what [Don] Prudhomme did, what [Don] Garlits did — it’s beyond words,” he said. “It really is special. It’s an absolute dream come true.”
The victory was particularly satisfying given Ashley’s history at the event. His first professional win came during the U.S. Nationals weekend, but in a postponed race completed weeks later. “I remember going up there for the final round against [T.J. Zizzo] and I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” Ashley said. “It was my first final round. I was super nervous, tried to stay calm and I think I was much more nervous then than I was today.”
Reflecting on the improbable journey, Ashley said his career has been anything but a straight line. “Everyone has their own journey, everyone has their own story and it’s not always a straight line,” he said. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs and everything in between, so to actually get from point A to point B like that, it’s something that I’m very proud of.”
4B – ASHLEY’S MURDERER’S ROW TO FAME – Justin Ashley captured his first U.S. Nationals Top Fuel victory, mowing down former NHRA champions Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta, then upset-minded Tripp Tatum, who hadn’t raced since his crash at the season-opening Gatornationals. After all that, in the final he had to face the most accomplished active driver in auto racing, Tony Stewart.
“I think I’m still processing this moment,” Ashley admitted. “I’ve dreamed about this over and over and over again. I thought it was possible, but to actually accomplish that is another thing.” He said to fulfill that dream is “almost beyond words. It’s special, truly incredible. Tony Schumacher won this race, what, 10 times? I’m a little bit behind.”
5 – IT’S NOT EASY, HE JUST MAKES IT LOOK THAT WAY – Gaige Herrera delivered once again on drag racing’s grandest stage, winning the U.S. Nationals in Pro Stock Motorcycle on a holeshot over teammate Brayden Davis.
Herrera posted a 6.834-second run at 199.32 mph on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines entry, while Davis turned in a quicker 6.799 at 198.93 but lost on the starting line. It gave Herrera his second consecutive U.S. Nationals victory, his fifth win of the season, and the 26th of his career.
“It’s very exciting, especially to get a holeshot win like that,” Herrera said. “To get back-to-back wins here in the U.S. Nationals is very special to me and it was crazy. I mean, I almost was in the sand because I was more excited and cheering than being on the brakes.”
Herrera dominated the weekend, qualifying No. 1 and resetting the track record twice before defeating Chris Bostick, Angie Smith, and Matt Smith to reach the final. The victory also clinched the regular-season title, ensuring he will start the Countdown to the Championship as the top seed for the third straight year.
“All our bikes under the Vance & Hines tent, it was awesome to have a Vance & Hines final there,” Herrera said. “Our rental bike was in the final against me, so that’s even a testament to show what kind of program we offer.”
Despite his success, Herrera insisted it has not come easily. “It’s pretty nerve-wracking, honestly,” he said. “I have a very strong, level head on my shoulders, I feel, and I thank my parents for that.”
Herrera said this win carried special weight. “Every win feels like a new win to me,” he said. “This is definitely a big one here at Indy. It always is. This is the one all of us as racers grew up watching. We always wanted to come race at Indy.”
Davis, in only his fourth national event, reached his first career final by knocking out Dystany Spurlock, Hector Arana Jr., and Richard Gadson, who will begin the Countdown second in points. Herrera said Davis showed he belongs. “He’s young but he’s really good. He’s going to be a force to reckon with if he finds some good funding to stick with it,” he said.
With the regular season complete, Herrera will carry the points lead into the six-race Countdown.
6 – HE HAD THAT FEELING – After climbing from his Dodge Direct Connection dragster following his first-round victory over Steve Torrence in Monday’s Cornwell Tools U.S. Nationals, Tony Stewart remarked that “it was just weird when I woke up this morning. I had the same feeling as the two years we won the Brickyard.”
The NHRA Top Fuel team owner-driver was referring to NASCAR’s 2005 and ’07 Brickyard 400 races down the road at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“You can’t explain it. You just know what you know,” he said. “Doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee, but it puts you in the right frame of mind.”
