NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The penultimate stop of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series brings with it the drama of a late season points chase as multiple titles are up for grabs this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Top Fuel class put on a great show on Friday with a string of 3.7-second (and quicker) runs and Saturday also delivered plenty of drama with as the Top Fuel field quickly became one of the quickest in the history of the sport with  a 3.801-second bump spot.

With her father, John, watching from the starting line, Brittany Force made the best run of qualifying with a 3.660in her David Grubnic-tuned Chevrolet Performance dragster. Force was not the only driver in the 3.6s, as Shawn Langdon also powered to a 3.676 while Doug Kalitta ran 3.674, and Steve Torrence ran 3.676.

It takes a 3.715 to make the top half of the field and perhaps the most surprising run of the day came from Travis Shumacke who drove his Gilette dragster to a career-best 3.724, which is good for the No. 9 spot and a round one race against Steve Torrence.

Performances in the Funny Car class are also impressive with the top eight drivers all in the 3.8s including leader Austin Prock, who set the all-time record with his 14th low qualifier of the season. Prock is the only driver who can lock up a Mission Foods championship today and in order to do so, he'd need to advance two rounds further than his JFR teammate, Jack Beckman, who  is qualified No. 2 at 3.821.  Prock will race Tim Gibbons while Beckman has drawn Jeff Diehl.

While the sport's first three second field will have to wait for another day, the bump was a very respectable 4.021 by Gibbons and 13 of the 16 qualifiers received three second time slips.

Greg Anderson admits that he’s a longshot to win the Pro Stock championship but he’s the favorite to win in Las Vegas thanks three clean runs including a pair of 6.59s that led to his seventh low qualifier award of the season and the 131st of his career. Anderson was the only driver to dip into the 6.5s but the rest of the field isn’t far behind including David Cuadra, who ran 6.606 and fellow championship contender Aaron Stanfield, who ran 6.609.

Dallas Glenn, the championship leader, will go into eliminations as the No. 7 qualifier while longshot Erica Enders is No. 7 with a 6.621 best. Glenn races Cristian Cuadra in round one while Enders has to race fellow Texan Mason McGaha.

Matt Smith is also determined to take his fight for a seventh Pro Stock Motorcycle title to the bitter end as he pursues leader and reigning champion Gaige Herrera. Smith rode his Denso Buell to a 6.822 to claim the provisional No. 1 spot on Friday, but claimed the lead after a 6.813 on his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

Angie Smith, Hector Arana Jr., Richard Gadson, Jianna Evaristo, Chase Van Sant, and Marc Ingwersen round out the top half of the field in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

On Sunday, winners will be crowned in the four Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series categories as well as the Congruity Pro Mod series, Johnson’s Horsepowerd Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock class, Legends Nitro Funny Car class, and nine different Lucas Oil Series Sportsman categories, as well as the Summit E.T. Racing Championships.

2023 EVENT WINNERS
Mike Salinas, Top Fuel; Robert Hight, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.652 seconds by Brittany Force, Nov. '19; 338.17 mph by  Force, Nov., ‘19.
Funny Car - 3.816 seconds by Robert Hight, Nov. '23; 335.90 mph by Jack Beckman, Nov. '19.
Pro Stock - 6.552 seconds by Kyle Koretsky, Oct. '23; 210.28 mph by Erica Enders, Oct. '10.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.755 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Oct. ’23; 202.27 by Matt Smith, Nov. ‘22.

NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading, Pa.; 338.94 mph by B. Force, Nov. ‘22, Pomona.
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd, Minn.; 339.87 mph by Hight, July ’17, Sonoma, Calif.
Pro Stock - 6.450 sec. by Erica Enders, Mar. ’22, Gainesville, Fla.; 215.55 mph by Enders, May ’14, Englishtown N.J.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.627 by Gaige Herrera, October ’23, Ennis, Texas.; 205.04 by Matt Smith, July ’21, Sonoma, Calif.

SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, November 3: Pre-race ceremony, 9:30 a.m.; eliminations begin at 11 a.m. (NOTE: Daylight savings time ends on Sunday at 2 a.m.)

TELEVISION
SUNDAY, November 1: FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 3 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, November 3: FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 5 p.m. (ET).
SUNDAY, November 3: FSI will televise a 30-minute post show at 8:30 p.m. (ET)