Competition Plus’ random water-cooler topics from the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC
1 – CAPPS DELIVERS CONFIDENCE – Multi-time Funny Car champion Ron Capps admits even veteran racers are burdened by doubt into the cockpit. He turned that doubt into another trophy Sunday at zMAX Dragway.
Capps stayed hot in Funny Car, winning for the second time in three races with a 3.905-second pass at 334.90 mph in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra. He beat a final quad loaded with former champions Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan, and J.R. Todd to capture the 4-Wide Nationals.
The victory was the 79th of Capps’ career and his fifth in Charlotte, the most among active Funny Car drivers. It also marked his third straight final round and strengthened his early hold on the points lead.
Capps had the quickest car most of the weekend. He qualified No. 1 and opened eliminations with a 3.865 – the quickest run of race day – at 333 mph. He reached the final after finishing second to Todd in the semifinal quad. In the title round, Capps left first and never trailed.
“I still can’t believe it,” Capps said. “You have cars like this at times in your career, and you just don’t want to mess up as a driver. It sounds funny, but you’re given something that leaves the trailer and all the knobs turn the right direction to go win a race.
“Any driver will tell you this; if they don’t, they’re lying. It’s like you’re given this to not screw up, cut a light and, most importantly, drive it. Keep it as straight as possible.”
That made the final more than another routine round. Capps was facing Hagan, who beat him in Pomona for the 1,000th win in NHRA Funny Car history, along with Beckman and Todd, two proven closers.
“I’m still hurting from the loss in Pomona to Hagan,” Capps said. “That one hurt. If I could trade a lot of wins for one, that was the one.”
Capps said the staging lanes before the final seemed to carry a different vibe. Four veterans stood near their cars, each going through their private routine.
“Hagan started getting dressed, J.R. saw him and started getting dressed,” Capps said. “I saw J.R. and started getting dressed, then looked over and Beckman was doing the same thing. It was a cool moment.”
The pressure, Capps said, was not winning as much as making sure he did not waste the race car Dean “Guido” Antonelli and the team handed him.
“For me, it’s not to screw up,” Capps said. “You’d think after all these years you’d get used to it, but every good driver doubts themselves a little bit.
“I think that doubt makes you better. I’m convinced it does. I still roll up there and think, ‘All right, Capps has this.’ But in my head, I’ve got that slight bit of doubt that I can’t get the job done, and I use that.”
That honesty is not something drivers often publicly admit. Capps said Don “The Snake” Prudhomme once warned him about saying it out loud.
“I said that one time when I was driving for Snake,” Capps said. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Don’t you ever say that again.’ But it was the truth. It’s how I feel.”
2 – KALITTA’S BIG SPEED, LANGDON’S HOLESHOT PROPEL TEAMMATES — Doug Kalitta punctuated a thrilling Top Fuel event by triggering the win light with the third-fastest speed in the history of the sport. The Alan Johnson-tuned Mac Tools dragster ran 3.692 seconds at a whopping 342.98 mph. He defeated a quad that featured teammate and No. 1 qualifier Shawn Langdon and the husband-wife duo of Tony Stewart (fourth) and Leah Pruett. Langdon’s superior .052- to .095-second reaction time edge over Pruett helped him secure the runner-up finish via holeshot.
“Alan Johnson — he’s the man,” said Kalitta. “He said it was going to go over 340 mph. I don’t know how he predicts these things. The guy is a wizard tuning this car. Having Alan and Brian [Husen, Langdon’s crew chief] working together closely really helps our team.
“This diamond trophy is going back to Connie [Kalitta, team owner and uncle], who stayed home this weekend. He gives us everything we need to run all three of these cars [including that of Funny Car stablemate J.R. Todd). To be able to win here is a big deal.”
While teammate Langdon had a dominant qualifying effort, Kalitta’s performance ramped up as the event unfolded. He bettered his No. 3 qualifying effort of 3.686 seconds to lead his first quad, made the quickest run of the semifinals at 3.707 seconds to win the semis quad, and capped off the event with his career-best speed.
“All in all, a good day,” said Kalitta. “I’d actually been hitting the Tree all weekend and had my worst light in the final. The guys pulled me through. It was an incredible lineup in the final. These things don’t come easy. You’ve got to keep digging and want it. It was a good day for us.”
3 – DON’T MESS THIS UP – Matt Hartford has spent enough time in Pro Stock to know style points do not matter on race day. At zMAX Dragway, he proved once again that efficiency can be just as valuable as domination.
