NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

TOP FUEL Q2/MISSION CHALLENGE ROUND 1

It's still very warm, 88 degrees with a 127-degree track, but that won't stop Doug Kalitta. The reigning world champ, a five-time Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge winner already this season, advanced to yet another final round with a tidy 3.825 to 41.8 decision over reigning U.S.Nationals champ Justin Ashley. It was a big improvement over Kalitta’s Friday night 5.03.

Leah Pruett will be Kalitta’s opponent in the final round after a tire-smoking duel with Maddi Gordon, Pruett emerging with the win on a 4.08 to 4.24 count in a race that wasn’t that close thanks to Pruett’s excellent .021 reaction time.

Not a lot of Top Fuelers made the full pull, with Antron Brown’s 3.797 being the session leader, Kalitta second and Jasmine Salinas third with a 3.923 as the only three-second runners that session. Salinas is the only driver to earn bonus points in the first two sessions.

Friday qualifying leaders Shawn Langdon and Tony Stewart were among those not being able to repeat their performances with respective passes of 5.10 and 6.88.

T.J. Zizzo sits on the bump spot with a 3.934, with six drivers behind him hoping to make the field.

***

FUNNY CAR Q2/MISSION CHALLENGE ROUND 1

In the opening round of the Mission Challenge, J.R. Todd and Jordan Vandergriff both puffed the tires downtrack but while Vandergriff stepped off the gas, Todd, a two-time Windy winner, expertly pedaled his way to a 5.43 to 5.42 winner

Todd will take on Austin Prock, who took down Matt Hagan on a 4.22 to 4.95, with Prock's win giving him the overall Mission Challenge season title

Those may have been the highlights of a hot and tricky session for the fuel coupes as low e.t. of the session was Ron Capps at 4.003, which is not getting us any closer to that elusive all-three-second field we’ve been dreaming on.

Chad Green looked relatively racy with a 4.050 and Paul Lee and Dylan Winefsky both clocking 4.119 passes. Lee with the better speed to earn the two bonus points and the Nitro Moose getting one.

Beckman remained in the No. 1 spot with his Friday night 3.937 but didn’t make it down the track in this session.

The bump is 4.205 with seven drivers behind her and car owner Del Worsham with three sessions remaining.

***

PRO STOCK Q2/MISSION CHALLENGE ROUND 1

In an exciting first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Cody Anderson pulled off the win in one of the closest races of the event so far by six-ten thousandths of a second. Cody and his opponent, fellow young gun in the class, Chris Vang, left with identical reaction times, a .060, and then recorded identical E.T.’s at 6.668, but Cody’s speed was faster at 205.22, while Vang’s was 204.48.

“That’s real close,” Cody confessed at the top end. “I was trying my best not to look over there [at Chris Vang]. We’re having fun, and we have a hot rod. We’ll see if we can get another win light here.”

In the following pair, Greg Stanfield picked up the win on a holeshot against Greg Anderson, Cody’s father, so the first father-son race between the Andersons will have to wait.

G. Anderson, who was low of the round and moved to the provisional No. 1 position with a 6.648, and collected the points he needed to lock up the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge year-end championship in this round.

Dallas Glenn, who is 85 points behind G. Anderson, moved up on the qualifying ladder from sixth to fourth and collected an extra point to edge himself closer to the regular season championship and a chance to defend his title. 

The bump is currently 6.740, and still not qualified are Alan Prusiensky, David Vaseloff and Troy Coughlin Jr. 

***

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2/MISSION CHALLENGE ROUND 1

The conditions on Saturday afternoon in Indy were not ideal for the nitro cars, or for Pro Stock car racers, and they were only marginally better for NHRA’s two-wheel crowd.

Matt Smith came into the session as the overall leader and he will go into Q3 in the same spot after a 6.858 on his Denso Buell. Smith edged defending Indy winner Gaige Herrera via speed as both riders ran 6.858, with a faster speed, 199.26 to 196.99.

Smith’s run came with a red-light start, sending world champ Richard Gadson to the final of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge where he will take on Herrera in an all-Vance & Hines final.

Maryland winner Angie Smith was fourth quickest with a 6.910, which was also good for a qualifying bonus point.

Other riders who found the six-second zone included Chase Van Sant (6.967), Hector Arana Jr. (6.967), Clayton Howey (6.981), and Marc Ingwersen (6.983). With three runs remaining before the field is set, the bump is held by Mark Paquette at 7.222 with Malcolm Phillips, Steve Johnson, and Michael Ray still looking to bump their way into the field.

***

TOP FUEL Q3/MISSION CHALLENGE FINAL

Leah Pruett got a little tasty revenge on Doug Kalitta, reversing the outcomes of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Valdosta and Bristol with the best run of the session, a 3.873 to beat Kalitta’s early-lifting 4.502. Pruett is just the fourth different winner in the Challenge this season, and Kalitta’s consolation is a big payday as the program’s season champion.

