NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

TOP FUEL ROUND 1

Leah Pruett, the last driver to beat Shawn Langdon in eliminations (Brainerd, round two), had low e.t. of the round with a 3.684 to beat Billy Torrence as she looks to add a 14th career Wally before she leaves the cockpit again at the end of the season to continue building a family with Tony Stewart.

Points leader Langdon meanwhile extended his win streak to 17 straight rounds with a workmanlike 3.70 to 3.80 victory over Jake Sanders, who was making his first raceday appearance in just his second event in the class.

Langdon's teammate and closest points pursuer, Doug Kalitta, squared off with Tony Schumacher in a Top Fuel Hall of Fame matchup between the third-winningest driver in class history (Kalitta, 63) and the all-time wins leader (Schumacher, 88), but this one was all Kalitta with a 3.68 at 341.61 mph.

In a battle between two of the best on the starting line, Will Smith got out on Josh Hart and powered away to a centerline-flirting 3.746. Smith was .040 on the Tree, better than his .046 season average. Smith has now left on 19 of his 25 opponents this season.

Dan Mercier became one of the few drivers this year to leave on Antron Brown, who was 31-7 in the left-first stat this season, but AB powered back to the win with a 3.715. Brown is one of five drivers to have won at the Motorplex in two different Pro categories (with Don Prudhomme, Ed McCulloch, Kenny Bernstein, and Mike Dunn), but is the only one of the five to do so in Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel. Brown claimed his first NHRA national event win in 1999 in Pro Stock Motorcycle and has two Top Fuel wins, the last a decade ago.

Maddi Gordon, whose father, Doug, won the Lucas Oil Series regional event here last weekend, powered past Shawn Reed at 340.08 mph on a 3.715 to bolster her Rookie of the Year credentials. With Torrence's loss and her win, she moves past him into seventh place in the standings.

Homestate favorite Spencer Massey, runner-up at the Countdown opener in Martin, Mich., double-stepped the throttle and red-lighted to Tony Stewart, who would have been tough to beat with a 3.696.

Justin Ashley was a brilliant .026 on the Tree to run away from Clay Millican, whose car was the only one to smoke the tires. Ashley's season average is .037, and he's left on 29 of his 31 opponents this season. Like Gordon, he moves past sidelined Torrence in the standings.

The top six drivers in points all advanced to round two, so no big points shakeups yet.

Second-round pairings (lane choice first): Shawn Langdon vs. Will Smith; Leah Pruett vs. Antron Brown; Tony Stewart vs. Justin Ashley; Doug Kalitta vs. Maddi Gordon

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FUNNY CAR ROUND 1

Low qualifier Jack Beckman pounded out a 3.88 to beat crowd favorite Terry Haddock. Haddock ended up on the bump with a last-ditch 4.033 on a run that probably would have given us the first-ever all-three-second field had he not broken the rear end at 800 feet.

As good as Beckman's run was, two-time reigning world champ Austin Prock was a tad better with a 3.883 to down Cruz Pedregon, a four-time winner at this event. Prock has won rounds at the last two national events (Rockingham and St. Louis) on holeshots, but didn't need it here.

And as good as Prock's run was, he'll surrender second-round lane choice to Jordan Vandergriff, who powered to a best-of-the-round 3.877 at a career-best speed of 338.37 in taking down Blake Alexander.

J.R. Todd, working hard to stay in the conversation for a second world championship, got it done on the starting line against Spencer Hyde, winning by just .009-second on a 3.94 to 3.91 holeshot. It's Todd's fourth win in five races this season against Hyde. If there's a silver lining for Hyde and owner/tuner Jim Head, it's that their car ran in the three-second zone on all five runs this weekend.

Alexis DeJoria, who made her Professional debut at the 2011 Dallas event while competing for Kalitta Motorsports, also ran her record to 4-1 against Dave Richards this season and advanced with a 3.902. Points leader Matt Hagan advanced easily with a 3.91 after Hunter Green smoked the tires almost at the hit.

