Competition Plus’ random water-cooler topics from the Potomac Nationals at Maryland International Raceway.
1 – ANGIE SMITH SNAGS NHRA MILESTONE VICTORY – With her recuperating husband out of the hospital and by her side Sunday at Maryland International Raceway for eliminations at the NHRA’s inaugural Potomac Nationals, Angie Smith capped a challenging weekend in which her emotions ran the spectrum. After four days of her feeling at once worried, overwhelmed, determined, thankful, and relieved, Sunday she was inspired.
And she was rewarded for her pluck and her focus, as she defeated Ryan Oehler in the final round to win the event on the Mechanicsville, Md., quarter-mile and record the NHRA’s 200th professional victory by a woman. Legendary drag racer Shirley Muldowney presented Smith with the diamond “Wally” trophy that marks the sanctioning body’s 75th anniversary.
Smith said her message is “You just can’t give up when people believe in you. And when my husband called me and told me to come to the hospital and said, ‘We’re running the bikes,’ that meant he believed in me and he believed in our team. And it’s just unbelievable that this is happening. It was an emotional weekend to finish it off like this.
“I was bummed about Chicago, but I guess it was meant to be,” Smith said, referring to her final-round loss at the most-recent race. “This Denso bike is bad to the bone.”
She thanked everyone who helps the Matt Smith Racing team on a regular basis and those who pitched in this weekend. And she paid respects to Muldowney: “Two hundred wins for women! Shirley Muldowney paved the way for us. Let’s go!”
The King, N.C., racer’s journey began two weeks ago near Chicago. There she experienced the lows of the sport at the previous race, at Joliet, Ill., when her Buell broke at the starting line in the final round and she watched her husband sail away in the opposite lane to his second straight victory.
Smith spent a week or so indignantly trying to convince critics that her husband did not sabotage her motorcycle at Route 66 Raceway. But before she could take the first step toward rejuvenation on the racetrack, she found herself thrust into a challenging role of responsibility for the entire team. Matt Smith turned the wheel of the team hauler over to her for most of the drive through three states because he felt ill. He was hospitalized with serious abdominal pain – gallstones diagnosed as the culprit – and at the hospital, he passed his leadership mantle to her for the weekend.
Angie Smith gathered up all the resourcefulness and gumption she could muster and went to work. She collected the laptop computers the team uses for tuning the bikes and took them to Matt Smith’s hospital room, where he inserted the tuning maps into each laptop for each bike in the multi-entry team. She returned to the track, helped Michael Ray oversee the operation and had a hand in getting four Matt Smith Racing (MSR) Buells into the top half of the field. Oh, and she raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifier position Friday.
Running on three hours of sleep, literally only two bites of food, and remarkable help from MSR’S keenest rivals and even teams in other pro classes, she did more than maintain her No. 1 start for Sunday eliminations. On Saturday, she won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge that pays cash and Countdown to the Championship bonus points.
But maybe her biggest victory Sunday was having Matt beside her once again, directing the team and putting the organization back in its proper orbit.
2 – PROCK BACK IN WINNING GROOVE – Two-time and reigning Funny Car champion Austin Prock had been relatively subdued so far this year. Switching teams in the offseason, then coming out of the gate with a DNQ and four first-round losses will cause that. But Prock certainly wasn’t shy Sunday – or all weekend, for that matter – especially when he outran former John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the final round.
“Look who’s laughing now,” the younger Prock said with his in-your-face bravado. “This has been a lot of work. We’ve been busting our asses and all I can say is [crew chief and father] Jim Prock is one bad mofo. We came here, we changed everything. I mean everything, even the generators on the trailers” when he joined this Tasca / Ford Racing team during the offseason.
Austin Prock called it an honor to earn the specially crafted diamond “Wally trophy” and to be in his current situation.
“I can’t believe that we’re holding the Wally seven races in, and this is just a start. I said that we were going to have a race car to compete for a championship, and you bet your ass we do,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Prock said, “We stunk three races ago. But the Prock Rocket is back, and it’s looking pretty damn sporty. And this is just the beginning. Today just might be our day.”
It was.
3 – LANGDON PULLS AWAY FROM TOP FUEL FIELD – When Shawn Langdon knew he was going to meet formidable teammate and current champion Doug Kalitta in the Top Fuel final round Sunday, he smiled. Langdon knew it was going to be a close side-by-side match, and he knew the result easily could go either way – exactly what a real racer always hopes for, that thrill of winning a true challenge.
“This is the goal, and we’re just trying to capitalize as much as we can. Obviously, we have the same race cars. We run the same E.T.s in about the same mile an hour. I know the last time we raced, Brian [crew chief Husen] said, ‘Well, I’m going to give you a race car, and I’ll just leave it up to you and Doug. You guys can fight it out.’” With that, he said, “So, it’s going to be a great final.”
He was right.
