NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

EVENT WINS

The difference between Doug Kalitta winning the championship and Justin Ashley not is told in probably early rounds. Ashley failed to reach at least the semifinals 10 times, while Kalitta lost first or second round only seven times. Cool to see nine winners in 19 events.

Justin Ashley

4

Doug Kalitta

4

Shawn Langdon

3

Tony Stewart

2

Brittany Force

2

Antron Brown

1

Clay Millican

1

Steve Torrence

1

Shawn Reed

1

SPEED INDEX

Great consistency for Alan Johnson and Mac Savage on behalf of Kalitta but also kudos to Neal Strausbaugh and team on behalf of "Smoke."

Total Runs

Wide Open Throttle runs

Speed Index

Kalitta

128

87

67.97

Stewart

119

79

66.39

Torrence

85

52

61.18

Force

114

68

59.65

Reed

80

46

57.50

Brown

109

60

55.05

Ashley

122

67

54.92

Millican

106

57

53.77

Langdon

124

63

50.81

Josh Hart

99

49

49.49

NO. 1 QUALIFIERS

The Kalitta team was able to turn those eight No. 1s into two wins and a runner-up; Brittany Force just once in six poles.

Kalitta

8

Force

6

Brown

1

Stewart

1

Ashley

1

Millican

1

Langdon

1

AVERAGE QUALIFYING POSITION

Mirroring the above, it's quite a jump from the top two to Shawn Langdon in third.

Kalitta

3.32

Force

3.74

Langdon

5.05

Brown

5.74

Torrence

6.00

Reed

6.38

Stewart

6.42

Ashley

6.84

Millican

6.95

Hart

8.95

LOW E.T.

More of the same. The dominance of these two teams on the e.t. portion of the scoreboard is remarkable and noteworthy that seven other teams were able to claim event wins this season despite not having quite the barrage of low e.t.s.

Kalitta

8

Force

6

Brown

1

Stewart

1

Ashley

1

Millican

1

Langdon

1

QUICKEST RUNS OF 2025

Kalitta's monster blast in Seattle, which marked the beginning of a major performane turnaround for the team, was the second quickest in history and the best since Force ran 3.632 in Reading in 2019.

3.628

Kalitta

Seattle

3.641

Force

Pomona 1

3.645

Force

Sonoma

3.646

Force

Pomona 1

3.646

Kalitta

Charlotte 1

3.646

Kalitta

Epping

3.651

Langdon

Seattle

3.655

Kalitta

Brainerd

3.657

Kalitta

Pomona 1

3.659

Force

Seattle

3.660

Kalitta

Pomona 1

3.661

Kalitta

Chicago

3.661

Kalitta

Sonoma

TOP SPEED OF THE MEET

If you're surprised by this stat, you clearly weren't paying attention this year.

Force

14

Langdon

2

Brown

2

Ashley

1

FASTEST RUNS OF 2025

Force was the first to run 340 mph at the Charlotte 1 event, then surpassed 340 mph 11 more times this season. Quite a way to end (for now) her driving career.

343.51

Force

Indianapolis

343.16

Force

Sonoma

341.85

Force

Seattle

341.59

Force

Charlotte 1

341.42

Force

Epping

341.34

Kalitta

Seattle

341.25

Force

Brainerd

340.90

Langdon

Indianapolis

340.82

Force

Seattle

340.82

Force

Brainerd

340.57

Force

Dallas

340.47

Force

Seattle

340.47

Force

St. Louis

LEAVING FIRST

The rabbit-reflexed robot that is Justin Ashley had another otherworldly season on the starting line, getting left on just twice all year. There's never been anyone this consistly good in the nitro ranks.

Rounds

Left First

Pct.

Avg. RT

Ashley

49

47

95.92

0.042

Langdon

52

31

59.62

0.062

Stewart

49

28

57.14

0.070

Millican

38

20

52.63

0.075

Brown

37

21

56.76

0.063

Hart

26

13

50.00

0.068

Kalitta

54

28

51.85

0.074

Force

42

15

35.71

0.075

Torrence

32

10

31.25

0.081

Reed

23

4

17.39

0.093

QUICK REACTION TIME OF EVENT

Not only leaving on 47 of 49 opponents but also monopolizing the class' best reaction time at 16 of 19 events? WIld.

Ashley

16

Tatum

1

Millican

1

Ida Zetterström

1

HOLESHOT WINS

What this stat tells us (other than what we already know about his reflexes) is that Ashley's car was often outperformed, e.t.-wise. Kudos also to Tony Stewart and Clay Millican. Big wins to help their teams.

Ashley

9

Stewart

4

Millican

3

Force 

1

Hart

1

Reed

1

Dan Mercier

1