T.J. Zizzo, who’s had some great qualifying days at Indy, had the second-best run of the session, which was run under 92-degree temperatures and a track temp of 142 degrees

Q2’s low qualifier, Antron Brown, grabbed a few more bonus points with a third-best 3.937. Ida Zetterström (3.957) and Tony Schumacher (3.991) were the only others below four seconds.

Low qualifier Shawn Langdon again didn’t make a full pass for the second straight time, but the team may just be exploring track conditions for eliminations as they came into the day knowing that no one could better their Friday-night 3.727.

Schumacher, who has won this race an amazing 10 times, sits in the 16th and final spot in the field with a 3.920, with Zizzo, Will Smith, Billy Torrence, Lex Joon, Shawn Reed, and Krista Baldwin with two shots in Sunday’s predicted cooler temperatures hoping to get in.

***

FUNNY CAR Q3/MISSION CHALLENGE FINAL

Austin Prock had already locked up the Mission #2Fast2Tasty season championship, but added an exclamation point by defeating J.R. Todd in the Challenge’s final event of the season, 3.921 to 4.006.

The run was better than Jack Beckman’s 3.939 that had led the field since Friday night. But not better than Ron Capps’ 3.914 earlier in the session. It’s Capps’ second straight four-point bonus session after also running low in Q2.

A near-two-hour weather delay interrupted the third Funny Car session, where 4.07 was the best time, then Spencer Hyde, in birthday boy Jim Head’s car, stormed to a 3.944 in the past pass when action resumed. Daniel Wilkerson and Matt Hagan also made 3.97-second passes.

Alexis DeJoria had a scary ride worth of the Night Stalker tribute scheme on her Bandero entry after the engine began mixing up cylinders big time before letting loose with a sizeable explosion in the lights of a 4.02, 320-mph pass. The body appeared cracked and was missing a chunk of the left-front fender, so its return is questionable for the rest of the event.

“It was chattering through the middle, but they didn’t tell me to shut it off or didn’t shut it off, so I stayed in it, then wow …. I've had worse, but that was a pretty good one,” she said.

Julie Nataas lost a 4.092 by clipping the finish-line timing block after dropping cylinders on the left bank.

Hyde’s 3.94 made him the ninth three-second runner, and with Sunday expected to be the best performance day of qualifying, hopes are still high for the first all-three-second field. The bump right now sits at 4.119 with Dylan Winefsky but there are plenty of three-second-capable cars among the 23 entered machines.

***

PRO STOCK Q3/MISSION CHALLENGE FINAL

While the weather conditions improved after the rain for the Pro Stock class, it was still unanimous that the “hero session” for the naturally aspirated cars will be on Sunday.

However, the story that stole the third round of qualifying was Cody Anderson, who won his first of anything and picked up the final Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty win of the year against Greg Stanfield in the finals.

Meanwhile, Cody’s dad, Greg Anderson, was waiting at the top end to be crowned the season-end Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty champion and watched his son clinch the win.

“I think I’m getting more comfortable and making more laps. We get to race on Saturday, which is awesome,” Cody said of his performance.

“He’s been knocking on the door, and I’ve been telling the world that he’s coming. I’m proud, and he’s been doing a great job behind the wheel,” G. Anderson said. “This is so cool on Saturday to win the season championship, and to win it with Cody on the last day. This is an awesome day.”

Lastly, Troy Coughlin Jr. was able to bump his way in the field into the No. 13 spot. Matt Hartford was able to score bonus points in this round after running low E.T. with a 6.626, and in doing so, he took over the provisional No. 1 position. Also walking away with bonus points are G. Anderson, C. Anderson and Erica Enders.

***

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q3/MISSION CHALLENGE FINAL

As the sun set over Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, the Pro Stock Motorcycle class delivered some of their best performances of the weekend (so far). While some riders struggled to adapt to the change in conditions, others took full advantage.

Malcolm Phillips, making his first start on one of Ryan Oehler’s Buell entries, made an impressive run with a 6.967 that drew a few high fives from his crew.

Clayton Howey, seeking to maintain his spot in the Top 10, helped his cause with a 6.886, 194.35. Ryan Oehler also improved with a 6.927 in his El Bandido Yankee Buell. Chase Van Sant also made it into the sixes with a 6.971 aboard his Trick Tools Suzuki.

Hector Arana Jr. and Matt Smith were on pace to make two competitive runs, but both efforts were voided when Smith clipped the top end timing blocks, nullifying both runs.

It was game, set, match for Gaige Herrera in the final of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as the two-time Indy winner not only defeated teammate, Richard Gadson, but also set low E.T. of the event with a 6.842 to dislodge Matt Smith from the top of the qualifying charts. Gadson fouled at the start, but it likely would not have mattered as his 6.910 was no match for Herrera’s effort.