NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After a morning of rain that necessitated a delay of Lucas Oil Series action until later in the day, we’re starting the second day of Pro qualifying at the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals on a finally dry racing surface with the Pro Stocks. We’ll have two runs today for all four professional classes, so long as Mother Nature is kind. We’ll also have the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, which will take place in conjunction with each round on the schedule today. Be sure to check this notebook throughout the day.

Pro Stock Q2

Matt Hartford needed this run. He puts up a good number, 6.647, 206.04, on a solo and is No. 6 for now from outside of the field. 

***

No improvement for Kenny Delco or Chris McGaha. Next up: David Cuadra and NHRA Pro Stock newbie Derrick Reese. Cuadra’s car dies on the burnout, but he’s able to get it to fire back up, and thankfully so. Cuadra flies to the top with a 6.607, 207.24. Reese’s 6.669 is an improvement that moves him into the field for now. 

***

The first qualifying session is getting trashed - the air is thick with water grains after this morning’s damp start, but it’s cool enough that we’re seeing some good stuff. 

Cory Reed improves with a 6.627, Larry Morgan moves up with a 6.670. Back in a Pro Stocker after her crash in Phoenix earlier this season, Camrie Caruso also improves in her Big Jeff Audio Camaro with her 6.628, as does Deric Kramer in the Get BioFuel Chevy. He clocks a 6.643.

***

This run is clearly quite pleasing to the Elite Motorsports team as they go wild on the starting line in response to young Sienna Wildgust’s 6.625, 205.88. She ran a 6.67 in the heat yesterday. Eric Latino also improves with a 6.653 to his previous 6.685.

***

Brainerd No. 1 qualifier Jerry Don Tucker has really good numbers early and it translate to a strong 6.600 that takes over the top spot. It’s no secret, what that car is capable of - he’s driving the championship Chevrolet Camaro that was formerly wheeled by Erica Enders. Cristian Cuadra also improves with a 6.635 to his previous 6.657. 

“The conditions are good, everybody is getting smarter,” said Tucker. “Had a really good 60-foot so we’ll just see how it stands - but I’ll be surprised if it stands. It won’t be too far down, though. We’ll be alright.” 

*** 

Once again, we’re treated to a Coughlin family side-by-side run as Troy Coughlin Jr. and his Jegs/White Castle Chevrolet lines up next to his uncle, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and the Scag Power Equipment entry. Both drivers improve here as well with a 6.639 and 6.619, respectively. 

***

The rivalry between KB Titan Racing and Elite Motorsports is on display for all to see as KBT’s Greg Anderson brings his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to the starting line next to reigning champion Erica Enders and her JHG/Melling Performance Camaro. Last night, they were identical in terms of elapsed time, but Anderson took the top spot on a tiny bit of mph. 

It’s Anderson again, .969 to the 60-foot timer, and he clocks a blistering 6.588, 206.20 to retake the top spot. Enders is No. 2 for the session and on the sheet with her .984-second 60-foot time and 6.592, 207.11 at the final stripe. She was also .002 at the tree, a point to note as she has suffered a rash of holeshot losses this season. 

***

Pro Stock Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge R1

Last weekend’s semifinalists are rematched here. First it’s Mason McGaha and the Harlow Sammons Racing Chevrolet vs. Fernando Cuadra Jr. They record identical 6.616 e.t.’s but it’s a hole shot win for McGaha by .004-second. Cuadra was .062 to McGaha’s .059. 

***

And the Mission Challenge final is going to be a rematch of the Brainerd final as points leader Dallas Glenn claims a holeshot win over Aaron Stanfield. Glenn strikes with a .010 reaction time in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet to Stanfield’s .024 in the JHG/Melling entry for a .006 margin of victory. 

“I knew I was going to have to be good against Aaron,” said Glenn. “He’s got a really good car and he’s really tough on the tree, and I think it shows over there. 