Daniel Wilkerson, the reaction-time leader in the class(.056) and a guy who had left on 25 of the 30 opponents he's faced this season, left on Paul Lee, but did it on a double-step red-light, a wound that only cut deeper when Lee's car went silent downtrack and coasted to a 4.09 win at just 255 mph.

Ron Capps, who had a spectacular blower explosion in Q3 yesterday that sent his car airborne for hundreds of feet ("I remember looking to my left and seeing the top of the guardwall," he said), is nursing a sore back this morning that felt better after a 3.92 to 3.97 decision over Chad Green, who, like Hyde, made five straight three-second passes this weekend. Capps also said that crew chief Dean Antonelli traced the source of the boomer to a rocker arm bolt that backed out and stripped the threads.

Wilkerson was the only one of the top eight points earners to lose in round one, but with Chad Green's loss, he won't lose the No. 8 spot.

Second-round pairings (lane choice first): Jack Beckman vs. Ron Capps; Alexis DeJoria vs. J.R. Todd; Matt Hagan vs. Paul Lee; Jordan Vandergriff vs. Austin Prock

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PRO STOCK ROUND 1

In a shocking first round, points leader Greg Stanfield was eliminated by Jeg Coughlin Jr. when Stanfield’s Camaro squared the tire off the starting line, and only ran a 6.972 while Jeg clocked a 6.509 to advance. This was only Greg’s third first-round loss in 18 races this year, and one of them was to Jeg.

With Dallas Glenn winning the first round over Stephen Bell, he closed the points gap to Greg by 46 points. Glenn, who had the low e.t. of the round at 6.464, has to win the race to take over the points lead from Stanfield.

Eric Latino has lost four times on a holeshot this year, and now it’s five after Chris Vang defeated him on a holeshot, 0.033 to 0.094.

Greg Anderson (6.473) snuck by Kenny Delco 6.498) by four thousandths of a second. Anderson leads the record between the two by 3-1, and the one in Delco’s column was on a holeshot.

In the marquee matchup, Matt Hartford won when Aaron Stanfield went red at the starting line, shaking up the Championship leaderboard even more. Only five out of the top eight made it to the second round.

Second-round pairings (lane choice first): Dallas Glenn vs. Jeg Coughlin Jr.; Greg Anderson vs. Erica Enders; Matt Hartford vs. Chris Vang; Troy Coughlin Jr. vs. Matt Latino

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND 1

Steve Johnson posted his career-best run in the marquee matchup against John Hall. He clocked a 6.674 at 200.65 mph. Johnson’s previous career best was a 6.711.

Hall's loss and Ryan Oehler's (6.729) win over teammate Clayton Howey (6.785) propelled Oehler into fourth place in the standings. Hall was the only top eight points leader to lose.

Champion hopeful Matt Smith advanced with his ride of 6.693 over Pro Stock Motorcycle newcomer Malcom Phillips Jr., who raced to a 6.791. Smith wobbled in the shutdown area but kept control of his bike and exited the track safely.

Vance & Hines rider and no. 1 qualifier Gaige Herrera had the lowest e.t. of the round with a 6.669, which earned him lane choice over Johnson in the quarterfinals.

Second-round pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Steve Johnson; Richard Gadson vs. Angie Smith; Ryan Oehler vs. Joey Gladstone; Matt Smith vs. Chase Van Sant

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TOP ROUND 2

Just looking at the pairings, there's a pretty lopsided season head-to-head record. Shawn Langdon is 3-0 against Will Smith, Antron Brown is 2-0 against Pruett, Stewart is 4-1 against Justin Ashley, and Doug Kalitta is 3-0 against Maddi Gordon.

Gordon started the reversal of fortunes and put a dent in Kalitta's championship hopes, winning with a solid 3.72 after Kalitta's Mobil 1 car surprisingly went up in smoke.

