NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

TOP FUEL ROUND ONE

Shawn Langdon, one of two drivers to have won a 4-Wide Nationals in both nitro classes (Funny Car in 2019, Top Fuel earlier this year) advanced to the second round alongside Justin Ashey with respective passes of 3.792 and 3.811. Tony Schumacher and local favorite Doug Foley head to the trailer.

Steve Torrence, who has six Charlotte wins (four of them at the spring race), also advanced with a 3.754 win in his quad with Clay Millican taking second place on a holeshot over Dan Mercier, 3.785 to 3.761 Cameron Ferre, whose crew could not get the Freeman Motorsports car started, is also out.

Tony Stewart won his quad with a 3.766 holeshot, and low qualifier Brittany Force edged Reading winner Shawn Reed by .001-second for the second with a 3.758. Force was not pleased with her .100 reaction time.

"My guys put an excellent number on the board. I need to get myself figured out," she said. "That was not a light that I should have first round, especially in this Countdown, so I got to figure out what I did wrong and fix it before the next one.

Doug Kalitta maintained his points lead by winning his quad with a 3.754, low e.t. of the round, with Antron Brown, who has seven Charlotte wins, including five at the fall event. Josh Hart was the odd man out.

Seven of the eight top point leaders advanced to round two, the exception being Reed. who lost sixth place to Millican.

Second-round quads (by lane choice): Brittany Force vs. Tony Stewart vs. Shawn Langdon vs. Justin Ashley; Steve Torrence vs, Doug Kalitta vs. Antron Brown vs. Clay Millican

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FUNNY CAR ROUND ONE

Rookie of the Year frontrunner Spencer Hyde added another feather to his first-year cap by winning the opening quad with a 3.964 and will be joined by Chad Green, an upset from the No. 13 hole, as both finished ahead of Cruz Pedregon and Alexis DeJoria.

"We had a little pow-wow in the lounge this morning," said Hyde.  "We said we just got to go down the racetrack, make good A to B runs, and we came up here with a plan of going 3.93, 3.94, and that's exactly what it did. And I'm pretty confident these boys will make it happen two more times today and hopefully we can put this baby in the winter circle."

Ron Capps, whose poor Friday qualifying efforts were the result of testing to work in a new clutch disc to the pack before they fired off a stunning 3.89 in Q4, repeated that Q4 effort with a 3.894 to finish ahead of Daniel Wilkerson's 3.957. Paul Lee appeared to be headed to round two before his FTI entry tailed off at the top end. Dave Richards will also be in the trailer for round two.

"It's a great race track, even for the conditions," said Capps. "You think to yourself how hot it is out here like last night's run, I knew what he was trying to do. I just doubted it as a driver. I go, 'There's no way you're going to run a high .80 in this heat,' but obviously Guido [crew chief Dean Antonelli] figured it out."

Jack Beckman, who won this event in the two-wide configuration in 2011 and 2015, won his quad with a 3.93  and will be joined by Matt Hagan, who thought he had out his blower-banging woes behind him only to see them resurface here with a mild pop at the stripe on a second-place 3.94. Hagan's win and Lee's loss moved Hagan into fourth place in points.

Austin Prock, the only other driver besides Shawn Langdon to win a four-wide race in both nitro classes (Top Fuel in 2023 and both four-wide races this season), ripped to a 3.92 to extend his four-wide winning streak to seven rounds and will be joined by Bob Tasca III, who posted a 3.93. Alex Laughlin, subbing for Buddy Hull, got the Jim Dunn Racing entry into the threes with a 3.98 to finish third ahead of Hunter Green.

Second-round quads (by lane choice): Jack Beckman vs. Spencer Hyde vs. Matt Hagan vs. Chad Green; Ron Capps vs. Austin Prock vs. Bob Tasca III vs. Daniel Wilkerson

PRO STOCK ROUND ONE

A 16-car Pro Stock field that is separated by less than seven hundredths, combined with a four-wide format and a playoff atmosphere, equals drama, and there was no shortage of it during the opening round of eliminations in Charlotte.