Langdon – the points leader, No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier, and owner of both ends of the track record – became the first to earn three consecutive victories since now-idle Steve Torrence did so in 2021. And he claimed his class-leading fourth victory of the season, beating Kalitta by 2/10,000ths of a second, or about one inch, on the 1,000-foot course.
“You thought the [Indianapolis] 500 finish between [Felix] Rosenqvist and [David] Malukas was good, this right here was worth the admission,” FOX Sports analyst Tony Pedregon said.
“That was a little too close for comfort,” Langdon said, “but when you race Doug Kalitta and [tuner] Alan Johnson, you better be on your A game. Man, our Kalitta Air Careers team has been so good lately. They’ve given me a better race car than I deserve.”
But Langdon was careful not to wallow in the achievement. He said, “You ride the wave, enjoy it, and soak it in, but you know what? The first thing we’re going to do is get back, analyze it, and try to be better for the next race.”
In his opening-round bye run, Langdon also set both ends of the track record with a 3.718-second elapsed time and 338.00-mph speed.
With the victory, he leaves Maryland in first place in the standings, 76 ahead of Kalitta. Third-place Leah Pruett trails by 216 points.
“We had two Kalitta cars in the final round, and [team owner] Connie [Kalitta] hasn’t been out at the last couple of races. He’s been recuperating a little bit. We’re thinking about him. Can’t wait for him to come back. I never met a guy that loves drag racing more than me until I met Connie Kalitta. That guy is the epitome of drag racing. I’m very fortunate to be able to race his car and race against Doug. It’s been a tough week for a lot of us in the racing industry with [the death of] Kyle Busch. We’re definitely thinking about the Busch family. Hopefully, they know we love and support them.”
He said this team is performing so well, individually and collectively, because of the mix of people.
“A couple of years ago, bringing over Alan Johnson and Brian Husen and then [Doug Kalitta’s crew chief] Mac Savage and [assistant crew chiefs) Arron Cave and Justin Groat on our car and all of our crew guys … It’s getting all the right guys together, and we really have, just across the board including the DHL [Funny Car] team, three great groups of guys. They all work so well together – everything’s clicking. We knew the potential of what we had three years ago. It was just a matter of time, getting the cars dialed in, getting the right parts and pieces, getting everybody on the same page. Alan and Brian won all those championships for a reason, and so for all of us, we just keep our mouths shut, keep our ears open, listen and learn.
“Winning cures about everything,” he said. “This year’s been unbelievable. We had one little hiccup at the first race, but that’s just how good the team is. They bounced back, and now we’ve won three in a row. When this kind of thing happens, you just ride the wave because you never know how long it’ll last. A couple years ago, we didn’t finish in the top 10, and now we won three in a row.”
4 – ANDERSON ADDS 114TH TROPHY TO HIS CASE – Greg Anderson scored a runaway 114th Pro Stock victory over Dallas Glenn in a familiar all-KB Titan Racing final round.
For Anderson, the HendrickCars.com Chevy Camaro driver, it brought back a vivid memory at Maryland International Raceway. Anderson, a Minnesota native who makes his home at Mooresville, N.C., said, “It’s been a lot of years since I’ve been here, but I used to have so much fun when we come up here and race and I learned a ton. I came and tested here on 9/11, the day of [September 11, 2001], when the world changed. And two weeks later, I won the very first race of my career.” He told longtime track owner Royce Miller, “So obviously this started it for me, buddy. Thank you so much. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
5 – MATT SMITH BACK … AS SPECTATOR FOR NOW – Hospitalized since Thursday with a flare-up of gallstones, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer and team owner Matt Smith returned to the racetrack Sunday. He said he was sore but glad to see his racers, including fill-in Chip Ellis, advance past the first round.
The six-time series champion said, “I’m proud of this team for just doing what they’ve done without me being here. It’s good to be back out of the hospital and getting here today to watch this. I’m just grateful to be here. And my biggest thing is I’ve raced in pain before. And that whole instance that happened last week with Kyle Busch, we prayed for Samantha and the family. But this was something I haven’t felt before, and it scared me and I went to the hospital.
“I’ve got a gallbladder that’s got stones in it. I’ve got an inflamed pancreas. I’ve got kidney stones, and I’ve got two hernias. I’ll get it addressed,” Matt Smith said. “And you probably won’t see me back out racing a bike until Indy [the U.S. Nationals in September at Indianapolis], but I’ll get this addressed, and I’ll be back strong.”
6 – EVARISTO LAYS DOWN MONSTER RUN – Bike racer Jianna Evaristo had a semifinal finish, but her day started out in almost record-breaking fashion. Against Kelly Clontz in the first round, the Matt Smith Racing rider powered her Buell to a winning 6.702-second pass at 204.98 mph. That speed was the second-fastest in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle history, ranking only behind the 205.04 mark her boss set in 2021 at her home track at Sonoma, Calif. Evaristo had been tied with Gaige Herrera for the second-fastest speed at 204.54 mph. Both did that in 2024, but Herrera did it first at the Gatornationals to open the calendar. She followed with an identical number that summer at Sonoma.
