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After more than 90 minutes of unscheduled track maintenance on the left lane, we're finally ready to kick off the third qualifying session, but we'll be starting with Top Fuel instead of Pro Stock as originally planned. In addition to the final two qualifying sessions for the Northwest Nationals, we'll also be contesting the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge with rematches of the semifinals from the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals three weeks ago.

TOP FUEL Q3

Neither Tony Schumacher nor Shawn Langdon made it down the track under full power on either run Friday, so they're first to the line here. It's warm out there, just shy of 90 degrees, so this will be a test for the crew chiefs. Schumacher goes A to B with a 3.91 while Langdon again can't make it to 300 feet under power. There are 14 cars on the grounds so he's not in danger of a DNQ, but we're sure crew chief Brian Husen is scratching his head.

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Local favorite Ron Smith is up for another pass in his seldom-run dragster, taking on BillyTorrence, who had a wild ride last night after a broken fuel line showered him with nitro. They both run mid-4.30s, which is an accomplishment for 81-year-old (!) Smith but not so much for Torrence.

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Tony Stewart successfully negotiates the repaired left lane with a 3.89 that won't improve on his Friday 3.77 but still a morale victory for the team. Clay Millican goes even better with a 3.83 which impresses his crew chief, Jim Oberhofer, who admits they haven't traditionally done well on hot tracks. Millicna rna 3.76 yesterday so it's not an improvement but a good tune-up for Sunday.

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Josh Hart has a heart-stopping moment when the throttle sticks at the end of the burnout, but he gets it under control and backs up fine. That glitch may have affected the tune-up as he runs just 4.20  while Shawn Reed smokes 'em early in the other lane.

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Brittany Force goes 3.88 but at just 286 mph, but it's her third relatively full pull in as many tries this weekend, indicating that crew chief Dave Grubnic may be back on the tune-up. Force is just 10th in points and needs to go rounds at every event to remain in the Countdown to the Championship field.

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE TOP FUEL E1

Antron Brown, who won the Mission Challenge in Las Vegas, in squaring off against the program’s most successful racer, Justin Ashley, who has eight wins in the 19 Challenges held over the last two seasons. Brown also won the Challenge last year in Brainerd. The e.t.s are within a few thousandths (3.903 to 3.906 favoring Ashley) but Ashley's .045 to .069 holeshot spreads them even further and Ashley turns on the win light.

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Doug Kalitta, the most recent Mission Challenge winner (Norwalk), faces off with Epping Challenge winner Steve Torrence, who also won three of the Challenges last season. Torrence was last night's low qualifier but these conditions are much different. You won't see a weirder race than this as Torrence double-steps ahead of the green and Kalitta leaves with a reactionary .007  to Torrence's off-key .165. Both cars then go silent at half-track and Kalitta coasts to a holeshot win, 4.34 to 4.23.

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FUNNY CAR Q3

After Jeff Diehl and Chad Green fail to make full runs on a pair of solo passes, Cruz Pedregon goes 4.11 on a cylinder-dropping pass alongside tail-wagging Daniel Wilkerson's 4.64. Buddy Hull goes 4.34 behind him and Blake Alexander's 4.82 won't help either.

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J.R. Todd makes the session's best run so far with a 4.02 alongside Toyota teammate Alexis DeJoria, whose 4.32 is her best run of the meet so far on what has sometimes proven to be a tricky surface. Behind them, neither Pual Lee nor Dave Richards can make a full pass.

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE FUNNY CAR E1

Austin Prock has won the last three Mission Challenge titles (Bristol, Richmond, and Norwalk) and he’s facing off with Bob Tasca III, the guy who beat him in the final of the Charlotte Challenge. Prock, who also won the Challenge in Vegas earlier this year, takes an easy win with a 3.98 after Tasca's "dark horse" Mustang spins the tires at half-track.

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Matt Hagan is racing in his sixth Mission Challenge this year, but is still looking for his first win; he was runner-up behind J.R. Todd in Chicago. It’s just the second Challenge of the year for Ron Capps, who also was in the Challenge in Phoenix, where he lost in round one. Capps won three Challenge titles last season, the most in the class.

Hagan leaves first but starts spinning the tires downtrack and slows to a 4.10 and watches Capps move into the final with a 4.02.

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Before we leave Funny Car, it's worth noting that Prock has been the low qualifier in Funny Car at seven of the first 10 races and will most likely stay in the No. 1 spot he earned Friday, more crucial points as he tries to climb into the top eight cars for the Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout at the U.S. Nationals.