The opening quad featured four racers who have not won an event this season; Cody Coughlin, Deric Kramer, Matt Hartford, and Cristian Cuadra. After the run, Hartford and Coughlin are still in the mix. Hartford made the best run of the event to this point with a 6.522 to win over Coughlin, who got off the starting line first with a .006 light and ran a 6.585 to move into the semifinal round.

“These things are finicky. It’s been a bucking bronco for the last few runs ,but my crew made some pretty good calls on that one,” said Hartford.

Norwalk winner Cory Reed moved into the semifinals and brought Stephen Bell with him after wins against Erica Latino and Fernando Cuadra Jr. Reed was quickest with a 6.542 while Bell advanced via a holeshot with a 6.592 over Eric Latino’s 6.544.

In what was arguably the toughest quad of the day, Greg Anderson and Erica Enders moved on against Jeg Coughlin Jr. and David Cuadra. Anderson was quickest at 6.534 while Enders and Coughlin ran matching 6.562 elapsed times with Enders getting off the starting line first by eight-thousandths.

Points leader Dallas Glenn kept pace with the rest of the title contenders with a win over Aaron Stanfield, Greg Stanfield and Troy Coughlin Jr. After four competitive lights, Glenn took the win light at 6.529, followed by Aaron Stanfield’s 6.545.

Second round quads (by lane choice): Greg Andersom vs. Erica Enders vs. Cory Reed vs. Stephen Bell; Matt Hartford vs. Dallas Glenn vs. Aaron Stanfield vs. Cody Coughlin.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND ONE

Steve Johnson was a no-show for his quad against Jianna Evaristo, Ron Tornow, and Angie Smith. At the finish line, teammates Smith and Evaristo moved on. Smith made her best run of the weekend with a 6.779 over Evaristo’s 6.859. As for Tornow, he’s stepping away from the class and this will likely be his final appearance in NHRA competition.

Matt Smith won the second quad, but the second-place finisher was a bit of a surprise as Kelly Clontz held off Brayden Davis and Brandon Litten. Smith ran 6.757 and Clontz ran 6.834 to advance on her 602 Steamfitters Suzuki.

Not surprisingly, Richard Gadson and John Hall moved on over Ryan Oehler and Chris Bostick. Gadson was quickest at 6.79 to Hall’s 6.81.

In the most shocking development of any of the four classes, Marc Ingwersen and Marcus Hylton advanced while two-time world champion Gaige Herrera and Chase Van Sant did not. Herrera was late off the starting line and he and Van Sant both slowed. That allowed Ingwersen to win with a 6.863 and Hylton to hang on to advanced with a 7.055. With the loss, Herrera is now a full round behind leaders Smith, Gadson, and Hall.  Herrera admitted that a transmission issue likely caused his Vance & Hines Suzuki to slow.

Second round quads (by lane choice): Matt Smith vs. Richard Gadson vs. John Hall vs. Kelly Clontz; Angie Smith vs. Jianna Evaristo vs. Marc Ingwersen vs. Marcus Hylton

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TOP FUEL SEMIFINALS

U.S. Nationals champ Justin Ashley, who has only been left on twice in 39 starts this season, won the quad on a triple holeshot with a 3.788 that put him ahead of second finisher Shawn Langdon's 3.761 and the 3.773 of Brittany Force and the 3.773 of Tony Stewart. Ashley already had five holeshot wins this season, and his .036 reaction time was better than his .043 season average (on a class average of .074). Langdon moves past Stewart into second place in points.

"I think it comes with hard work," said a humble Ashley. "A lot of people ask me, and it comes up, I think it's just about the process. There was a short period of time earlier in the year where my lights were not where I wanted them to be and kind of went back to work, changed everything, changed the process a little bit and so far, so good but the bottom line is it's still a team effort."

