NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

TOP FUEL Q3

Conditions start out much warmer than Friday with a track temperature of 125 degrees, more like what they might see Sunday morning, and we're not expecting any of the low qualifiers to be displaced, but we'll see.

Shawn Reed, still riding a high from his first career win two weeks ago in Reading, had the best run of the session with a 3.767, with four-wide ace Steve Torrence not far behind with a 3.770. For what it's worth, Torrence's six four-wide wins are two more than anyone else in any category. 

Tony Stewart, still recovering from his nasty two-car tangle with Doug Kalitta in Reading and a lost Q1 pass Friday, looked solid with a 3.787.

The carnage was plentiful, including a huge blower explosion that leveled the top half of Clay Millican's ride, some of his parts bouncing and clipping Kalitta's front wing. Justin Ashley, who won the spring four-wide race in 2024 and was runner-up here earlier this year, absolutely vaporized the carbon fiber injector on his Scag dragster on a 3.85 pass.

Neither Q1 leader Kalitta nor Friday leader Brittany Force scored any bonus points. Force was fifth quickest at 3.82 while Kalitta smoked the tires.

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FUNNY CAR Q3

World champ Austin Prock, whose crew chiefing brother (and new father) Thomas, is celebrating his birthday today, ripped to an impressive 3.933 in a great quad in which the other three drivers — Bob Tasca III (3.949), Daniel Wilkerson (3.962), and Chad Green (3.976) — also ran in the threes. Prock has now earned eight of the nine possible session bonus points so far.

"Hopefully we can step it up again and earn more points," said Prock, who woke up feeling under the weather. "To go A to B and earn some points makes me feel better, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the day and the weekend."

Tasca's pass was the second-best of the frame, with J.R. Todd's 3.955 grabbing the last bonus point. 

Jack Beckman finally got the Peak Chevy into the threes, becoming the 12th driver to qualify under four seconds.

Alex Laughlin almost got there, too, as he booted the Jim Dunn Racing/Blaze Exhaust Probes car to one of its best runs of the season, a 4.000, as he continues to sub for Buddy Hull, who is still recovering from a hand injury suffered in Sonoma but is in attendance, rooting the team on.

“Obviously, my favorite place to be at the racetrack is inside the car, but I am having to exercise an extreme amount of patience as my hand slowly but surely recovers," Hull said. "You don’t realize how much goes on in that part of your body until you hurt it, and it doesn’t bounce back right away. My grip strength and the feeling in my thumb still have a way to go before I can safely manhandle a Funny Car. But the support of the fans and the NHRA community finding ways to keep me still heavily involved is what’s giving me a positive outlook on the situation.”

Ron Capps made his best run of the weekend, a 4.173, but he's down in the No. 15 spot.

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PRO STOCK Q3

The first quad of Pro Stock was actually a trio with Brandon Miller, Kenny Delco, and Chris Vang, the three drivers who entered Saturday outside the Pro Stock field. Facing a stiff 6.609-second bump spot, Vang wheeled the Beaver Motorsports entry to a 6.608 to get into the field, at least temporarily. Delco also improved on his Friday run with a 6.619 while Miller ran 6.655.

Mat Hartford duplicated last night’s performance to the thousandth of a second with a 6.568, but given the difference in weather conditions, this right might well the more impressive of the two. Cristian Cuada was also in the 6.5s with a 6.598.

Minutes after getting bumped from the field, David Cuadra found his way back in with a 6.605 to edge Chris Vang. The battle for low E.T. of the round also heated up with  Cody Coughlin taking the lead with a 6.554 to Cory Reed’s 6.558.

The following quad featuring Deric Kramer, Eric Latino, Erica Enders, and Fernando Cuadra Jr. featured four 6.5-second runs, but none quick enough to challenge Cody Coughlin for low E.T. or the three qualifying bonus points that accompany it.

The final quad featuring Greg Anderson, Dallas Glenn, Aaron Stanfield, and Greg Stanfield produced the two quickest runs of the round, with matching 6.540 runs by points leaders Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn. It was Glenn who had the faster speed, 209.36 to 209.23, which was good for the additional bonus point.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q3

John Hall came into Saturday not qualified for the Pro Stock Motorcycle field after breaking an engine in Q1 and missing Q2. The Reading champ took care of business with a solid 6.853 to secure his spot in the field. Angie Smith was actually quicker with a 6.833 on her Denso Buell to set the early pace in the battle for qualifying bonus points. With Hall in the field, 2003 world champ Geno Scali is outside with one round to go.