Prock began his quest at a bit of a deficit as drivers started earning points toward the Callout at the final seven races of last season while Prock was still in Top Fuel. He’s now in 11th place but with his sidelined boss, John Force, obviously not capable of competing in the Callout, Prock is essentially in 10th place, 155 points behind Paul Lee, who holds the final spot in the field. Blake Alexander is also just above Prock.

The No. 1 qualifier earns 175 points, No. 2 gets 165, No. 3 gets 155, and No. 4 145, then it descends in five-point increments from there. Although Prock is currently first, Lee is third, meaning that Prock would only make up 20 points with just two races remaining.

“It's gonna be close,” said Austin. “We're really chomping at the bit, but we have to pass Blake Alexander and Paul Lee, and their cars are running great. We're getting a lot of qualifying points, so we'll just keep doing what we're doing, and focus one round at a time, and if it all works out, it all works out. And if it doesn't, we gave our best shot. We're doing about as good as you can do, but we're fighting against these other cars that are running well, too. So we'll see how it shakes out. I'd love to race for that [80] grand, but if we don't get it, we didn't earn it.”

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PRO STOCK Q3

Veteran Kenny Delco, whose lone Pro Stock win came 34 years ago at the 1990 Gatornationals, is still at it and kicks off Pro Stock Q3 with a 6.628, about five-hundredths slower than his Friday best, which will probably be the trend throughout this session. Behind Delco, his stablemate Val Smeland goes 6.64 in his new Mustang while Joey Grose, currently not in the show, gets no help with a tire-rattling 15-second pass.

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On opposite ends of the experience spectrum, Elite teammates Jeg Coughlin Jr. and rookie Sienna Wildgust take off, with Jeg's 6.573 about four-hun off his Friday runs and Wildgust in her debut with the Elite team, runs 6.61.

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Another Pro Stock rookie, Cory Reed, is up next, and the former Pro Stock Motorcycle ace runs 6.60 while defending event champ Troy Coughlin Jr. goes low for the round so far with a 6.56.

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Jerry Tucker (6.603) and Chris Mcgaha (6.612) also fall off steeply from their Friday bests which brings up Eric Latino, who was the surprise qualifying leader after Q1, and Matt Hartford, who won this race back in 2019. Both run 6.57 and Latino stays in the No. 2 spot, matching his season best (Richmond)..

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Greg Anderson makes the best run of the session with a 6.53 alongside low qualifier Erica Enders, who drops seven-hundredths from her polesitting 6.50 pace.

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE PRO STOCK E1

Aaron Stanfield faces off against Deric Kramer, who is the replacement for Cristian Cuadra, who’s not in attendance this weekend. It’s Stanfield’s third Challenge of the season with a best finish of runner-up in Chicago. This is Kramer’s first Mission Challenge of the 2024 season; he took part in four last year and won the Challenge in Norwalk. Stanfield leaves first and never looks back for a 6.56 to 6.59 win.

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Only four Pro Stock drivers have won the seven Challenges this year, and Dallas Glenn is the only one racing at this event, having won in Epping. Mason McGaha has been in only one Mission Challenge over the past two seasons, at the first-ever Challenge last year in Phoenix, where he lost in the opening round. It's a major upset for McGaha who, after leaving right with Glenn, pulls away for a 6.57 to 6.59 win.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q3

A pair of Matt Smith Racing Buells kick off the session, with Angie Smith cracking the 200-mph barrier again with a 6.765 at 201.43, breaking Gaige Heerera's day-old speed record. Brandon Litten, making his Pro debut, runs 7.149. Behind them, another MSR rider, Jianna Evaristo, runs 6.844 at 200.00 mph alongside Eiji Kawakami's 7.17. Steve Johnson impresses with a 6.792 while Chase Van Sant has the clutch in early.

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE PRO STOCK E1

Matt Smith, winner of the Mission Challenge earlier this season in Bristol and Richmond, is taking on Richard Gadson, who won the Challenge at the tour’s most recent stop in Norwalk. It's Smith all the way with a stout 6.75 to 6.76 win.

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Over a season and a half of Pro Stock Motorcycle dominance, the Mission Challenge has been the only place where Gaige Herrera has looked mortal. He “only” won four of six last year and just two of five so far this season. His opponent is John Hall, who’s racing in his fourth Challenge this year and beat him in the Mission Challenge in Norwalk. Herrera looks vulnerable again, leaving second and running just 6.80 but it's still enough to get by Hall to set up a monster fina versus archrival Smith.

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TOP FUEL Q4

Shawn Langdon is 0-for-3 on qualifying attempts so far, and the Kalitta Air team is desperate for a good run to set them up for Sunday. They get most of it with a solid 4.14 that was shut down early due to dropped cylinders, but they got the car under way without tire smoke, a first for their weekend.