Stewart’s instincts were on point. He went on to leapfrog Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon to regain the points lead he let slip away three races ago at Seattle, claiming the regular-season championship and its $150,000 bonus. Then he reached his eighth final round in drag racing and his fifth in the Top Fuel class.
He said he began the day with a sense that “something good is going to happen. We knew we needed a little bit of help and a little bit of luck. And we got it. It’s been an awesome day,” Stewart said.
With points leader Shawn Langdon already out in an opening-round upset, Stewart went on to defeat fellow Hoosier Kyle Wurtzel in the quarterfinals and Jasmine Salinas in the semifinals to regain the top spot in the standings. He clinched the No. 1 seeding for the Countdown to the Championship, which begins in two weeks, when Kalitta lost to Justin Ashley in the other semifinal.
Even though he lost to Justin Ashley in the final round, it still was a successful day for Stewart.
He said, “I was not happy on Saturday after the second run, but it got way better after that. It’s all about the crew chiefs (Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala) and what we were missing. Once they found it and put it all back, the car was responding like it was earlier in the year when we were clicking rounds off.
“It is hard not to be disappointed when you have the quickest car in the final and didn’t turn on the win light. Justin is just tough. I had a good light (0.053), and he had a great light (0.027). It’s hard to hang your head after that. We all have to figure out what he is doing and how he is doing it. There is a reason that he is No. 1 in the class on reaction times. We just have to do our work and get better in the category,” Stewart said.
“Looking back at Saturday, I would not have predicted that we would get to the U.S. Nationals final round. Winning the Top Fuel regular-season championship is massive for us in my eyes. It took 14 weeks to win a regular-season championship, and it took four good rounds to win today. I’m not taking away from this race, by any means. There was nothing I wanted more than to win the final round and take the U.S. Nationals trophy. I’m extremely proud of what we did for 14 weeks to win the regular-season championship,” he added.
“I think there are things this weekend that we hit on for the Countdown. We realized what we were missing the last few races. I feel that we are in as good a spot as we can be for the next six races. We just need to execute in these next six races. Every round of qualifying is going to matter,” Stewart said. “I have been involved in so many points championships in so many different series that anytime there are points available, you need to score as many as possible. The bonus points for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty events will be very important. It always comes down to the end of the year. Matt won the Funny Car title in 2023 on the final Pomona rounds. Leah [Top Fuel driver and wife Pruett] and Doug [Kalitta] went right down to the final Top Fuel race of the year. We are getting ready for that final push now.”
Other regular-season champions are Austin Prock (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
7 – FORCE FASTEST IN ALL OF DRAG RACING – Four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence had a reminder about that spectacular wave of 340-mph-or-better speeds. He said that despite “all the attention that it gets, . . . it doesn’t mean anything to anybody. We race on E.T. [elapsed time].” That was not to take anything away from Brittany Force, who ripped off a 343.51-mph clocking Monday on the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park course – the fastest pass in the sport’s history and, by definition, the national record.
Competing against Ida Zetterström in the opening round of eliminations, the two-time Top Fuel champion ran her string of 340s to 10. It was her 10th pass at 340 mph or better.
She has posted a 340-mph speed at least once at six different venues (at Charlotte, Epping, Seattle, Sonoma, Brainerd, Indianapolis). However, she has been able to convert that massive horsepower into victory just once, in June at Epping, New Hampshire.
8 – ROUND 1 UPSETS SPICE NITRO ELIMINATIONS – Six of the eight first-round match-ups ended with upsets. While the names of Top Fuel champions Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, and Steve Torrence usually are not associated with upset losses, they weren’t the only ones. To be clear, “upset” describes when a lower-qualified driver beats a higher-qualified driver. It is not a judgment of who’s the “better” driver. Clay Millican eliminated points leader Langdon to start the day. Justin Ashley followed in the second pairing, knocking out Brown, and Kyle Wurtzel surprised Jordan Vandergriff. Jasmine Salinas disappointed No. 3 qualifier T.J. Zizzo before Tony Stewart got past Torrence. The Funny Car class had three upsets: Blake Alexander over Chad Green, Bob Tasca III over J.R. Todd, and Paul Lee over Daniel Wilkerson.