Doug Kalitta increased his points lead by winning his quad, running low e.t. of the round with a 3.79 to beat Clay Millican, who edged Antron Brown by .002-second for second place. Steve Torrence also bowed out.

Final round quad (by lane choice): Doug Kalitta vs. Justin Ashley vs. Shawn Langdon vs. Clay Millican

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FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS

Austin Prock added his eighth straight four-wide win this season, racing to a 3.93 to edge Daniel Wilkerson's 4.07, but the big news was Ron Capps' body-leveling blower explosion of a third-finishing 4.35 pass.

“Well, those (things) are sudden," said Capps. "Guido (Dean Antonelli, crew chief) will find out why (the car) did it. These are the most amazing race cars in the world — and the fastest by far. Been doing it a long time. They’re the fastest motorsports on the planet, but (also) the safest. That happening, I still didn’t feel like I was out of control. The car was sort of bouncing around. Not sure if it put a hole out. Didn’t feel like it did. Austin (Prock) poked his nose out and that’s the last I remember. Then I was coasting to the finish line, trying not to do what we did in Phoenix — hit the wall. Hope the chassis is okay. Tried to get out and find the camera to wave to my mom so she knew I was okay."

Low qualifier Matt Hagan blasted to a 3.96 to advance to the final, where he will be joined by Chad Green, who used a holeshot and a 4.01 to edge Jack Beckman's late-leaving 3.93 and Spencer Hyde's 4.00.

Final round quad (by lane choice): Austin Prock vs. Matt Hagan vs. Chad Green vs. Daniel Wilkerson

PRO STOCK ROUND TWO

Erica Enders and Greg Anderson, both six-time world champions, advanced to the final quad in Pro Stock. Enders won on a holeshot with her 6.574 holding off Anderson’s 6.538. Reed had a competitive reaction time, but couldn’t outrun Enders or Anderson.

Aaron Stanfield and Dallas Glenn will take on Anderson and Enders in a final round that features the four time cars in the Pro Stock points. Stanfield won on a double-holeshot with his 6.559 finishing ahead of Glenn’s 6.540 and the 6.534 of Matt Hartford.

Final quad (by lane choice) Greg Anderson vs. Dallas Glenn vs. Erica Enders vs. Aaron Stanfield

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SEMIFINALS

Marc Ingwersen got timed out on the starting line, which caused chaos in the first Pro Stock Motorcycle quad. Ingwersen, who admitted that he was distracted by the staging process, didn’t make a run, which allowed Angie Smith and Jianna Evaristo to make the final round. Evaristo won via a holeshot with her 6.842 holding off the 6.839 of Smith.

Matt Smith and Richard Gadson, fighting for the lead in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, moved to the final by beating John Hall and Kelly Clontz. Gadson was quickest and got the win with a 6.809 to Smith’s 6.829. Kelly Clontz wasn’t far back at 6.863. The final will feature three bikes from the Matt Smith Racing team along with Gadson representing the Vance & Hines team.

Final quad (by lane choice): Richard Gadson vs. Matt Smith vs. Angie Smith vs. Jianna Evaristo
 

LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES RESULTS

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER 
Matt Cummings def. Jon Bradford def. Jackie Fricke def. Joey Severance

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
Brian Hough def. Sean Bellemeur def. Chip Beverett, def. Bob McCosh

COMP
Wes Leopold def. Larry Pritchett

SUPER STOCK
Byron Worner def. Marion Stephenson

STOCK
Morgan Taylor def. Jeff Longhany

SUPER COMP
Allen Ackles def. Tori Iacono

SUPER GAS
Davids Griffith def. JJ Brock

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP SPORTSMAN
Sandy Wilkins def. Jeff Brooks

JHG MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK
Vincent Nobile def. Mike Coughlin

PINGEL TOP FUEL MOTORCYCLE
Larry McBride def. Bob Malloy
 

MISSION FOODS SERIES FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

Prock, Ashley, Glenn, Gadson take playoff wins at 4-Wide Carolina Nationals