NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ debut at Maryland International Raceway could not have gone better, with exceptional weather, a solid crowd, and compelling drama across all four classes. Here’s our five big takeaways from the NHRA Potomac Nationals presented by JEGS.

MARYLAND TURNS OUT

Ever since the track opened in 1966 as St. Mary’s Drag-o-Way, Maryland fans have flocked to the Budds Creek area to enjoy racing at what now is Maryland International Raceway, and the first appearance of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series only ratchet up the excitement for a populace born on Funny Car match racing and then the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Sportsman racers.

Saturday of the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals presented by JEGS was a sold-out affair, and the passionate fans clearly knew their stuff.

Drivers raved about their interactions with the fans in the pits, many of who came from well beyond the DelMarVa region. Despite the normal challenges of a first-time event, niggles that will be worked out in future editions, the fans clearly loved what they saw.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

Sure, drag racing has some bitter rivalries, one that plays out not only on the dragstrip but online in many forms, but the tribe still knows how to rally around one another in time of dire need.

When six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith was stricken by gallstones and was hospitalized, the sport closed ranks around his wife, Angie, and the team to offer its assistance.

“Everybody has stepped up,” Angie said Saturday. “Every single team in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and even in other classes, have come over and said, ‘If you need anything, let me know, and don't be afraid to ask.’ And the entire Vance and Hines team have been remarkable.

“I've never really picked a spot [to line up] out on the race track, because Matt does that all the time for all of our bikes, but Eddie [Krawiec] and Andrew [Hines] were telling me where to go. They have been remarkable. It’s such a blessing to race with other racers like that.

“Yes, we are such fierce rivals when we put on our helmets, and when we line up at the Tree, we want to kick their butts as much as we want to kick our, but at the end of the day, we are all a family, and we all come together, and we rally together. You don't know how much it means to me. We can talk trash and be rivals, but not this weekend. They really helped me.”

The nightmare weekend ended up being a dream instead as Angie won the Mission Challenge and then, with Matt out of the hospital, the Sunday Wally and became the winner of the 200th Wally awarded to NHRA female racers since Shirley Muldowney’s Top Fuel breakthrough in 1976. Who handed Angie the trophy? Shirley, of course. What a weekend, not only for her but for the sport.

KALITTA TEAM STILL FLYING HIGH

You only have to take a look at the Top Fuel points standings to see how dominant the Kalitta Motorsports duo –Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta – have been this season, but if that visual were not enough, the weekend in Maryland could be your Exhibit A.

Langdon and crew chief Brian Husen entered raceday not only as the Top Fuel points leader but riding a two-race win streak after wins in Adel, Ga., and Chicago, then swept to No. 1 qualifying honors, three times having the low e,t, of a session and having the third-best pass of the other, and winning Saturday’s Mission Challenge.

Kalitta was almost as good, being low of the session that Langdon was not, and running second behind him in the others.

Of course, the two reached the final round together. Only once in eight races this season (the Winternationals) has at least one of them been in the Top Fuel final, and on three occasions, both have been there.

With the win, Langdon became the first Top Fuel driver to win three-straight races since Steve Torrence won Norwalk, Denver, and Sonoma in 2021.

So, who can stop them? Well, we know it’s early, but right now it’s a pretty limited selection.

Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett both had quality outings and could play a hand in the race, and sensational rookie Maddi Gordon and rejuvenated Josh Hart have also shown flashes of brilliance.

It’s been 13 years since Langdon won the Top Fuel championship – back in the Al-Anabi car when Husen was also tuning for him.

“We had a really good car that year, and this car is pretty damn good, too, and hopefully, if things go right, we'll have an opportunity to do that again,” he said. “This car listens very well, but we’ve got to win races, which means you have to have everything perfect; the car’s got to be put together perfectly every time, and crew chiefs have to make the perfect calls, and we're doing that right now. We have a really good group from top to bottom; there's really no weak link. I mean, honestly, when I sit in the race car, I kind of put the pressure on myself to not be the weak link, to not give anything up on the starting line, because I know the car is going to be a badass race car, and, and just try to do the best job I can, and not hold anybody back.”

