NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Shawn Langdon added another $3,000 donation to Kalitta Racing’s Feeding America program when he took down resurgent Tony Schumacher, who had lane choice, to kick off eliminations. It’s just Langdon’s third round win in the last five races and he tries to claw his way back into the Top10 of points.

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Josh Hart was .029 on the Tree but the R+L Carriers machine went up in smoke at halftrack, allowing Austin Prock to roll by for the win, ending a three-race streak of first-round losses for the Montana Brands team.

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Antron Brown rips to a 3.67 down the lane that claimed the previous two racers as the Indy winner tries to regain ground lost in a second0-round exit last weekend in Reading that dropped him from third to fifth in points.

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Two pairs before he was set to run, low qualifier Mike Salinas, hot off of his historic 300-to-the-eighth run last night, switched paths from the left lane to the right, then, after Brown’s solid pass in the left lane, switched back to the left lane he’d originally been lined up in. With a second-round bye in the offing, Salinas almost matches Brown’s run with a 3.68 to trailer Mike Bucher, who made his best run of the event, a 3.89, but was never in contention.

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A monster matchup between points leader Steve Torrence and Reding winner and third-place Doug Kalitta goes to Kalitta by just .001-second. Torrence got the drop on him at the green, but Kalitta’s resurgent Mac Tools machine rolled past for a tight win, 3.71 to 3.72. The victory gives Kalitta the points lead by three points though Justin Ashley could pass them both if he wins his upcoming race against Leah Pruett.

That was a huge round for us,” said Kalitta. “We’re just trying to go rounds and, obviously, that was a big one."

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Brittany Force earns a second-round date with teammate Austin Prock after edging Clay Millican by another tight margin, just .004=second. Prock will have lane choice.

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And Doug Kalitta keeps that points leader after Justin Ashley loses traction at halftrack against Leah Pruett. While No. 1 and 2 in points went out, places 3-8 advance and could really shake up the standings.

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Second-round Top Fuel matchups (lane choice first): Mike Salinas vs. bye; Austin Prock vs. Brittany Force; Antron Brown vs. Leah Pruett; Doug Kalitta vs. Shawn Langdon

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Bob Tasca III has no present for birthday girl Alexis DeJoria, ending her tough weekend where nothing seemed to go right. Tasca, who only made it down the track once in three tries in qualifying, gets it right with a 3.87.

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Low qualifier and points leader Robert Hight has a test run on his first-round bye in the stealth-black Cornwell Tools Camaro and it’s a good thing as the car loses traction shortly off the line, which will undoubtedly cost them lane choice. Like all test runs, it also showed crew chief Jimmy Prock what won’t work in future rounds.

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John Smith fouls against Matt Hagan’s 3.86 and, to be fair, it was really the only chance that the second-generation Funny Car racer had unless Hagan’s team bobbled., which they didn’t through three flawless qualifying runs.

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Alex Laughlin collects the third round-win of his first season in Funny Car after John Force smokes the tires. Laughlin’s Jim Dunn Racing machine was 0-for-3 in qualifying passes with a best of 4.59 but went 4.13 for the win.

Another upset follows that corker as Dave Richards upsets Ron Capps, who lost traction downtrack. Capps’ team had a blower explosion in Q3 last night and switched bodies and was running the body with which they won the U.S. Nationals, now stripped of its Hot Wheels livery. This one will hurt the reigning world champ, the severity depending upon how much further Hight goes today.

So one of the two dark horses will be in the semifinals as Laughlin and Richards face off in the next round.

“No offense to the Richards team, but I’d rather race anyone but Ron Capps or maybe Robert Hight, so to be able to get through round one against John Force is an absolute achievement for this team,” said Laughlin.

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And the round just gets wackier as Terry Haddock upsets Reading runner-up Chad Green, who also broke traction. Last weekend Haddock red-lighted to Green in round one, but now has his third round win of the season but has another tough draw in Tasca in round two.

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With No. 5, 6, and 7 in points already out, Tim Wilkerson looks to climb the ladder after taking down Cruz Pedregon with a 3.91.

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In a battle of yellow floppers, Paul Lee takes down J.R. Todd as Paul Lee Racing team keeps getting stronger through their association with championship tuner John Medlen. Medlen is not with the team this weekend, but the dozens of small changes he’s made to Lee’s car over the last half-dozen racers clearly have made a difference.

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Second-round Funny Car matchups (lane choice first): Robert Hight vs. Paul Lee; Alex Laughlin vs. Dave Richards; Matt Hagan vs. Tim Wilkerson; Bob Tasca III vs. Terry Haddock.

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In a rematch of their U.S. Nationals final round, points leader Matt Hartford escapes tire shake and again beats Fernando Cuadra Jr., who red-lights, with an off-pace 8.12.

