Competition Plus’ random water-cooler topics from the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Seattle’s Pacific Raceways
1 – KALITTA MOTORSPORTS EARNS DOUBLE – Top Fuel winner Doug Kalitta, the No. 2-ranked driver in the standings, defeated aggressive challenger Leah Pruett, rated No. 3, Sunday to complete Kalitta Motorsports’ second “nitro double” with J.R. Todd.
The triumph was Kalitta’s third of the season and 62nd of his career. With that, he matches Larry Dixon for third place on the class’ all-time list and is just three victories from tying second-place Antron Brown. Kalitta swept the Western swing that, with the loss of the Denver dragstrip, has shrunk to just two events.
The tour still has two regular-season races to go, then six races in the Countdown to the Championship. As the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series goes to Minnesota for the Aug. 20-23 Brainerd Nationals, Kalitta, in his MAC Tools dragster, is just five points behind teammate Shawn Langdon.
2 – TODD SETS TEAM DOUBLE IN MOTION – J.R. Todd has had his eye on that NHRA 75th anniversary-inspired diamond Wally all year long. But in his Funny Car class’ previous 10 races, they’ve gone to Ron Capps three times, Chad Green and Matt Hagan twice each, and once to Austin Prock, Jordan Vandergriff, and Jack Beckman. Todd was determined Sunday’s final-round opponent Prock wasn’t going to get another one before he earned his first.
Todd won automatically when Prock was .005 of a second too early at the starting line and set the stage for Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel triumph that gave team owner (and Doug’s uncle) Connie Kalitta the organization’s second nitro double. Afterward, Todd said it was “definitely a big weight off our shoulders.” And he said of his car, “That thing’s back in the winners circle, where it belongs.”
Looking back, Todd said he “had no idea what was going on there” in the final with Prock darting off the starting line before the green light. And he was surprised to see his win light come on. “Some of these guys want to get cute on the starting line, and that was an instance right there. I saw him in front of us, then saw our win light come on. I thought, ‘Well, he must’ve red-lit.’
“I think we’ve turned the corner with this Toyota GR Supra. And it’s time to make some hay with these guys, get these frontrunners out early, and make up some ground on ’em,” he said.
Todd, who drove dragsters before, has 23 victories overall, 16 of them in Funny Car.
3 – ANDERSON RECLAIMS POINTS LEAD – Proclaiming, “I had a very lucky day, big breaks all day long,” Pro Stock victor Greg Anderson celebrated his record-extending 115th triumph, which became an easy one because opponent Greg Stanfield fouled out by .008 of a second. Anderson moved back into the top spot in the standings with his fourth career Seattle victory, which ties him with NHRA legend and his former boss Warren Johnson. Anderson is just one behind the late drag-racing pioneer Bob Glidden.
“We were down on our luck the last couple of weeks. But we scraped and clawed and never gave up,” he said. “This was a long time coming. Mr. H [car sponsor Rick Hendrick with HendrickCars.com], I told him I was going to get him one of these diamond Wallys, and it took me a long, long time. But I finally got you one, buddy.”
Was Anderson exaggerating? This was his third victory in six final rounds this season.
4 – GAYNOR’S DOUBLE-UP HEADLINES SPORTSMAN – Shortly after the Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car divisions crowned their winners at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, a Super Stock racer who pulls double duty in Top Dragster delivered the weekend’s signature performance. Ty Gaynor became the 32nd driver to record a double-up victory at an NHRA national event, capturing both Super Stock and Right Trailers Top Dragster titles at Pacific Raceways.
Gaynor sealed the deal by defeating Brad Burton in the Super Stock final with a .035 reaction time and a 9.150-second run at 141.59 mph. He earlier defeated Don Sefton in the Top Dragster final with a .005 light and a 7.203 at 170.45 mph. The victories gave Gaynor his second and third Wally trophies and marked the 48th double-up in NHRA national-event history.
Shawn Cowie earned his 28th Top Alcohol Dragster victory by defeating Joey Severance with a 5.207-second run at 277.72 mph. Cowie chased down Severance before half-track to add another Seattle title to his résumé.
Doug Gordon collected his 29th Top Alcohol Funny Car victory by defeating Brian Hough in the final when Hough was unable to complete the run. The victory also made Gordon just the sixth driver in Top Alcohol Funny Car history to earn 300 round wins.
Ryan Warter earned his sixth Competition Eliminator Wally and third at Pacific Raceways by defeating Dustin Lee in the final. Gary Gandee scored his first national-event victory in his first Stock Eliminator final-round appearance with a near-perfect .001 reaction time.
