NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With qualifying complete for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, NHRA Mission Foods' top pros will face off at famed Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

The event is No. 10 of 20 races this year in the NHRA Mission Foods Pro series, and it will include Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, along with the Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown, the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock class, Holley EFI NHRA Factory X, and 10 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes, meaning there will be 17 racers honored with the treasured Norwalk Ice Cream Scoop, as well as an NHRA Wally.

In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley will start from the pole and face Scott Farley in the opening round.

“So totally different mindset for our team and for myself as a driver tomorrow," said Ashley. "In Q3, I think we only made it about 300 feet. In Q4 we made it a little bit further. So, I think probably we learned what the car wants to do or doesn't want to do both early on and then later down the racetrack. So now it's just about taking that, applying it and making sure that we make one clean, full pass at a time.”

The entire field is separated by just .185 of a second and with the expected hot conditions, it could be a day for upsets. Ashley ran 3.752 in qualifying and was followed by Antron Brown and Tony Stewart who also ran 3.755. Brittany Force and Steve Torrence ran 3.78 to qualify fourth and fifth respectively. Torrence will be looking to add a fourth win here at Summit Motorsports Park.

Funny Car produced similar excitement during qualifying and teams will spend Sunday morning determining how aggressive they can get. Cruz Pedregon, who has one win at Norwalk in 2021, will start from the pole after running 3.89 on Friday night. Pedregon, driving his Snap-On Dodge will face Buddy Hull.

“It's challenging because of the conditions of the racetrack, which I'm a fan of," said Pedregon. "I'm a fan of the Mother Nature taking over and throwing everybody a curve. I don't like it for the fans, there was a lot of tire smoke. But, you know, that's what these crews make the big bucks for. They need to adjust the cars and we need to do better at that, for sure. Tomorrow. Number one won't mean anything.”

Of the qualified drivers this weekend, Jack Beckman has the most wins at Summit Motorsports Park with three and he will roll off from the fourth spot facing Chad Green in round 1. Other notable qualifiers were Austin Prock and Ron Capps, who are second and third respectively. Daniel Wilkerson, who won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge will start eighth.

Mission Foods points leader Greg Anderson starts from the pole having topped the Pro Stock field in qualifying. Anderson has three previous wins at Summit Motorsports Park, his last in 2015. “Obviously, it's a great thing to have a number one qualifier going into Sunday, but I’m telling you, anybody in the class can beat anybody and Matt [Hartford] slapped me around [in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Chellenge] like he slapped me around pretty much every Saturday this year.”

Anderson's KB Titan teammates Dallas Glenn and Matt Hartford qualified second and third. Hartford won Saturday's GETTRX Pro Stock NHRA All-Star Callout, claiming the $40,000 prize. He will be looking to continue his winning ways on Sunday starting with a first-round match-up against Chris McGaha.

Matt Smith took the top spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle, running 6.816, besting. Gaige Herrera who ran 6.820 and John Hall at 6.832. Smith is the winningest active driver at Norwalk, with three win that came in 2010, 2013, and 2021.

"We'll go back to what we know how to run for Sunday," said Smith. "We've had some strong runs this weekend, and I can't say enough about our team, I think we qualified five bikes in the top seven, so it's pretty impressive.”

Points leaders Gaige Herrera took home the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Pro Stock Motorcycle for the third time this season when Angie Smith relighted in the final.

2024 EVENT WINNERS
Antron Brown, Top Fuel; Bob Tasca III, Funny Car; Aaron Stanfield, Pr0 Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle
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MOST EVENT VICTORIES
Steve Torrence, 3, TF; Jack Beckman, 3, FC; Greg Anderson and Erica Enders, 3 PS; Matt Smith, 3, PSM

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.666 sec. by Brittany Force, June ‘22; 337.15 mph by Doug Kalitta, June ’24.
Funny Car - 3.853 sec. by Austn Prock, June ’24; 336.82 mph by Bob Tasca III, June ‘24.
Pro Stock –  6.523 sec. by Erica Enders, July ’14; 212.63 mph by Erica Enders, July ’14.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.698 sec. by Gaige Herrera, June ‘24; 201.58 mph by M. Smith, June ‘21

NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading; 341.59 mph by Brittany Force, April. ‘25, Charlotte
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona
Pro Stock – 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March ’25, Gainesville, Fla.; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14 Englishtown
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. ’23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July ‘22, Sonoma.

EVENT SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, June 8
Pre-race ceremony at 9:45 a.m.
Mission Foods Series eliminations begin at 11 a.m. 

TELEVISION 

SUNDAY, June 29, FS1 will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at 11 a.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, June 29, FOX TV will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage at 2 p.m. (ET).