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After red-lighting in round one last weekend, Dallas Glenn, third in points, defeats Troy Coughlin Jr., fourth in points, on a holeshot. 658 to 6.56 after a .012 light.

“We needed that round,” said Glenn. “Tough break last weekend, but I feel like the car is coming around now. I feel good on the Tree. We need to make this a long day and a good points day.”

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KB Titan boss Eric Latino gets a great light with an .011 but can’t fend off Aaron Stanfield, who passes sidelined Koretsky for fifth place in the standings with the win.

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Low qualifier Erica Enders, still chafing from her semifinal loss in Reading, needs a win to keep pace with points leader Hartford and drives around Mason McGaha’s holeshot with low e.t. of round one with a 6.54 to set up a titanic second-round battle with Hartford.

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In other rounds, Deric Kramer, who was unable to make his Q3 qualifying pass due to breakage, ended the day for reading runner-up Kyle Koretsky. Hometown hero Greg Anderson pounded out a solid 6.55 to beat rookie Jerry Tucker. Cristian Cuadra won his second straight first-round race by upsetting Bo Butner with a 6.57, but will cede second-round lane choice to Anderson. No. 2 qualifier Camrie Caruso beat Chris McGaha, but she’ll forfeit second-round lane choice to Kramer by .003-second.

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Second-round Pro Stock matchups (lane choice first): Erica Enders vs. Matt Hartford; Greg Anderson vs. Cristian Cuadra; Deric Kramer vs. Camrie Caruso; Dallas Glenn vs. Aaron Stanfield

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Angie Smith opens with a solid 6.84 aboard the bike on which Chip Ellis runner-upped last weekend in Reading and trailers Chris Bostick, who fouled. John Hall then fouled to Team Smith blocker Ellis, who races to a blistering 6.79 on the bike previously ridden by Angie.

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Hector Arana Jr. runs 201.61 to reset top speed of the meet and take down class veteran Steve Johnson, who has participated in 488 of the class’ 500 events since 1987.

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Matt Smith really needs to beat Marc Ingwersen not just to keep his points lead but also to have the chance to defeat second-place Gaige Herrera in round two. He advances with a 6.85, which probably won’t get him lane choice.

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Gaige Herrera makes sure he has lane choice against Smith with new low e.t. and top speed of the meet with a 6.706 at 201.94 after Jerry Savoie fouls by .004-second against him.

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In other rounds, Kelly Clontz rode around Jianna Evaristo’s holeshot and takes another round win in her breakout season. Ron Tornow had problems after firing his bike, losing the oil-pump belt, and climbed off to work on it, but couldn’t get it fixed, allowing Eddie Krawiec a free pass to round two with a 6.79,

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Second-round Pro Stock Motorcycle matchups (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Matt Smith; Chip Ellis vs. Chase Van Sant; Eddie Krawiec vs. Kelly Clontz; Hector Arana Jr. vs. Angie Smith

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The intra-squad John Force Racing battle between Brittany Force and Austin Prock opens round two of Top Fuel and is a wild pedalfest as both lose traction early, but Prock turns on the win light, 4.65 to 4.83.

“That’s so much fun; reminds me of my dirt-racing days,” said Prock. “We’ve been on a rough stretch but all that matters is getting the win.”

Incredibly, that e.t. will earn Prock lane choice in round two as Mike Salinas smokes early on his bye run and coasts to a 10.77

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After watching Salinas smoke the tires ahead of them, Antron Brown’s team switches lanes to the right for their battle with Leah Pruett in a battle of No. 4 and No. 5 in points, both looking to take advantage of the first-round losses of No. 1 and 2 Steve Torrence and Justin Ashley.

The swap doesn’t work as Brown loses traction at 300 feet and Pruett races into the semi’s for the second straight race and moves ahead of him in the standings. Three of the top four in points are not out of the races.

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Doug Kalitta continues to build his new points lead as teammate Shawn Langdon breaks loose 300 feet down the left lane. His lead sits now at 23 points over Torrence.

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Top Fuel semifinal matchups (lane choice first): Austin Prock vs. Mike Salinas; Doug Kalitta vs. Leah Pruett

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Terry Haddock probably threw a big scare into Bob Tasca III as he left first by a ton – but it was only because of a blatant red-light. Tasca advances with another 3.8-second pass. The win moves Tasca past Ron Capps and into second place in the standings.

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The battle of independents goes to Alex Laughlin, who reaches his first semifinal in Funny Car after besting Dave Richards. A four-time winner in Pro Stock, Laughlin and the Dunn team would love to get him a Funny Car Wally, too. The first time that Laughlin made it to the semi’s in Pro Stock, at the 2016 St. Louis event, he won the race.

The win also moves Laughlin into the Top 10 at the expense of Cruz Pedregon.