“We have another #2Fast2Tasty final here, let’s see if we can get another of these. These things are really hard for me to win, I don’t win very many. He had me dead-to-beat at the last race and I know I got lucky with it, and I know I’m not going to get lucky like that again. I’m going to have to do a better job.” 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2

After taking a few events off, Kelly Clontz returned with her Vance  & Hines powered Suzuki and turned is a respectable performance with a 6.957 in Q2 to secure her spot in the field. Clontz was joined by 2003 world champ Geno Scali, who is also riding a Vance & Hines Suzuki this weekend. Scali, who returned in Chicago after more than a decade on the sidelines, made what is likely one of the best runs of his career with a  6.998.

***

Chris Bostick became the first NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer to add a parachute to his Suzuki, under a recent NHRA rules revision. Since Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is one of the longer tracks on the tour, Bostick hasn’t deployed the chute in either of his runs so far, but he might before the weekend is out. Bostick did advance his position with a 6.949 to move into the top half of the field.

***

Richard Gadson  is now the quickest rider of the session after wheeling his RevZilla Suzuki to a 6.905, 195.87 during Q2.  Gadson barely held off Seattle winner Chase Van Sant, who roed his Trick Tools Suzuki to a  6.916.

***

Friday leader Angie Smith is apparently having no troubles adjusting to her new Denso Buell. Smith backed up Friday’s 6.883 with an even quicker 6.859 at 197.94. Smith outran championship leader Gaige Herrera, who posted a 6.911 on his RevZilla Suzuki.

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Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge R1

The Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge final will be a rematch of the Denso Sonoma Nationals with teammates Matt Smith and John Hall battling for the title. Hall, a part Indy winner, will have lane choice thanks to a 6.830 in his win over Hector Arana Jr., who fouled. Matt Smith clocked a 6.836 in his win against teammate Jianna Evaristo, who wasn’t far behind with a 6.856.

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Top Fuel Q2

There has never been a Top Fuel field with four female qualifiers, but there’s a definitely possibility for history this year with Brittany Force, Krista Baldwin, Ida Zetterström, and Jasmine Salinas all entered. For the record, three women have qualified in a Top Fuel field a whopping 40 times, but never four.

After an off-pace run last night, Steve Torrence assures him a place in Monday’s eliminations with a 3.736. “It was a little tricky last night, but we had to get the car on down there and have something to build on,” said Torrence, who’s not used to kicking off a session.

***

Ten-time Indy winner Tony Schumacher also recovers from Friday’s failure to post a 3.739, just a few ticks behind Torrence. Doug Foley clocks a nice 3.77 alongside him.

***

2019 Indy champ and current points leader Doug Kalitta, whose off-pace 4.60 last night wasn’t the start he envisioned, has another disappointment with a 5.48 while Tripp Tatum stuns everyone with a3.729 to take the No. 1 spot, but crew chief John Stewart predicts it might be fifth or sixth or lower when the session is all said and done.

***

Krista Baldwin fired off a fine 3.86 last night that might not be good enough to stay in the field while T.J. Zizzo had a 3.90 already on his card. Zizzo improves to a 3.765 while Baldwin has a cylinder out early and steps off the gas. She’s now 15th.

***

Tony Stewart, who made a career-best run in Brainerd, races to the No. 1 qualifying spot with a 3.707 as “Smoke” looks for his first career NHRA Top Fuel No. 1. Alongside him, Dan Mercier clocks another solid run, a 3.788.

“I think we finally we have a racecar to work with and we’re coming into it at the right time,” he said. “I knew it as on a run when the clutch went 1-1.”

***

Clay Millican, whose 3.816 last night was a good start, and Jasmines Salinas, who was just a tick quicker at 3.814, line up next. Clay runs 3.774 to improve while Salinas’ engine goes sour downtrack and she coasts across with a 4.115.