9 – FORREST LUCAS REMEMBERED – His name and his company were displayed everywhere, but what was missing from the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park was Forrest Lucas. And among those who missed him most was the first racer he sponsored, 2009 Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana, and son Hector “Jr.,” who lost Monday in the quarterfinal to eventual runner-up Brayden Davis.
The father-son Arana tandem had an even deeper relationship with Lucas. The elder Arana has worked at the Lucas Oil production plant at Corydon, Indiana, since the mid-1990s, and young Hector worked there until he married and moved to Long Island, New York. So did Hector Sr.’s two other children, Abigail and Adam.
The bike shop was housed at the plant so they could work on their bikes after hours, and Arana Sr. said he can recall leaving the shop late at night and seeing a light on. He investigated and saw it was Lucas, still at his desk, working. He popped his head into Lucas’ office and said, “What are you doing here?” And Lucas replied, “This is when I catch up with all my paperwork and do my studying.”
And so, Arana said, “when everyone is gone, he was still there working. That’s something people don’t know. He was there, paying attention to the business and making sure things were good.”
Son Hector said, “I have to attribute just me being out here racing to Forrest. I remember it like yesterday where we were working at the shop. So we get the overhead speaker: ‘Hector, come to my office.’ So he calls me and my dad into the office, and he knew that we were looking on how can we run the second bike and trying to find extra funding. And he goes, ‘I want to have a father-son team. I want you to race. So start getting everything together and let’s run two bikes.’
“That was the start. So that was the beginning. We get that call and let’s go racing. So we ordered a second bike and some engines and started prepping everything and testing and getting a license, because when I tell you I was green, I was green,” he said. “I had maybe six quarter-mile passes under my belt when I entered Gainesville. This is the first race I won. I debuted at the season opener in 2011 in Gainesville, Florida, and we [experienced] growing pains. Then we went to Brainerd leading up to this race, made it to my first finals, and then came here and we won the race. So my first-ever race win was the U.S. Nationals.
“He shared his passion with everybody,” Hector “Jr.” said, letting other people live their dreams. He was not a selfish man at all. He definitely spread the wealth.”
His father said, “That man was humble. He talked to anyone. He gave everyone an opportunity. There aren’t that many like that. And I never signed a contract. He gave me his word and that was it, as long I did the right thing.” He said at the plant, Lucas’ “presence is still felt there.”
And with a slight tear in his eye, he said quietly, “I miss him.”
10 – THEY SAID WHAT?! – Racers say the darndest things, and they were expressive Monday during eliminations at the U.S. Nationals. Here’s a sampling of some memorable remarks:
“So many people have been out here supporting us. On the other side, there’s a good amount of people that have been saying, ‘Scrappers Racing is done. Scrappers Racing is over.’ There have been some teams that are asking us to scrub tires for them. You know what? We didn’t come here to scrub tires. We came out here to go rounds.” – Top Fuel driver Jasmine Salinas after her first-round win over T.J. Zizzo
“It just was weird when I woke up this morning. I felt the same feeling the two years we won at the Brickyard (2005, ’07). You can’t explain it. You just know what you know. Doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee. But it sure, at least when you get to the pit, it puts you in the right frame of mind.” – Tony Stewart
“Holy shit, man. If first round doesn’t get you up here at Indy . . . oh, my God. It’s incredible. The emotion that goes into this race cannot be explained. It’s phenomenal to be here.” – Tony Stewart crew chief Neil Strausbaugh, after Stewart’s Round 1 victory against Antron Brown
“We’ve been trying to try some things yesterday, and today it looks like it did really well. I’m just so glad that we’re not winning races on mile an hour because all the attention that it gets, and it doesn’t mean anything to anybody. We race on E.T. So we’re trying to get there, we’re trying to get this Capco car back into the winners circle.” – Steve Torrence, after his fourth qualifying run