“The Mobil 1 car was consistent this weekend, but with the second round there, the thing just got away from us for some reason," said Kalitta. "It seemed like it was good until it wasn’t. We had a good shot at winning that round, but unfortunately, we didn’t. It could have been a good points day for catching up, but it didn’t happen. We’re going to have to be pretty lucky to be able to catch [Langfon and crew chief Brian Husen], but there’s still hope. We’re going to stick around and do a little testing tomorrow and then drag her over to Vegas for the next one. That place has always been good to us, so we’ll see what happens.”

Langdon turned on his 18th straight win light, beating Will Smith again in a rematch of their St. Louis final two weeks ago. Langdon is now 4-0 this season against the rookie racer, but the news is not all good, as the Kalitta Air left some oil on the track. Fortunately for him, there are no points penalties for oildowns in the Countdown. His lead over Kalitta is now 145 points.

"As soon as I lifted, I felt it kick a rod," said Langdon. "I pulled over to the side of the track to keep oil off the track, but I never saw my win light and thought maybe I'd lost on a holeshot."

Stewart may have had Ashley's number so far this season, but Ashley deleted it from "Smoke's" contacts for now, winning a tire-smoking battle, 4.22 to 4.92. It's just the fifth semifinal (or better) berth of the year for Ashley, and that's a tough loss for Stewart, who's third in points and could lose two spots depending on how the rest of the day goes.

Brown rounded out the round by again reversing the season trend, beating Pruett with low e.t. of the round, a 3.69, to earn semifinal lane choice over points leader Shawn Langdon.

Langdon's three closest pursuers are all on the trailer, and while he can't clinch the championship here, his lead has only grown.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Antron Brown vs. Shawn Langdon;  Maddi Gordon vs. Justin Ashley

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FUNNY CAR ROUND 2

I know this is Texas and famed for the two-step dance, but this is getting ridiculous as world champ Austin Prock becomes the third driver this Sunday to double-step the throttle and foul, handing a crucial win to Jordan Vandergriff.

"He was flickering [the bulbs], and it stuck, and the Tree went down, and I heard him go early, and looked up and saw my win light was on, so then it was all about getting lane choice for the semifinals," said Vandergriff.

Points leader Matt Hagan also keeps stacking on the points, racing to a 3.94 to run his season record over Paul Lee to a perfect 4-0, but he'll cede semifinal lane choice to second-place Vandergriff. Hagan's lead sits at 78 points.

One of Hagan's other closest pursuers, low qualifier Jack Beckman, fell to the wayside, smoking the tires at the hit and allowing Ron Capps a free pass on a 3.917 to move on.

J.R. Todd then moved into a tie with Prock for third place after scoring his second straight holeshot win, 3.93 to 3.89, over former Kalitta teammate Alexis DeJoria.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Ron Capps vs. J.R. Todd; Jordan Vandergriff vs. Matt Hagan

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PRO STOCK ROUND 2

“Maybe I qualified right where I need to.”

The words right out of Matt Hartford’s mouth in pre-race, and it seems the no. 15 qualifier is having the day he needed in order to keep his championship hopes alive. Plus, he advanced to the semifinals when he took out no. 10 qualifier Chris Vang with a 6.501, when Vang struggled to get off the starting line.

Erica Enders and Greg Anderson have met in 64 head-to-head matchups. The record, though, will stay with Anderson, as he now had a two-round advantage over EE, but just by four thousandths of a second - just like Anderson’s win in round one. His 6.429 bested her 5.451.

Troy Coughlin Jr. continues to drive like a man possessed during this Countdown to the Championship, and Dallas Glenn’s hopes of taking over the points lead are still alive as he defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. to advance to the semifinals.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Dallas Glenn vs. Greg Anderson; Matt Hartford vs. Troy Coughlin Jr.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND 2

Steve Johnson did it again and bested his personal best e.t. again - this time with a 6.673 and won on a holeshot against Gaige Herrera, opening the door wide open in the championship for second place, where Herrera previously occupied.

However, points leader Richard Gadson will keep racking up points as he punched his ticket to the semifinals when his second-round opponent, Angie Smith, started to drift toward the centerline and had to lift.