***

Billy Torrence, who’s also competing in Super Comp this weekend. Clocks a 3.764, that slots him No. 8. Next to him, Shawn Reed puts a 3.755 on the board, a solid four-hundredths improvement over last night but good only for No. 6 right now with more heavy hitters behind him.

***

Brittany Force, who finished atop the field last night with a 3.740 that has slid down to fifth, goes back to No. 1 with a clutch 3.693 from the Chevy Accessories entry. Two-time defending event champ Antron Brown is all over the track but still runs 3.723.

Top Fuel Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge R1

Shawn Langdon and Ida Zetterström line up in the first of two pairs in the Mission Challenge, a rematch of their Brainerd semifinal. It’s an exciting race with Langdon leading early before dropping some cylinders and exploding the blower, allowing Zetterström to reach the final with a 3.776.

***

Brainerd winner Justin Ashley pairs off against Josh Hart in the second Challenge semifinal. Ashley has three Challenge wins this season (Charlotte, Chicago, and Seattle) while Hart is in just his second Challenge of the season. Ashley races to the win with a 3.739 after a brilliant .034 reaction time. Hart is out of the gas early.

Ashley’s run gets him into the field after Friday’s 6.01 opener and he bumps Baldwin from the field, putting us back to three of four women qualified.

Funny Car Q2

Justin Schriefer opens on a solo, still looking to better the 4.00 career best that famously anchored the quickest field in history here in 2019. The team has been having fuel-delivery problems the last few races and something’s not right here either as he’s off the gas after about 100 feet. Word is it’s a broken throttle linkage.

***

Dave Richards follows on another solo as it appears that John Smith is sitting out this session as he did Q1. Richards has a good run going with the Bluebird Turf entry with a 4.14, but clips the final timing block, which will DQ the pass. He’s still in the show at No. 16 with his Friday 4.50 but Matt Hagan will likely bump him when he runs later in the session in the Mission Challenge.

***

Bob Tasca III is another surprise early runner in the session after a 4.17 pass Friday that is not par for his great 2024 season. He rectifies that with a “baby swing” 3.871 to go to the top of the charts at 336 mph. Buddy Hull picks up just .008-second over Friday with a 4.132.

***

It’s a good thing Chris King is a firefighter by profession as he gets a quick cockpit full of fire after backfiring the blower on the burnout after a problem with the throttle stop. The windshield will definitely need to be replaced. Anyone have the number for Safelite?

Dale Creasy Jr.’s mount makes a quick move to the left and he’s off the gas.

*** 

Daniel Wilkerson and Alexis DeJoria look to improve on respective runs of 4.02 and 3.98 from Friday. Wilkerson’s Scag “Jackal” has the chutes deploy early, much as what happened to Ron Capps last night, while DeJoria races to the No. 5 spot with a 3.911.

*** 

Despite a muffed burnout, attributable to a new throttle cable, according to crew chief Jonnie Lindberg, Paul Lee zips to a 3.931 for the No. 7 spot while Bobby Bode runs a shutoff 4.69. He’ll stand on his Friday 3.98.

*** 

Points leader Austin Prock lines up next to defending event champ Ron Capps’ Don Prudhomme tribute car, and both go to the finish. Prock races to the No. 1 spot with a 3.855 while Capps runs 3.901 with the parachute out a bit early, but not as early as yesterday.

*** 

It looks like yet another in a long history of John Force vs. Cruz Pedregon but, of course, it’s Jack Beckman subbing for 16x against “the Cruzer.” Cruz shakes early and steps off while “Fast Jack” is just that with a 3.877 that puts him third.

***

Funny Car Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge R1

Brainerd winner Blake Alexander, who entered the day as the No. 1 qualifier, now finds himself fourth as he pairs off against Chad Green in the Mission Challenge. Green takes the upset win and some revenge from Brainerd, 4.09 to 4.26.

