NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Friday opens with Lucas Oil Series eliminations and a round of Mission Foods Series qualifying, and later in the evening, Texas Motorplex will be booming as their Friday Night Live extravaganza sends a pulsing electric charge through the historic grounds. As a central part of the raucous Stampede of Speed week-long event, teams will be vying for a Texas-sized cash bonus to up the stakes even higher in their Friday night qualifying sessions. If you’re not able to make the event, but sure to subscribe and follow live on NHRA.tv.

In the Sportsman ranks, one of the highlights of the year is slated to unfurl on Friday with opening ceremonies for the highly acclaimed JEGS Allstars, a race-within-a-race that brings the best racers in ten categories from each of NHRA’s seven geographic regions together to compete for team and individual honors – as well as a split of the $124,000 purse. Qualifying for the prestigious Allstars competition is done throughout the year as racers accumulate points at NHRA Lucas Oil divisional races. The first round of the JEGS Allstars is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. CT.

Top Fuel

Last season’s winner, Leah Pruett, is out of the seat this year – but her husband, recently crowned Top Alcohol Dragster North Central Division champion Tony Stewart, is defending the family honor in the TSR Nitro Mobil 1 Dodge Top Fueler. Diverse motorsports mainstay Stewart, who is one of several well-heeled candidates up for the NHRA Rookie of the Year honor, reached his first Top Fuel final round earlier this year in Las Vegas. He enters the event No. 9 in the standings.

Incoming points leader Antron Brown and his Matco Tools dragster won the first two Countdown events and hold a 34-point advantage over Justin Ashley and his Scag Power Equipment rail. Ashley, currently No. 2 in the points, has stated that for religious reasons he plans to participate in the first qualifying session, and if he qualifies, he will compete in the elimination rounds. Shawn Langdon, No. 3 in the points in his Kalitta Air Careers Toyota, is 60 points out of first. He has not yet won Top Fuel in Dallas, while Brown won once aboard a Pro Stock Motorcycle (1999) and twice in Top Fuel. Ashley is also a two-time Dallas winner.

Defending world champion Doug Kalitta, driving the Mac Tools dragster, is 87 points out of the lead. After winning the regular season, Kalitta sandwiched a semifinals finish between two first-round losses, and getting his program back on track here will be a pivotal move to keep his championship hopes alive.

Tony Schumacher, driving the Leatherwood Distillery dragster out of the JCM Racing stable, has more Top Fuel wins in Dallas than anyone else. The Texas transplant has six wins so far at the Motorplex.

Funny Car

The most winning Funny Car driver in Dallas is John Force, with seven total wins claimed there. As Force is out of the seat recovering from a crash earlier this season, Jack Beckman is driving his Peak Chevrolet Camaro and claiming points for the 16-time champ toward another world title. Beckman made good use of his time after his Brainerd debut for John Force Racing and won in St. Louis. Beckman, who won this race in 2020, has Force in the No. 2 position in the standings, trailing JFR teammate Austin Prock and the AAA Chevrolet by 105 marks. Prock closed out the regular season with a win at the U.S. Nationals, then absolutely barreled in the Countdown to the Championship with wins in both Reading and Charlotte. He qualified No. 1 in St. Louis after starting from the ole for the 12th time this season.

Bob Tasca III, with three wins in four final rounds this year, should not be counted out. The lifelong Ford campaigner is 159 points back from first in his Motorcraft Quicklane Mustang. He won this race in 2012 and reset the track record for elapsed time at 3.822-second last October.

Defending Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge will be looking to defend the title they earned here last year. Hagan has four wins here, tying him with Robert Hight and Cruz Pedregon for the second-most behind Force.

Pro Stock

No Pro Stock driver has won more at Texas Motorplex than five-time world champion Greg Anderson, who has six previous Dallas wins on a scorecard that includes a historic 105 national event titles. He also holds both ends of the track record with a 6.457, 214.59 set in 2015. Driving the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, Anderson is No. 4 in the championship chase, 116 marks back from points leader and KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, who has had the points lead for the bulk of the season but has sparred heatedly with Aaron Stanfield, who nabbed the points lead for one race after winning Reading before Glenn snatched it back in Charlotte.

The No. 1 and No. 2 points leaders have raced each other at each race of the Countdown; Stanfield, in his JHG/Melling/Janac Brothers Chevy, defeated Glenn in Reading, and Glenn answered back with wins in the final round over Stanfield in both Charlotte and St. Louis driving his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet.

Glenn was runner-up at this event last season to Anderson, and notably, Stanfield’s first national event win was in Super Stock in Dallas in 2015. He won the event twice in the Factory Stock Showdown class, in 2020 and 2022.

Meanwhile, the veteran champions of the class, Anderson and reigning and six-time world champion Erica Enders, have both reached the semifinals at each of the first playoff races. Defending event champion Enders is No. 3 heading into this race driving her JHG/Melling Performance Chevrolet and 90 points back from first. She has three previous wins in Dallas in her Elite Motorsports-powered entry.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

Points leader and reigning world champion Gaige Herrera is planning to defend the title he earned at Texas Motorplex last season. Vance & Hines RevZilla Mission Foods Suzuki rider Herrera has 34 points on second-place Matt Smith and his Denso V-Twin, and Herrera’s teammate, Richard Gadson, is 65 marks out of the top spot. Hector Arana Jr. isn’t out of it yet – he’s 137 points back, while Chase Van Sant is hanging in there 156 marks out of the top spot.

The most winning riders in Dallas are Eddie Krawiec and Jerry Savoie, both tied with three wins each, while LE Tonglet is next best with a pair of wins. Arana Jr. won this event in 2022 and Smith won it in 2021 – so only three currently competing riders have the chance to repeat with another Texas Motorplex win – otherwise, we’re looking at a first-time FallNationals winner. Defending event champ Herrera defeated Krawiec here last year for the title and in doing so reset the track record for both elapsed time (6.627) and speed (204.16 mph).

EVENT STATISTICS

2023 EVENT WINNERS: Leah Pruett, Top Fuel; Matt Hagan, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST VICTORIES: Tony Schumacher, 6, TF; John Force, 7, FC; Greg Anderson, 6, PS; Eddie Krawiec and Jerry Savoie, 3, PSM

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel – 3.636 seconds by Steve Torrence, Oct. '23; 338.40 mph by Justin Ashley, Oct. '23

Funny Car – 3.822 seconds by Bob Tasca III, Oct. '23; 338.60 mph by Hight, Oct. '17

Pro Stock – 6.457 seconds by Greg Anderson, Oct. '15; 214.59 mph byAnderson, Oct. '15

Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.627 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23; 204.16 mph by Herrera, Oct. '23

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, Oct. 11
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:00 a.m.; Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car qualifying at 12 noon and 3:15 p.m.; Holley EFI Factory X qualifying at 1:05 and 3:45 p.m.; MISSION FOODS SERIES qualifying at 4:15 and 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, Oct. 12
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:00 a.m.; Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car eliminations at 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Holley EFI Factory X qualifying at 2 p.m. and eliminations at 5:25 p.m.; MISSION FOODS SERIES qualifying at 12 noon and 3 p.m.

SUNDAY, Oct. 13
MISSION FOODS SERIES eliminations at 12 noon

TELEVISION

SUNDAY, Oct. 13
FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 2 p.m. ET followed by three hours of finals coverage at 4 p.m. ET

TICKETS

To purchase tickets to the Texas NHRA FallNationals, click here.