Paul Nero claimed his eighth Super Comp victory after defeating Zach Meziere, while Cooper Chun earned his second Super Gas title by stopping Steve Lowe in the final.
Bryan Warr picked up his fifth career Right Trailers Top Sportsman victory and his third at Pacific Raceways by defeating David Cook. Dana Glenn completed the list of sportsman winners by beating Dustin Ward in the Super Street final.
5 – THEY’RE QUICK – Top Fuel winner Doug Kalitta set low elapsed time of the meet, surpassing Josh Hart’s 3.670 by one thousandth of a second earlier in the first round. Jack Beckman was quickest in Funny Car competition, posting low E.T. of the weekend in the opening round with a 3.858-second time. Dallas Glenn followed suit in the Pro Stock class, using a 6.468 to win his Round 1 faceoff against Mason McGaha.
6 – GIBBONS A TRUE DRAG RACER – Tim Gibbons’ interview with FOX Sports following his first-round loss to Jack Beckman was an example of the heart of a drag racer. He told Amanda Busick, “We work so hard. We need the money. We have gracious sponsors. All the glory to God. Without Him, none of this is possible. I love Gary Densham and Joanne and all my crew. It’s a tough gig. I love my NHRA family.”
He clocked a 4.019-second elapsed time and a 307.02-mph speed, his career quickest and fastest. And he said, “That’s a career-best E.T. and mile per hour, and I worked hard for it.”
Asked how much he loves drag racing, Gibbons vowed, “I’ll never quit.”
7 – SALINAS’ STRONG STRETCH ENDS – Jasmine Salinas’ two-week momentum stalled in the second round Sunday, in the rematch of the Sonoma final round against Doug Kalitta. As Salinas backed up from her burnout in the Scrappers Racing/Valley Services Dragster, the car made a loud popping noise, and it jettisoned an object. An NHRA official picked up the object and placed it by the wall. Then, just after the launch, about 40 feet into the run, more parts fell onto the track and bounced behind the car. Finally, at about the 330-foot timing block, the motor let go in a ball of fire.
That ensured Kalitta would mark the 10th time in 12 races he has gone to the semifinals or better this year.
Salinas, who knocked off Clay Millican in the opening round, said at the end of the day, “The first round is always the toughest, in my opinion. I was more nervous for the first round today than I was in the finals against Doug last week in Sonoma, which is pretty funny. Getting that first-round win was really cool. We were hoping to continue to go rounds, but now we’ll have some time off to get everything together and continue building on this momentum.”
8 – WAIT! WHAT?! – OK … Pay close attention … This sounds tricky … Here we go …
In the second round of Top Fuel eliminations, Tony Stewart missed out on the chance to advance to the semifinal and line up against the car he owns – because he lost to the racer who sold to Elite Motorsports team the car he is driving. Stewart fell to Josh Hart, who last September sold his operation to Elite team owner Richard Freeman. Stewart’s exit also meant he would not face wife Leah Pruett in the semifinals. It would have been the first time the couple met in eliminations. She defeated Justin Ashley in the quarterfinals and was waiting at the top end of the track to see if she would race either Stewart or Hart. It was Hart, and she won to reach her second final of the year.
8B – YOU AGAIN? – Eight times have Paul Lee and Chad Green raced in the first round for the last two seasons. And guess what, one of those times happened on Sunday, with Lee, the slower qualifier of the two, getting the win. The same thing happened last weekend in Seattle with the same result.
9 – BAD DAY TO BE NITRO POINTS LEADER – The opening round of Sunday eliminations was rough on points leaders and 2025 winners of this event. In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon spun the tires and pitched the blower belt – and had a slightly slower reaction time against the only other driver who consistently can match him on the Christmas Tree. Justin Ashley, the No, 13 qualifier, cut a .042-second light to Langdon’s .062 for the upset of the No. 4 starter and last year’s Top Fuel winner Langdon. In Funny Car’s first round, Cruz Pedregon knocked off points leader Ron Capps.
10 – THEY SAID IT –
“We have a responsibility to win on and off the track.” – Justin Ashley
“This is the time to dig for the Countdown – not Brainerd, not Indy. It’s now.” – Leah Pruett
“It’s cutthroat out here in Funny Car.” – J.R. Todd
“It’s going to be fun, tangling with the old girl. It’s been a while. She’s going to be great. I’ve got to find a way to be great, too. It should be wonderful.” – Greg Anderson, anticipating his semifinal match-up with longtime nemesis Erica Enders
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