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Robert Hight continues to build his points lead despite a cylinder-dropping 3.96 that still gets him past traction-plagued Paul Lee and still earns him semifinal lane choice over Laughlin.

“It’s tough out there in these conditions,” said Height. “We’re going off of data from previous tracks and took too much clutch off of it after that first round [tire smoker].”

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Matt Hagan keeps pace with Hight but his 3.99 pass to beat Tim Wilkerson will cost him semifinal lane choice against Tasca.

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Funny Car semifinal matchups (lane choice first): Robert Hight vs. Alex Laughlin; Bob Tasca III vs. Matt Hagan

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“Double-oh Dallas” Glenn lives up to that nickname with a .005 light against Aaron Stanfield and races away to an easy 6.59 win t kick off the second frame of Pro Stock.

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Deric Kramer is quick on the Tree too and beats Camrie Caruso on a holeshot, 6.596 to 6.580, to set a match with his KB Titan stablemate Glenn.

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Greg Anderson races to an easy win against Cristian Cuadra, who has to shove in the clutch early into his pass. Anderson will take on the winner of the huge Erica Enders and Matt Hartford.

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Erica Enders beats Hartford on a holeshot, 6.567 to 6.564, to pull to within four points of his lead, but she won’t have lane choice in the semi’s against longtime rival Anderson.

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Pro Stock semifinal matchups (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Erica Enders; Dallas Glenn vs. Deric Kramer

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Chip Ellis kicks off round two of Pro Stock Motorcycle by leaving .004-second too soon and red-lighting to Chase Van Sant, who makes it to the third semifinal of his rookie campaign.

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Hector Arana Jr. ends any hopes of an all-Smith family family as he goes .003 on the Tree against Angie and beats her on a holeshot, 6.87 to 6.83.

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The battle between No. 1 in points, Matt Smith, and No. 2, Gaige Herrera, goes to Herrera, who takes back the points lead he lost to Smith last weekend in Reading.

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Pro Stock Motorcycle semifinal matchups (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Chase Van Sant; Eddie Krawiec vs. Hector Arana Jr.

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The points battle between No. 7, Mike Salinas, and No. 8, Austin Prock, and a chance to get back into the title fight goes to Salinas, whose great weekend just continues to get better. If Salinas, winner in Gainesville earlier this season, can win the final he’ll climb past Brittany Force and into sixth place.

Salinas’ opposition will be Doug Kalitta, who runs his consecutive round-win streak to seven by defeating Leah Pruett with a 3.74 to earn lane choice and a chance t get started on his next 50 wins. No matter what happens in the final, Kalitta will leave as the points leader.

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Bob Tasca III reaches the Funny Car final on a holeshot over Matt Hagan, 3.935 to 3.933, winning by just .006-second to reach his third final of the year and to move past Ron Capps and into second place in the standings.

And then, just as he took the No. 1 spot from Hagan in qualifying by a thousandth of a second, Robert Hight earned final-round lane choice over Tasca by a thousandth of a second with a 3.934 to end Alex Laughlin’s great day.

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With semifinal lane choice, Dallas Glenn’s RAD Torque team opts to switch from the left lane in which they originally lined up and into the right, forcing Deric Kramer left. Both drivers have won on a holeshot today to get this far, but Kramer rolls the beams and fouls and this one is over before it starts, and Glenn wins with a normally-fatal 6.61. The win moves Glenn past Troy Coughlin Jr. and into third place and if he wins the final he can  get back to No. 1.

In a stunning upset, Greg Anderson defeats Erica Enders and denies her the chance to pass Matt Hartford for the points lead. Enders left first but her car blew through the clutch and slowed to a 6.59 and fell to Anderson’s 6.54.

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Hector Arana Jr., winner earlier this season in Norwalk and runner-up in Indy, will get a shot at another Wally after beating Eddie Krawiec with a 6.81.

He’ll face newly restored points leader Gaige Herrera, who got a freebie on Chase Van Sant’s red-light but probably would have won regardless thanks to a 6.75.

FINAL-ROUND RESULTS: It's Kalitta again for the points lead; Tasca, Anderson, Herrera also shine in Charlotte

LUCAS OIL SERIES FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Julie Nataas, 5.190, 275.28 def. Earl Nichols Jr., 5.212, 278.06.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Phil Esz, Chevy Camaro, 5.495, 261.27 def. Sean Bellemeur, Camaro, 5.495, 264.96.

Competition Eliminator -- Jared Kimbrough, Dragster, 7.311, 180.67 def. David Eaton, Roadster, 6.691, 167.20.

Mountain Motor Pro Stock -- John DeFlorian Jr, Chevy Camaro, 6.326, 220.84 def. Chris Powers, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.348, 220.26.

Factory X -- Greg Stanfield, Chevy Camaro, 7.100, 190.70 def. Allen Johnson, Dodge Challenger, 12.801, 68.31.