Hartford drove through three rounds Sunday to win Pro Stock at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, collecting his second Wally of the season and the 10th national event victory of his career. In a class where every thousandth matters, Hartford was sharp when it counted and steady when others faltered.
The road to the trophy was anything but soft. In the opening round, Hartford advanced as the quickest car in his quad, moving on with Aaron Stanfield and immediately signaling his Camaro had the consistency to contend late in the day.
That set up a second-round matchup loaded with proven winners. Hartford again answered the call, advancing with Greg Anderson to earn a place in the final quad and put two KB Titan Racing teammates in position to race for the title.
When the final round came, Hartford did not leave first, but he left quickly enough. His .024 reaction time combined with a 6.526-second pass at 210.05 mph gave him the quickest run of the quad and enough margin to secure the victory.
Cody Coughlin turned in a strong effort of his own, running 6.529 at 210.14 mph to finish second. Greg Anderson matched Coughlin’s elapsed time with a quicker 210.31 mph speed, but a .060 reaction time left him third and just short at the stripe. Matt Latino was first off the starting line, but severe tire shake ended his chances almost immediately. He pushed the clutch back in and coasted to a distant fourth-place showing.
The final margin reflected how narrow Pro Stock can be. Hartford crossed the finish line only .0277 seconds, or roughly nine feet, ahead of Coughlin, while Anderson trailed second by just .012 seconds.
For Hartford, the win added another chapter to what has become one of the class’s most durable modern careers. He has built a reputation on grinding through tough ladders, maximizing opportunities, and forcing rivals to be nearly perfect.
That formula worked again in Charlotte. Hartford did not need drama, declarations, or a headline-making celebration.
He needed three clean rounds, one fast final, and one more trophy for the cabinet. “You don’t always have to be first off the line,” Hartford said. “You just have to be first where it counts.”
4 – HERRERA OUTLASTS FIELD IN PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE WIN — Gaige Herrera continued to build on his lofty career stats with his 29th victory in only 52 career starts with a lopsided 29-4 final-round record. The rider of the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki wasn’t flashy through qualifying, but he outlasted the opposition as all of the other riders qualified in the top six positions fell in the first two rounds.
“After qualifying, we knew we had our work cut out for us,” said Herrera. “It was a big relief to come out here and get the win. That’s a testament to our team. They gave me an awesome motorcycle all weekend. I just had to go out there and do my job.”
The steady and consistent Herrera ran 6.775, 6.754, and 6.758 to not only advance but win all three quads. Reaction times between .019 and .035 further removed opportunity from the grasp of his eager opposition. In the final, Richard Gadson paired a 6.809 with an .018 light to secure a 1-2 finish for Vance & Hines in the all-Suzuki final. Clayton Howey finished third with a game .010 light and 6.854 E.T. Chase Van Sant was eager with a -.009 red light to place fourth.
“We all knew we were going to push the Tree or beyond the Tree in the final,” said Herrera. “I had basically a bracket bike all race long, and so did Richard and Clayton on the rental bike. Losing in the second round in Gainesville kind of lit a fire under me. It’s been nonstop in our shop. All three bikes on the Bagger team were on the podium last weekend. I went grudge racing with my bike last weekend and won that. It’s been a good month for me.
“I’ve always been told you have to learn how to lose before you can win. We won the first world championship and it was kind of surreal, but we didn’t really win it the way I wanted to. I want it to be a dogfight to the finish.”
5 – LIGHT PRECIPATION, HEAVY DRAMA — The opening quad of Top Fuel dragsters had already completed their burnouts when they were signaled to shut off due to light precipitation. Drama ensued as the cars were preparing to refire when Tony Schumacher’s dragster backed out and returned to the pits in an attempt to replace a seized supercharger. Josh Hart, Billy Torrence, and Tony Stewart were initially told by officials to go to the back of the line with the option of making any necessary preparations in the pits to the apparent objection of respective crew chiefs David Grubnic; Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana; and Mike Green.
Though Schumacher’s American Constructions Communications team did not shut their car off until instructed to do so, the issue discovered after the cars were shut down became the topic for debate. Crew chief Jim Oberhofer was not going to refire the dragster without addressing the now-known issue, and his peers in the other three lanes wanted to continue when the track was ready if instructed to do so.
After several minutes of back-and-forth conversation, NHRA’s Vice President of Racing Administration Josh Peterson communicated the call from Schumacher’s pit to let the cars refire. Stewart and Torrence advanced with respective runs of 3.727 and 3.731. Hart trailed with a 3.753 while Lane 4 was vacant in Schumacher’s absence.
