NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The NHRA Northwest Nationals went into the books with a ton of drama and a couple of splashes of history for a race that few will forget. Here’s a look at our five big takeaways from the race.

NO ONE CAN WIN FOREVER

It was bound to happen, and it finally did: Someone beat Gaige Herrera with points on the line. Although the phenomenal rider of the Vance & Hines/RevZilla Suzuki had been beaten several times during the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge events, he hadn’t lost since last September in Reading, a span that included 46 straight win lights and 11 straight winner’s circle appearances.

Chase Van Sant’s name will go into the history books as the David who slew Goliath, but don’t cry for Herrera. We all wondered if Herrera could complete a perfect season while knowing it wasn’t likely given the toughness of the competition and the intricate nature of moving parts in a high-revving engine, but it was nice to dream about it.

Herrera was a gracious runner-up, and even though he never said it directly, I think he knew that sometime that string would end and, to be honest, he even said that when it does, he’ll be a bit relieved, and now that the pressure’s off, is it ready for another long streak to begin?

BEST LAID PLANS

Sunday was a testament to perseverance that we’ve all come to expect not just from the NHRA team but from the racers and the fans who endured a first round that lasted more than three and a half hours due to multiple Funny Car crashes, involving both Ron Capps and Dave Richards (separately) and a guardwall repair, as well as multiple rain showers.

NHRA has decided on a 10:30 a.m. start instead of the traditional 11 a.m. kickoff in part because Pacific Raceways has a layout where the cars race into the setting sun late in the afternoon that forces racing to be stopped for a half hour or more, and no one wanted that come final-round time.

The other factor was the live TV window as we were on the FOX broadcast network (“Big FOX” as we all call it), and we wanted to make sure we hit that window. Of course, those plans kind of were scotched, too, and our original TV window ended at 4 p.m., just as we were preparing to run the much-delayed semifinals, but, amazingly and graciously, FOX stayed with us to the end.

The fans who stayed up to the late conclusion were treated with amazing and historic final rounds, including the forementioned Pro Stock Motorcycle final.

SOMETIMES FAME FINDS YOU

That Maddi Gordon would win at least one national event this season seemed almost a given, having slotted expertly into the saddle of the Beta Motorcycles Camaro in which her father, Doug, had won three Top Alcohol Funny Car championships.

She’d already won a regional and had two national event runner-ups – in Las Vegas and just a few weeks ago in Norwalk – so it was no surprise that she reached the final in Seattle as well, where there was so much more on the line than just her first big Wally.

Entering the event, there had been 99 different female winners in NHRA national event competition, and Gordon had the chance to be the milestone 100th since Shirley Shahan won the first at the 1966 Winternationals. She was not alone as local favorite Kacee Jo Bootsma also reached the final in Right Trailers Top Dragster, and, with the mixed-up schedule due to all of the delays, we weren’t sure which final would run first.

It turned out to be Top Alcohol Funny Car, and our hearts sank a little for Bootsma as she might lose her chance due to the scheduling quirk. Turns out that it didn’t matter.

Gordon wheeled her red rocket to victory over Brian Hough, and a few minutes later, Bootsma lost her final to Ed Olpin, so perhaps things worked out the way they should have for Gordon, who, had she won earlier in the season, wouldn’t be as much in the spotlight as the 98th or 99th winner.

You couldn’t ask for a better face on NHRA’s milestone, as Maddi Gordon is a star on the rise. She’s got all of the qualities you’d want: gracious, family-oriented, friendly, media-savvy, and photogenic. Congrats, Maddi Gordon!

PAUL LEE’S TIME IS COMING

Paul Lee reached his first NHRA national event final in the nitro Funny Car ranks, and even though he lost to the seemingly unstoppable “Prock Rocket” of Austin, Jimm, and Thomas Prock, Lee was right there.

Lee is certainly no stranger to the winner’s circle, but it’s been 20 years since he won three times in Top Alcohol Funny Car in the 2004 season.

With Jonnie Lindberg and John Medlen calling the tuning shots, they looked good throughout the event, qualifying impressively with a 3.91 and then working through the first three rounds with three more three-second passes. 

Even though they lost the final, a win seems sure to come. 

Lee has even more excitement ahead as he’s currently qualified for the Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout in Indy. He’ll still have to fend off Blake Alexander, and perhaps even Prock, but he’s qualified in the top half of the field at eight of 10 events so far this season, so his chances look good.

Lee’s runner-up also boosted him to within just a few points of Alexander in the battle for a spot in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Because both drivers missed an event earlier this season, neither is eligible for the “perfect attendance” clause that affords any driver a spot in the playoffs regardless of points position if they attend all events, so they’ll battle it out on points alone. It should be exciting come the final event in Indy, where points and a half are available.

NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME

Pacific Raceways already has that throwback feel to 1970s drag racing, with its bucolic setting, smallish VIP tower, and Northwest vibe, but Friday’s night session, the first in the history of the Northwest Nationals, took it to a whole other level.

Nighttime racing at “The Place to Race” was a hallmark of the northwest jewel back in the 1970s, when Funny Car match races like 64 Funny Cars and the Fox Hunt ruled the night, but modern fans had yet to experience that until this year.

As expected, the best runs of the event took place under the lights, and a large and receptive crowd of fans was there to cheer them on.