“There are always nerves when you’re not qualified,” said Hall. “We’ve got a new tire and a new motor, but it’s the same rider, and I don’t know if you can call that stable but here we are.”

The next two quads produced a flurry of 6.8-second runs, but none quicker than Angie Smith, although Jianna Evaristo made a solid run with a 6.867 on her JHG Buell.

Matt Smith stole the three qualifying bonus points in the final quad with a 6.806 while Richard Gadson ran 6.838 and Gaige Herrera, Friday’s leader, turned in a 6.839.

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TOP FUEL Q4

Brittany Force added some more points to her total as she runs the final five events of her driving career (for now at least), solidifying her incoming No. 1 spot of 3.698 with the best run of the final session, a 3.785. It's the 57th No. 1 of her career and fifth this season.

Shawn Reed and crew chief Rob Wendland continued to show a hot hand with a 3.791, with Shawn Langdon getting his first bonus points with a third-best 3.797.

No driver earned bonus points in all four sessions, but Steve Torrence did in three of them, falling short on only his last pass with a 4.36.

Neither of the Rick Ware Racing entries — the cars driven by Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher — showed up for Q4 after Millican cleaned off the top of the engine in Q3.

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FUNNY CAR Q4

Ron Capps took a surprising shot at No. 1 as crew chief Dean Antonelli tuned the NAPA Auto Parts Toyota to a 3.899, just .008-second shy of incoming leader Matt Hagan.

"To throw an .89 in this heat, it's one of those runs we're going to look back at later and say, 'Wow!' " said Capps.

Austin Prock's second-best 3.928 was his fourth straight three-second pass, the only driver to accomplish that, earning 10 of 12 possible bonus points. Prock's JFR teammate, Jack Beckman, ran 3.938, his second straight three after a pair of Friday misses.

Hagan remained atop the pack and posted a fourth-best 3.970. Only his Q3 4.017 kept him from also having four three-second runs. It's Hagan's 54th career No. 1 effort.

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PRO STOCK Q4

By a margin of just .001-second, Chris Vang will not make Sunday’s final eliminations at zMax Dragway. Vang ran a 6.619 in the final session and his earlier 6.608 was just off the bump set by Troy Coughlin Jr. at 6.607.

With the field set, the focus turned to qualifying bonus points available to the top three elapsed times of the round. Cristian Cuadra threw his hat into the ring with a 6.577 in his Corral Tequila Camaro to move up a couple spots in the order.

Cory Reed made is best run of the weekend in his J&A Service Camaro with a 6.552 to take the lead in the battle for low E.T. of the session. Fernando Cuadra Jr. was not far behind with a 6.567 while his brother, David, also found the 6.5s at 6.599.

Erica Enders moved from No. 11 to No. 6 with a slight improvement, a 6.554 that held off the 6.557 of Greg Stanfield. Such is life in Pro Stock where a few thousandths of a second can make a big difference.

Greg Anderson and Cody Coughlin finished off the round with matching 6.456 runs. In an amazing coincidence, it was the third time that Anderson and one of his opponents has run identical elapsed times to the thousandth of a second.

Dallas Glenn ran 6.562, but managed to hang on to the top spot in qualifying. Glenn is No. 1, but won’t have an easy road as he’s in the “Quad of Doom” in round one with Troy Coughlin Jr., and world champs Aaron and Greg Stanfield.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q4

There was also a bit of mid-pack shuffling in Pro Stock Motorcycle led by Marc Ingwersen, who ran 6.852 to move from No. 11 to No. 9.

Brayden Davis, now a Rookie of the Year contender, made a huge leap with a 6.837 on his PowerTrain Suzuki. Davis is now in the top half of the field. In the same quad, Angie Smith encountered a mechanical issue and her Denso Buell was pushed off the starting line.

“I guess it’s the cam sensor,” said Smith. “The bike wouldn’t start so we’ll go back and fix is and we should be good to go tomorrow. If feel confident that we have a fast Denso Buell.”

The final quad produced the two quickest runs of the round with a 6.772 by Gaige Herrera and a 6.792 by Matt Smith. Herrera’s bike was trailing smoke as he coasted onto the return road, but he provided a quick explanation.

“I guess we forgot to take the mud flap off [the front fender] that keep the rocks off and it rubbed the tire,” said Herrera.