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There's been a lot of misery like that going around this weekend. Tony Schumacher runs 3.92, a tick off his earlier lackluster 3.91, which is well below what this team is capable of. Billy Torrence loses a bunch of cylinders early and coasts to a 4.03. More misery follows as Clay Millican leaves a trail of fluids behind him after a wasted 3.97 pass. Tony Stewart also clicks it early with a 4.12.

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You know it's a considerable oildown when the next two drivers in line, Shawn Reed and Josh Hart, exit their cockpits. We're down for cleanup.

Hart and Reed saddle up and Hart runs 3.809, a great run for the conditions, while Reed is out of it early after the car moves out of the groove,

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Antron Brown, a four-time winner here, blasts to a 3.825, second best of the round, while Brittany Force's car seems loose most of the way down before crossing with a 3.914. Her Flav-R-Pac car has been down the track on all four passes, which is a good sign. She;'s currently third, a massive turnaround from being 11th and 15th in the two preceding events. Jasmine Salinas' Rob Flynn-tuned Scrappers ride then shreds the track with the best run of the session, a 3.79, alongside low qualifier Steve Torrence's 3.85.

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE TOP FUEL FINAL

Justin Ashley, the only Top Fuel driver with multiple Challenge wins, scores again with a 3.89 to end Norwalk winner Doug Kalitta's bid for a second straight win as Kalitta's Mac Tools mount drops cylinders in a 3.95 loss.

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FUNNY CAR Q4

Blake Alexander makes his best run of qualifying, a 4.069, to give the Head Racing team some confidence. They're hanging onto the last spot in the Countdown standings and need to keep turning on win lights to fend off those chasing them.

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Alexis DeJoria (4.02) and Daniel Wilkerson (4.06) both make their best runs of qualifying, a testament to how tough the track can be. Dejoria has a small fire under the body when she comes to a stop but it doesn't seem to be anything major.

Ditto for Bob Tasca III, who's almost always in the three-second zone but has a best of just 4.11 rolling his Norwalk-winning Ford into the beams for his final shot. He picks up one spot with a slight improvement of a 4.07 and Cruz Pedregon also nibbles away at his event with a 4.05.

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J.R Todd and crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Todd Smith show that there's a three-second run out there with a 3.99 from the DHL Toyota; Dave Richards has a solid run alongside him with a 4.11, but not better than his earlier 4.07. Right behind them, Matt Hagan also makes his best run of qualifying, a 4.01.

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE FUNNY CAR FINAL

Austin Prock wins his fourth straight Mission Challenge, defeating Ron Capps, 3.993 to 4.019, and the run is also good enough to earn him low-of-session bonus points. His run matched that of Todd, but a faster speed earned him the higher spot.

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PRO STOCK Q4

The air has cooled a bit from the dragon's breath of Q3, so we might see improvements over that run, but it's doubtful anyone will unseat Erica Enders from the top spot. Val Smeland's  6.613 is close to his earlier 6.610 and local hero Dallas Glenn's 6.520 is just a tick off of his Friday 6.556.

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Joey Grose's pretty Trust Me Vodka entry was just named Best Appearing Car and he'd like to make it an even more special moment by racing into the show., but his 6.65, his best run of the meet, falls short.

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Deri Kramer (6.568), Cory Reed (6.574), and Jeg Coughlin (6.580) all make solid runs, but with no improvements, but Greg Anderson shows 'em all how it's done with a 6.536 alongside low qualifier Erica Enders' 6.561, meaning that he may have something for the world champ on raceday,

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE PRO STOCK FINAL

Aaron Stanfield and Mason McGaha square off, each hoping for a first Challenge win of the season. Stanfield won two last year and gets another one here in Seattle as Mason McGaga goes red by .007-second.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q3

Jianna Evaristo makes her best run of the meet, a 6.802, as the Crappers bike continues to home in one a long race day outing. Steev Johnson almost matches her with a 6.808, but he's already been 6.79. John Hall also runs 6.808 alongside MSR teammate Angie Smith's 6.799, which is best of the round so far.

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Chase Van Sant takes the mantle as quickest with an impressive 6.764, just a few hundredths off his earlier 6.74 while Richard Gadson becomes the third racer to run a 6.80 pass (6.809).

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MISSION #2FAST2TASTY NHRA CHALLENGE PRO STOCK FINAL

Gaige Herrera and Matt Smith both have two Challenge wins this season, so this is the tiebreaker between the class' two most dominant racers. Matt Sith ends it early with a -.029 red-light and Herrera races to a 6.745 win