DON’T LOOK NOW …

From even before the season started, the predictions were there that the Austin/Jimmy/Thomas Prock “Prock Rocket” would struggle early – call it “failure to launch,” if you will – but everyone also knew that they wouldn’t struggle forever.

The teams got six full races to enjoy their struggles, but all the time had their eyes on the rear view mirror. The menacing headlights of the Tasca Racing Ford started showing up in their rearview mirrors in South Georgia, got brighter with the team’s semifinal finish in Chicago, and pulled alongside them with a win in this weekend’s Mission Challenge on Saturday.

On Sunday, it looks like it might be time for them to start worrying that they might be seeing the team’s taillights.

The Tasca PPG Ford did not dominate the event the way Jimmy Prock’s charges have in the past, but that may be coming. The whole team has a bit of a swagger back, and any doubt they may have had are gone.

Their win jumped them into ninth place, just 217 points behind leader Ron Capps. Can hey catch him?

“I don't see why we can't,” Austin replied plainly. “I mean, we gapped them by 200 points last year, so why can't we shrink it by 200 points going in the Countdown?

“We're gonna roll into Epping with a pep in our step. We're coming off a win, and we're gonna have a lot of positive energy, and the Tasca family and friends are gonna be bringing a lot of energy, and hopefully we can keep this train rolling. When we came into this three-race swing, I said the easiest way to sweep this sucker is win the first one, and we achieved that. You can never count us out, and the improvements that we're making, and the ground that we're making on the competition right now, I believe we can do it. If you don't believe in yourself, then you're never gonna turn into anything. So we all believe in ourselves, and we're gonna keep on keeping on.”

We’ve been warned.

PRO STOCK 'S POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES

Sure, we know that Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn staged another all-KB Titan final round battle and that the teammates lead the points standings, but unlike the Kalitta situation in Top Fuel, it feels like the Elite Motorsports crew is closer to challenging the KB dominance than any Top Fuelers are to slowing Langdon and Kalitta.

The balance of Pro Stock power between the powerhouse rivals rages on, with the Elite team gathering significant steam over the last two events. Erica Enders won the Mission Challenge in Chicago, and Aaron Stanfield won the event – Elite’s first Pro Stock victory since Enders brought home the Wally at the 2025 U.S. Nationals -- and Stanfield won Saturday’s Mission Challenge while his father, Greg, was the No. 1 qualifier.

But while the senior Stanfield stood atop the qualifying pack, the next six qualifiers -- Dallas Glenn, Eric Latino, Greg Anderson, Matt Hartford, Matt Latino, Cody Anderson – are all KB-powered. Elite’s Jeg Coughlin Jr. rounded out the top eight.

“Yeah, I think our whole group has some momentum, and for sure it feels good to be turning on some win lights, especially against those KB guys right now,” ssid Aaron on Saturday. “They've been tough to beat here lately, and it's been, it's been nice to have some momentum rolling our way.

“I think everybody's able to take a little bit of a breath, but I can promise you they're not satisfied. I think we still have a little ways to go, but there's no quitting in them.

From his viewpoint, Anderson is surprisingly happy that the field has leveled a bit.
 
“Yeah, absolutely, positively,” he affirmed. "It makes the class all the better, and anybody can win in this class. Anybody can beat anybody, and you better be on your A game, and you better have your engine running great, and your car working great, or you're not going to win in this class. We outlasted Elite this weekend. I don't know how long it'll keep going. They've certainly closed the gap; they're making great quality runs down the racetrack, and it's going to be a hell of a dogfight the rest of the year. So Pro Stock is looking pretty cool right now, and I'm looking forward to that. I love that, and it almost seemed like a long time since Dallas and I have made it to the final together, because Elite’s been doing such a great job.”