“It’s awesome,” said Bobby Lagana, co-crew chief on Torrence’s Capco Contractors dragster. “I feel bad for ‘Grubby.’ That’s a difficult situation. I’m the kind of guy who wants everyone to be happy, but these guys have to make a decision. You can’t do that to the fans. It’s pretty simple. Jesus, Christmas!
“From our perspective, we were ready to run the car when the track was clear,” said Grubnic. “That’s what we communicated. Beyond that, it’s not up to me. We are at the mercy of the race director at that point. We were told to wait. Regardless, it had no bearing on our performance.”
Oberhofer was unavailable for comment in the team’s pit area following the run. Fellow Rick Ware Racing crew chiefs Nick Boninfante Jr. and Jon Oberhofer confirmed that the issue with the supercharger was not discovered until after the cars were shut off. A crewmember was turning the engine over with a ratchet when it locked up.
From the time the four dragsters first fired until the quad was complete, one hour and fifteen minutes elapsed.
6 – BEACH DAY FOR TODD — J.R. Todd advanced to the final with a 3.88 at 336 mph, and the excitement didn’t end when he went through the 1,000-foot lights. The parachutes failed to deploy, sending Todd quickly toward the sand trap. That’s when he used his versatile driving skills to not only slow the DHL Toyota Supra, but also misdirect the car’s entry in order to slide in the sand trap and get the car stopped before it could reach the safety net – impact with which would have likely compromised the chassis.
“I waited too long to get on the brakes,” lamented Todd. “I saw the lever move when I hit the button, so I expected the chutes. Usually the carbon brakes work better as they get hotter. When it starts bouncing like that, you know you’re going in the sand. That’s a badass PBRC car, but we have another one in the trailer that ran within .002 of a second of this one in testing. I’m sure the crew is already at the trailer getting it ready.”
Though damage appeared to be minimal, the DHL crew took no chances and set up the backup car for the final round.
Todd’s win along with No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps advancing in the same quad set up a final round between four past Funny Car world champions that also included Matt Hagan and Jack Beckman.
7 – THE RED ROCKET’S RED GLARE – Matt Smith had an uncharacteristic red-light in the first round of eliminations just one day after establishing himself as the rider with the most No. 1 qualifiers in the NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle division. The six-time champion blamed the foul start on a long tree.
“They must have thought it was a four-bike quad,” Smith said. “We sat there with wide-open throttle, and the bike just rolled the beams.”
Smith was -.015 red, allowing Chase Van Sant and Clint Howley to advance.
8 – LAST-MINUTE FIX LIFTS LANGDON — Top Fuel racing began with drama before the Tree came down in the first quad. The No. 1-qualifying Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster driven by Shawn Langdon had a steering issue when it was pushed up to the water box for its semifinal showdown. Assistant crew chief Mac Savage led the crew in a quick turnaround to replace the heim joint on the left front wheel with race officials having told them they had three minutes to make the change. They performed the service in a calm, cool manner before the quad got the call to fire.
“I hope I didn’t screw up a good race car,” Langdon recalled thinking. “I tried to make a last-minute adjustment pulling up for the burnout, and it popped. Thank you to NHRA and all the competitors for waiting and giving us a chance. It was a little crooked when I was backing up, but I said, ‘Ah, I’ll figure it out.’”
The end result was a win for Langdon at 3.748 in a phenomenal quad. Tony Stewart joined him in advancing to the final round with a 3.776, barely edging Spencer Massey’s valiant, holeshot-aided 3.798. Billy Torrence finished fourth in an all-3.7-second quad.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Brian Husen, Langdon’s crew chief. “It broke the heim off the steering box. Fortunately, we have some of the best crew guys out here, and the other teams were willing to wait on us.”
All eight Top Fuel semifinalists made 3.7-second runs.
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9 – CAREER-BEST OUTING DEDICATED TO KEN HIRATA — Will Smith and the fledgling Bluebird Turf Top Fuel team have had their best outing thus far. The Glen Huszar- and Scott Okuhara-led team laid down career-best numbers twice in qualifying. They opened with a 3.797 at 328.22 mph Friday and improved further with a 3.775, 331.94 to qualify a career-high No. 7. Smith lowered his best elapsed-time mark further with a 3.748 in the first round. Assisted by the quick reflexes of Smith by way of a .033 reaction time, the team came within a hundredth of upsetting Leah Pruett’s low E.T.-of-the-event 3.673 to advance in their quad. Alas, Smith’s first career round-win will have to wait at least another week while he cheered on SCAG teammates Justin Ashley, who won in the same quad, and Funny Car’s Dave Richards.