*** 

Matt Hagan is racing in his eighth Mission Challenge of the year and still looking for his first win of the year and going off against J.R. Todd who’s already won the Challenge twice this year, in Phoenix and Chicago.

Todd gets the win on a holeshot as both run 3.918, but Todd’s .065 to .080 gatejob is the difference.

With three sessions to go, Buddy Hull is on the bump with a 4.132.with Prock at the top with a 3.855.
 

Pro Stock Q3

Artisan Coffee campaigner Kenny Delco is up first and he’s on the outside; he’ll need a strong pass here to get into the field. A 6.705 is better, but it isn’t enough - the bump spot is Matt Hartford’s 6.647 at the moment. Eric Latino, in the same boat as Delco behind the Wheel of the GESi Chevrolet, improves by a thousandth but remains just outside. Hartford and the GETTRX Camaro move up to 10th with a 6.623. 

“We needed that yesterday, unfortunately we had a small parts issue last night,” said Hartford. “But the GETTX Camaro is starting to come alive. We’re not giving up. We won this race last year, and Monday is still a long way away but if we do our job right and qualify well tomorrow, I think we can win it again.” 

***

Harlow Sammons Racing driver Chris McGaha is No. 21 on the sheet and improves a smidge but will not break into the field. Larry Morgan is off the throttle and he, also, will not get into the field. Deric Kramer is now on the bump with a 6.643. Derrick Reese picks up a little bit as well, but his 6.668 doesn’t make the cut. Deric Kramer and the Get BioFuel Chevy improve to a 6.640. He’ll stay on the bump for this session. Cory Reed is one of the few drivers so far to not improve. 

***

A .005 reaction time for Sienna Wildgust but she does not improve. No improvement for Fernando Cuadra Jr. either, then Jeg Coughlin Jr. repeats his 6.619 from earlier and pairs it with a .007, and David Cuadra slows from his earlier run. Neither Jerry Tucker nor Aaron Stanfield improve, but Tucker’s 6.616 is so far low of the round so far in his Outlaw Mile-High Lite Beer Chevy. 

***

KB Titan Racing’s Greg Anderson came into this round with the pole, and he’s leaving with it as well. His 6.593, 207.18 is low of the round, while Erica Enders and her JHG/Melling Camaro go 6.602, 207.05 for second-quickest. 

Pro Stock Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Final

A -.010 red light for Mason McGaha is the decider here, and Dallas Glenn wins the #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge with a 6.621, 206.83. This is Glenn’s second #2Fast2Tasty win of the season.

***

The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge 2024 championship, however, goes to JHG/Melling-backed Erica Enders for her three wins in the specialty race this year. 

“We’ve been part of a couple of championships that have been dependent on one or two points, and we know all these points are going to matter,” said Enders. “It’s been so long since I’ve done really, well but we’ll take it. Aaron [Stanfield, Elite Motorsports teamamte] won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty  championship last year, so this is pretty exciting for us.” 

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q3

Kelly Clontz picked up a couple of hundredths on her third run to put her Steamfitters 602 Suzuki solidly into the Pro Stock Motorcycle field. Clontz, returning after a brief layoff this summer, posted a 6.935.

***

Chase Van Sant and Richard Gadson also made their best runs of the event (so far) in the heat of the day on Saturday. Van Sant wheeled his Tim Kulungian-tuned Trick Tools Suzuki to a 6.912 while Gadson also made a move with a 6.887 on the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

***

Gaige Herrera and his crew chief, Andrew Hines, admitted that the recent weight adjustment for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class was something they’d have to deal with, which helps explain why the bike that has been dominant for the last two seasons, has struggled early in Indy. Herrera did make a solid run in this session with a 6.850 that would seem to indicate the team is headed in the right direction.

***

Teammates Jianna Evaristo and Angie Smith looked to join the list of riders who have improved in this session, but the MSR team went 0-for-2. Evaristo’s bike stalled just off the starting line, while Smith slowed from her earlier pace to a 6.90. Smith’s new Denso Buell appeared to shed a piece of bodywork as it crossed the finish line.

