NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The action at Sonoma Raceway began long before the NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing series racers took to the track on Friday afternoon. On Wednesday and Thursday, the track hosted the lates event in the Pacific Division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, featuring NHRA’s best sportsman racers. Here is a recap of the final results

COMP – Kevin Carter
SUPER STOCK – Ryan McClanahan
STOCK – Jimmy DeFrank
SUPER COMP – Trey Vetter
SUPER GAS – Marko Perivolaris
SUPER STREET – Andrew Olson
TOP DRAGSTER – Chad Axford
TOP SPORTSMAN – Don Meziere
SPORTSMAN MOTORCYCLE – Michael O’Neil

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE TIME TRIAL 1

The eight Pro Stock Motorcycles that will race in Saturday’s GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar Callout will received two time trial runs on Friday to kick off pro qualifying.

Steve Johnson set the early pace with a 6.894 in the first pair alongside Chase Van Sant’s 6.926. Van Sant’s bike is now wearing the colors of event sponsor Power Edge.

John Hall ran 6.799 in the second pair alongside Jianna Evaristo’s 6.854 on her JHG Buell.

Matt Smith made his return to this Denso Buell with a 6.795 while his wife, Angie, was a tad quicker with a 6.770 on her pink Denso entry.

The top two qualifiers, Gaige Herrera and Richard Gadson, closed out the session, but couldn’t match the performance of the Smith team. Gadson ran a 6.821 while Herrera rode to a 6.814.

PRO STOCK Q1

As expected, the Pro Stock field was quick from the get-go in Sonoma with most drivers solidly in the 6.5-second zone.

Not surprisingly, Greg Anderson leads the way after Q1 with a very strong 6.522 in his HendrickCars.com Camaro. Anderson is just barely ahead of defending event winner Greg Stanfield, who posted a  6.534.

The rest of the top qualifiers include Aaron Stanfield with a 6.537, Chris Vang with a surprising 6.538 , Erica Enders at 6.543, Cody Anderson with a 6.545, and Matt Latino at 6.546.
 

FUNNY CAR Q1

There were some solid runs early in the session including a 4.006 by Hunter Green and a 4.032 by Jeff Arend and four pairs into the session, Dave Richards posted the first three second run of the weekend with a 3.966 in the Blue Bird Turf entry.

The top spot changed hands when Alexis DeJoria wheeled the Bandero Café Chevy to a 3.917 at nearly 330-mph while Austin Prock ran 4.050 on his first run of the weekend.

Chad Green and Jordan Vandergriff were both making solid runs before breaking the tires loose before the finish line with Vandergriff slowing to a 4.547 and Green running 4.620.

Jack Beckman made a great run with a 3.942 and Ron Capps, the incoming points leader, closed out the round with the best run of the round with a 3.900.

TOP FUEL Q1

The first pair of Top Fuel did not disappoint as NorCal native Jasmine Salinas set a brisk early pace with a 3.751, 331.77 to easily cover Will Smith’s 3.893.

Shawn Reed opened with a 3.850 while Tony Schumacher hazed the tires and shut off early.

Salinas held on to the top spot midway through the session, but she was challenged by Josh Hart’s 3.763 and Billy Torrence’s 3.803. Hart later revealed that he’s driving a new Speedmaster dragster this weekend.

Tony Stewart, who has enjoyed tremendous success in Sonoma during his NASCAR career, took over the top spot with a 3.736 in the R+L Carriers dragster while Antron Brown ran 3.784.

Maddi Gordon maintained the momentum from her recent win in Norwalk with a 3.751 at her home track in Sonoma while Leah Pruett also made a very competitive run with a 3.772.

The final run of the session was worth waiting for as teammates Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon ran matching 3.714 elapsed times. Kalitta earned the higher position thanks to a slightly faster speed, 337.07 to 336.49.