“Man, we’re all tickled pink,” said Smith. “I’m so happy for this group of guys. They’ve worked so hard since January to put this whole operation together, and basically it started with nothing. It started January, and to get everything assembled and get the car ready and just make the progress we have just in, now, four races, I’m just over the moon about it for all these guys. They’ve worked so hard.”
When he was interviewed on the top end following his qualifying performance, Smith was emotional in talking about the late Ken Hirata. The late member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame passed away recently at age 97.
“Kenny is a legend of the sport and a great friend of mine,” said Smith. “Kenny, [son] Dave, and [wife] Chiyo took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity to drive in Top Alcohol [Dragster] when other people laughed at me and said I’d never make it, never be able to do it, never would get out here. They took a chance on me and took me in as family and taught me everything I know about a Hemi and nitro. I never would have made it where I’m at if it wasn’t for the Hirata family. He was just such a wonderful man. We’re definitely going to miss him.”
10 – BELLEMUR’S 50 HEADLINES SPORTSMAN WINNERS – Sean Bellemeur reached a milestone Sunday at zMAX Dragway, driving the Bartone Bros. Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car to his 50th NHRA national event victory while a full slate of Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series racers completed the sportsman portion of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
Bellemeur became the 25th driver in NHRA history to reach 50 wins and only the third in Top Alcohol Funny Car to hit the mark, joining class standouts Pat Austin and Frank Manzo. He sealed the historic victory with a 5.38-second pass at 269 mph in Tony Bartone’s “Pirate Ship.”
“This team!” Bellemeur said. “That is what the hardest-working team in drag racing, let alone Top Alcohol Funny Car, will get you. Here, at the shop and beyond, everyone involved has a piece of this milestone win. They deserve this more than I do. I am just along for the ride. I am a very lucky guy.
“The game plan coming into the weekend was the same – just focus on the next run. We had a little adversity in the first run; the car didn’t want to go down the racetrack. Steve [Boggs] looked at it, and in the semifinal it ran pretty good, but I drove like an idiot; my words, not his. Man, we lit up that scoreboard in the final with a run of 5.38!”
Bartone said the milestone was another reward for a team that opened the season unbeaten through three events. Bellemeur entered the season with 48 wins and quickly finished the chase.
“We have a great crew, a strong crew chief and a fast driver. I knew we would do it; I just didn’t know when,” Bartone said. “The team worked hard on the car all weekend, and it resulted in a fast run. Getting Sean his 50th win is just an added bonus in a very young season.”
In Top Alcohol Dragster, Joey Severance claimed his 30th career national-event victory, leaving first and powering to a 5.203 at 274.50 mph to defeat McKenna Bold, Jamie Noonan and Jackie Fricke in the final quad. Severance’s reaction time of .022 helped him control the race early.
Jonathan Allegrucci captured FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown honors in a tight four-car final. His 7.716 at 178.42 mph in a Mustang held off Jason Dietsch by just .0178-second.
Monty Bogan added his seventh national event Wally in Competition Eliminator, using a starting-line edge to defeat Joe Carnasciale. Bogan ran 8.410 at 150.21 mph to close the weekend.
Kent Hanley secured his fifth career victory in Super Stock, using a .015 reaction time and taking the double-breakout decision over Patrick Glade. Hanley’s winning package came in a GT/EA combination.
David Barton earned his ninth national event Wally in Stock Eliminator with a near-perfect .007 reaction time. Barton drove to a 10.386 on his 10.38 dial to defeat Jeff Strickland.
Lauren Freer won Super Comp for her eighth career NHRA victory after Vance Houston broke out by taking too much finish-line stripe. Freer’s 8.920 on the 8.90 index proved enough for the win.
Keith Mayers won Super Street by getting to the stripe first against Ray Dew. Mayers posted a 10.874 on the 10.90 index for the title.
Frank Altilio earned his fourth career national event win in Right Trailers Top Sportsman, using a holeshot and smart finish-line driving to stop Carl Freeman. Altilio ran 7.320 on a 7.26 dial.
Robert Houston collected his third career national event trophy in Right Trailers Top Dragster after Walter Zalak broke out at the stripe. Houston’s 7.085 on a 7.08 dial completed the victory run.
