NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Top Fuel

No. 1 qualifier T.J. Zizzo, who claimed the second pole of the season with his strong 3.714, will kick off eliminations with a first-round meeting with Billy Torrence. Illinois-native Zizzo, the longtime Top Fuel campaigner who wheels his family-owned Rust-Oleum dragster, is eager to claim his first win and is in an excellent position to go after the lifelong goal at one of his home tracks.

For the first time in history, the Top Fuel field includes four female drivers with No. 3 qualifier Brittany Force set to race Josh Hart, No. 7 qualifier Jasmine Salinas heading to the lanes for a first-round meeting with five-time Midwest Nationals winner Antron Brown, Ida Zetterström dialed in for her match with four-time St. Louis victor Steve Torrence, and Julie Nataas paired with Tony Schumacher in her Top Fuel debut with the Scrappers Racing team.

Schumacher and his Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. dragster gathered the most bonus points in qualifying (five). He’s a two-time event champion and three-time runner-up in St. Louis, and he enters raceday No. 7 in the standings.

Incoming points leader Brown and his Matco Tools dragster landed No. 10 on the ladder and will be striving to protect his position with Justin Ashley and the Scag Power Equipment rail on his heels. Ashley didn’t have the easiest time of it in qualifying either, though, and will start 13th. He is paired with defending event champ Clay Millican and the Rick Ware Racing Parts Plus dragster.

Defending world champion Doug Kalitta, a four-time winner at the event, will race Kalitta Motorsports teammate Shawn Langdon in round one. Langdon is No. 3 in the standings and seven points ahead of Kalitta, who is No. 4 in the points – 67 marks out of first.

After making a very strong run in qualifying, Shawn Reed will start sixth and race Tony Stewart, who is carrying the banner for Rush Truck Centers in St. Louis.

Funny Car

Reigning world champion and last season’s winner here, Matt Hagan and his American Rebel Beer Dodge, qualified in the No. 8 position and paired with Bob Tasca III and his Dark Horse Motorcraft Quicklane Ford Mustang in the first round. Tasca is No. 2 in the standings, 139 points back from Austin Prock, who earned his 12th No. 1 of the year in St. Louis qualifying. With a 15-car field, Prock will have a bye run in the first round and race either Tasca or Hagan in the second stanza.

Chad Green’s big run in the Bond-Coat Ford Mustang sent him all the way up to the No. 2 position which set up a first-round match with Dale Creasy Jr., while Ron Capps, the most winning Funny Car driver in St. Louis with four previous victories, put another big number on the board to score the No. 3 spot. His day will start next to Buddy Hull. Two-time St. Louis Funny Car winner Jack Beckman will continue his quest to win a championship for sidelined John Force as he starts fourth in the Peak Chevy and squares off with J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota.

Alexis DeJoria will race Dan Wilkerson; Blake Alexander and Cruz Pedregon will go toe-to-toe, and Bobby Bode, who scored two bonus points with a strong entry in qualifying, will take on Dave Richards.

Pro Stock

The No. 1 qualifier is also a six-time winner in St. Louis; Erica Enders has more wins at World Wide Technology Raceway than any other driver in a professional category, past or present. She’ll expect to claim another trophy in her Elite Motorsports-powered JHG/Melling Performance Chevrolet and will start the quest with a first-round standoff with No. 16 qualifier Chris McGaha.

Defending event winner and five-time world champion Greg Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, claimed a pair of bonus points in qualifying on the way to securing the No. 3 spot and a match with Cory Reed. Anderson comes into Sunday No. 4 in the Pro Stock points, 76 marks out of first. First place is currently held by Anderson’s KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, who will drive the RAD Torque Systems Chevy to the starting line for an opening match with Camrie Caruso.

JHG/Melling/Janac Brothers Racing driver Aaron Stanfield carries the most threat into Sunday as he has won five of the last eight events and fell just one win light short of another victory in Charlotte last week. Stanfield, who will start the day next to Elite Motorsports compatriot David Cuadra, is No. 2 in the Pro Stock points, a mere 11 marks behind Glenn. Stanfield also has a good record in St. Louis as he reached the final next to Anderson last season and won this event in 2021 in the Factory Stock Showdown category. His father, Greg Stanfield, won here in Super Stock in 2018.

Bonus qualifying points were doled out to the top four in the points to keep the championship chase seasoned with spice: Glenn got (three), Stanfield (two), Enders (five), and Anderson (two).

Two-time St. Louis winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. is set to race Jerry Tucker in round one; Mason McGaha and Troy Coughlin Jr. will go head-to-head; Matt Hartford and Cristian Cuadra will battle; and Eric Latino is set to meet Fernando Cuadra Jr.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

At the conclusion of qualifying, reigning world champ Gaige Herrera and his Vance & Hines RevZilla Mission Hayabusa sat at the top of the pack, just ahead of arch rival (and incoming points leader) Matt Smith and his Denso Buell. Herrera’s teammate Richard Gadson and Smith’s teammate Angie Smith were third and fourth, respectively, with Hector Arana Jr. No. 5 and Chase Van Sant No. 6.

Smith leads Herrera in the standings by 26 marks heading into race day in St. Louis, with Gadson 31 marks back.

Matt Smith has the most Pro Stock Motorcycle wins of all in St. Louis with five trophies claimed thus far, and the only other currently competing riders to have won in the shadow of The St. Louis Arch are defending event champion Herrera, Arana Jr. (2015), Steve Johnson (2004), and recently returned veteran Geno Scali (2003).

As the pole-sitter, Herrera scored a bye run to kick off eliminations in the 15-bike field, and he will race either John Hall, the No. 8 qualifier, or Marc Ingwersen in the second round. On the opposite side of the ladder, Matt Smith will begin to make his case for an historic seventh world title as he squares off with Wesley Wells. Gadson will race Lance Bonham, and Angie Smith is matched with Ryan Oehler.

Arana Jr., who made a bold statement by claiming the first win in the Countdown to the Championship, is set to race Johnson, while Matt Smith Racing’s Jianna Evaristo and Vance & Hines rider Geno Scali will bear another branch of the bubbling team rivalry as they duke it out in round one. Seattle winner and 2023 Rookie of the Year honoree Chase Van Sant will meet White Alligator Racing teammate Chris Bostick.

EVENT STATISTICS

2023 EVENT WINNERS: Clay Millican, Top Fuel; Matt Hagan, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST VICTORIES: Antron Brown, 6, TF; Ron Capps, 4, FC; Erica Enders, 6, PS; Matt Smith, 5, PSM

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel – 3.631 seconds by Clay Millican, Sept. '17; 338.43 mph by Brittany Force, Oct. '22

Funny Car – 3.830 seconds by Robert Hight, Sept. '17; 338.60 mph by Hight, Sept. '17

Pro Stock – 6.492 seconds by Greg Anderson, Sept. '15; 213.47 mph by Jason Line, Sept. '12

Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.701 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Sept. '23; 203.40 mph by Matt Smith, Sept. '23

SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, Sept. 29
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:30 a.m.; pre-race ceremonies, 10:00 a.m. MISSION FOODS SERIES eliminations at 11:0 a.m.

TELEVISION

SUNDAY, Sept. 29
FS1 will televise qualifying coverage at coverage at 2:00 p.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, Sept. 29
FS1 will televise coverage at 3:00 p.m. (ET)

TICKETS

To purchase tickets to the NHRA Midwest Nationals, click here or call 800-884-6472