***

Pro Stock Motorcycle Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Final

A red-light start decided the final round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as Matt Smith left a fraction of a second too soon, allowing his teammate, John Hall, to take his first win in the special event. Hall had the quicker bike on track, 6.846 to 6.868, so the foul may not have mattered.

***

Top Fuel Q3

Lex Joon runs 3.927, which improves on his 4.026 but he’s still not in the field with two passes to go. Shawn Langdon is in the unlikely spot of being on the bubble of a race he’s won three times, and he’ll stay there for now after driving into tire smoke.

*** 

Dan Mercier improves yet again with a 3.76 while Krista Baldwin’s engine goes sour and she steps off. She’s not in the field yet with two more tires. Doug Kalitta then goes 3.823 with a cylinder out and, ironically, bumps his teammate Langdon from the field. Clay Millican’s 4.160 is no help.

***

Josh Hart works his way into the field with a 3.772 to bump Kalitta from the field but the bigger news is in the other lane where T.J. Zizzo goes to the No. 3 spot with a dazzling 3.71. Jasmine Salinas' 3.814 is now the bump spot and she's up next.

***

After Jasmine Salinas, Shawn Red, Tony Schumacher, and Doug Foley all fail to make it to the finish line under full power, the same fate then befalls the Torrences, Steve and Billy. The misses continue with both Antron Brown and Tripp Tatum unable to negotiate the track as the sun continues to heat the racing surface.

*** 

Brittany Force and Tony Stewart are the last pair before the Mission Challenge finale and both show that the track can be handled. Stewart goes 3.793 and Force a tick quicker at 3.790.

***

Top Fuel Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Final

Ida Zetterström, still riding high from her semifinal in her Brainerd debut, is looking for even more glory against Justin Ashley, who won last year’s Mission “championchip.” Ashley starts to lose traction but still is able to win the round wire to wire, 4.08 to 4.54.

***

As she was last night, Brittany Force is atop the field with the bump spot now 3.814 for Jasmine Salinas.

***

Funny Car Q3

The troubles continue for the two underdogs, Dale Creasy Jr. and Justin Schriefer, as neither gets more than 200 feet under power before the tires come loose

***

After smoking the tires in Q2, Blake Alexander and Jim Head rebound with a 3.915 while Cruz Pedregon, in the other lane, smokes the tires.

*** 

Daniel Wilkerson, with the tuning guidance of his two-time Indy-winning father Tim, goes to the No. 12 spot with a 3.987. Buddy Hull also improves with a 4.093 that keeps him on the bump, but maybe just a bit more comfortably now. Only Dave Richards, up next can bump him today.

***

Richards runs a 4.105 to just miss, then glances off the wall in the shutdown area but the run will still count and he'll escape with just some bent headers and a few scuffs on the Bluebird Turf entry. Next to him, Matt Hagan puts down a solid 3.951, not better than his standing 3.91 but a good run for the data.

***

The story is the dame for Alexis DJoira, who runs 3.96 -- not better than her earlier 3.91 -- while Paul Lee can't make it to the stripe under power with a 4.17.

***

A pair of past Indy Funny Car winners in Ron Capps and Jack Beckman saddle up next and Beckman blazes John Force's machine to a strong 3.895, the best run of a hot session. After a pair of three-second passes, Capps can't make a full pull and coasts to a 6.91.

***

The top two points rivals, Austin Prock and Bob Tasca III, are the final pair before the Mission Challenge finale. Prock backs up his earlier 3.85 with a 3.899, second best of the session, while Tasca is out of it early.

***

Funny Car Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Final

The final Mission Challenge final of the 2024 season pits J.R. Todd and Chad Green, who also will race one another in round one of tomorrow's Pep Boys Callout. Todd drives away in this one with a 3.953 to Green's struggling 4.15.