7 – BIKE FINALIST OEHLER ROUGHED UP – Never mind that Angie Smith left him in her wake in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final round, Ryan Oehler went through some pretty rough treatment before he even got to the starting line. Calling his operation “definitely probably the most underfunded team out here,” he said, “I’ve been telling everybody if we make it this far, I’m going to have to thank Capital One for not sending me to Collections yet.” He said it was “comical” but that after a “phenomenal” semifinal pass against Jianna Evaristo that was his career best and landed him in the final against Smith, “we had a transmission problem. We had pulled transmission out. We put it all back in. Then going up to the starting line, we had an accident, collided [he didn’t say with what or whom], ran me off the bike, down on the ground. I mean, it’s a pretty minor injury, but thank goodness we’re wearing leathers even in the pits.”
8 – TOUGH DAY FOR $TEWART – It was a costly day for Tony Stewart, the Elite Motorsports driver, and Tony Stewart, the TSR nitro team owner. He lost his opening-round race against Shawn Reed. Within about 20 minutes, he had a major repair bill on his hands. Matt Hagan, his hired Funny Car driver, experienced an engine explosion in the American Rebel Dodge in his first-round loss to Austin Prock.
Hagan’s spin on it afterward was fan-focused but a little bit flippant: “These fans paid a lot of their hard-earned money, and we just want to put on a show for them. I know it cost Tony a lot of money, but at the end of the day, that’s drag racing. We were getting our ass kicked anyway, so it’s kind of one of those deals where we might as well add insult to injury and go ahead and blow it up, too. But these fans that came out here … It’s amazing. Hopefully they’ll come back next year and bring more friends with them. … I was just trying to get a new firesuit, I think, with all the fire.”
9 – THEY SAID IT – In case you missed some of the memorable comments from Race Day …
“He’s just as determined as he was when he was driving. Now he’s just an owner, and he’s on your ass.” – Jordan Vandergriff’s crew chief, Chris Cunningham, regarding John Force
“We didn’t have one ounce of luck this year, and we needed that.” – Crew chief Rob Wendland, regarding Shawn Reed’s first-round victory over Tony Stewart.
10 – FRICKE HEADLINES SPORTSMAN WINNERS – Jackie Fricke led the list of winners by capturing Top Alcohol Dragster, while Sean Bellemeur added another Top Alcohol Funny Car victory to his dominant 2026 campaign. Steve Szupka prevailed in Competition Eliminator, and Ronald Riegel earned his first national event title in Top Sportsman.
In Top Alcohol Dragster, Fricke defeated Gary Pritchett in the final round with a 5.478-second pass at 274.33 mph. Pritchett lost traction immediately and pedaled his dragster multiple times but was unable to recover.
The victory marked Fricke’s 10th NHRA national-event Wally. She secured the win with a starting-line advantage and never relinquished the lead.
“My team never gives up on me,” said Fricke, who pedaled her dragster when it lost traction. “If I screw up, make a bad tuning call, they are always 100 percent behind me. I am so blessed to get to drive this race car and be part of this team. I’ll never forget it.”
Bellemeur continued one of the strongest stretches of his career in Top Alcohol Funny Car, defeating Bob McCosh with a 5.393 at 270.92 mph. McCosh posted a competitive 5.453-second run after repairing damage sustained when he smacked the wall in the previous round.
The win was Bellemeur’s fourth national-event title of the season and the 52nd of his career. The veteran qualified No. 1 and maintained control throughout eliminations.
“This team never ceases to amaze me,” Bellemeur said. “To come here for an inaugural event, and the Maryland fans are incredible – great time we’ve had. Incredible weather and great facility. I can’t wait to come back. As far as Steve Boggs, Tony Bartone and the Killer B’s, we are on quite a run this year. It couldn’t be possible without them and our sponsors.”
Competition Eliminator produced the closest finish of the day as Szupka edged Joseph Arrowsmith by just .0024 seconds – approximately seven inches – at the finish line. Szupka’s .006 reaction time proved decisive as he drove to a 6.923-second pass at 173.72 mph. The victory was Szupka’s fifth NHRA national event title and came in his first event back after an 11-month absence.
“To get this diamond Wally is something special,” Szupka said. “ I really don’t want to race with anyone but [my crew]. It was a dream come true to win one of these, I am really blessed. This victory is for the Boyd Brothers.”
In Top Sportsman, Riegel earned his first national event Wally by defeating Vince Fourcade in a final-round duel decided by .0028 seconds, roughly nine inches. Fourcade left first, but Riegel chased him down and crossed the finish line first with a 6.725-second run at 202.91 mph.
The victory came in Riegel’s second career national event final round and capped a consistent performance through five rounds of eliminations. – Bobby Bennett