Also, Ryan Oehler is still in the championship hunt. He entered the race in fifth but has moved up after Herrera and John Hall were eliminated.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Steve Johnson vs. Richard Gadson; Matt Smith vs. Ryan Oehler

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TOP FUEL SEMIFINALS

Antron Brown finally did what no one has been able to do since mid-August, putting Shawn Langdon on the trailer before he could get to the winner's circle, 3.72 to 3.73. Langdon was on time with an .029 light, but Brown was quicker still with an .026 to end Langdon's round-win streak at 18. Brown soars to the No. 3 spot in points.

“We’re obviously disappointed not to get the win in the semifinals, but we just lost a good race – no reason to hang our heads," said Langdon. "Today doesn’t take anything away from how good this Kalitta Air team is or what we’ve done this year so we’ll head to Vegas and see what we can do there. We have a nice points lead so that’s good, but I’m not worried about that. We just got to go do our thing, and it’s going to be what it’s going to be. We’ll continue to treat each run as it is, continue to stick to the game plan, get those little bonus points, and hopefully, we can get the job done at the end of the season.”

Brown simply does not get the credit he deserves for his starting-line work as people focus on Justin Ashley and Will Smith. Entering the event, Brown had left first in 81% of his races this season and, in his career, he's been to the final at more than 26% of the races in which he has competed.

AB will take on Maddi Gordon in a rematch of their final round in Norwalk, where Gordon scored her first career Top Fuel win. Gordon defeated Justin Ashley with a 3.722, but Brown earned lane choice by just .002-second with a 3.720.

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FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS

Points leader Matt Hagan scored a crucial victory over second-place Jordan Vandergriff to extend his points lead, breezing to a 3.93 after Vandergriff's Cornwell Tools Chevy smoked the tires. Hagan is appearing in his third final round in the four races of the Countdown and looking every bit like a future five-time world champ.

Hagan will take on J.R. Todd, who didn't need a holeshot this round to turn on the win light and reach his first final round since winning the Seattle event. Todd's DHL Toyota led wire-to-wire over Ron Capps' Toyota for a 3.91 to 3.93 victory. Like Brown in Top Fuel, Todd has now worked his way into third place, which is as high as he can go this weekend, but he's back in the fight for a second career championship and has lane choice in the final.

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PRO STOCK SEMIFINALS


In a pedalfest that earned Matt Hartford a spot in the final, Elite Motorsports’ streak win in the Countdown will come to an end. Hartford’s semifinal opponent, Troy Coughlin Jr., couldn’t get his JEGS Camaro to hook up in time to beat Hartford’s 6.843.

Dallas Glenn beat his KB Titan Teammate, Greg Anderson, 6.498 to 6.520. Glenn still can take over the points lead if he wins the race. However, Greg can only hold onto the points lead if Hartford beats Glenn.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SEMIFINALS

There’s no slowing down Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Richard Gadson. He’s going to his seventh final round this year (3 wins-4 runner-ups), and his 16th of his career (7 wins-9 runner-ups). 

On the other side of the ladder - Matt Smith hasn’t lost in a final round this year, making him 3-0. This marks his 90th career final, with 45 wins and 44 runner-ups.

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LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES RESULTS

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER

Shawn Cowie def. Alan Bradshaw

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR

Shane Westerfield def. Doug Gordon

COMP ELIMINATOR

Chris Benham def. Monty Bogan

SUPER STOCK

Jeremy Duncan def. Larry Hodge

STOCK ELIMINATOR

Chris Knudsen def. Paul Stalba

SUPER COMP

Kyle Seacrest def. Tom Stalba

SUPER GAS
Kyle Pawuk def. Jeremy Demers

SUPER STREET
Ross Ragland def. Cary Huber

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP DRAGSTER

Crystal Peterson-Martinez def. Dylan Hough

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP SPORTSMAN

Chanse Bullock def. Jim Thorp

RIGHT TRAILERS OUTLAW STREET

Carson Baker def. Clay Cole

FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN

Mark Pawuk def. Lee Hartman