Coverage of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals continues on FOX from 4:30-7:30 ET
March 6 – 9
Mar 21 – 23
Mar 27 – 30
Apr 11 – 13
Apr 25 – 27
May 15 – 18
May 30 – Jun 01
Jun 06 – 08
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Jul 18 – 20
Jul 25 – 27
Aug 14 – 17
Aug 27 – Sept 1
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St. Louis, MO
Oct 9 – 12
Oct 30 – Nov 2
Nov 13 – 16
On a cool and overcast morning in Brainerd, Top Fuel eliminations kicked off with a battle between Antron Brown and Shawn Langdon, the No. 7 and No. 8 qualifiers. In a racer that would normally be reserved for the later rounds, Langdon extended his points lead with a strong 3.684 after Brown struck the tires.
Clay Millican dug deep to find a .047 reaction time and then his Jim Oberhofer-tuned Parts Plus dragster did the rest with a 3.693 to win over Justin Ashley’s 3.740 in a rematch of the Norwalk final from a couple months ago. For the record, Ashley was off the starting line first with a .039 light.
Tony Stewart kept pace with the points leader, but may have dodged a bullet as he ran just a 3.733, which was just enough to hold off Josh Hart’s 3.788 after Hart grabbed a .03-second lead off the starting line.
Jordan Vandergriff exploded a supercharger and slowed to a 3.778 at just 283.97 mph, but it was just enough to hold off the impressive 3.851 of Kyle Satenstein, who was impressive in his NHRA debut.
Brittany Force ran a 3.692 in her round one win against Will Smith, but she won’t have lane choice in the second round as she’s paired against Shawn Langdon, who had the quickest run of the round.
Billy Torrence turned on a win light with a 3.706 in his win against Ida Zetterström, who rattled the tires early. Torrence is a past winner of the Brainerd event.
Quarterfinal pairings (lane choice first): Clay Millican vs. Jordan Vandergriff; Doug Kalitta vs. Bye; Shawn Langdon vs. Brittany Force; Billy Torrence vs. Tony Stewart
Spencer Hyde continued to build a case for himself as the Rookie of the Year as he scored a holeshot win over Alexis DeJoria in round one. Hyde ran a 3.904 to barely hold off DeJoria’s 3.878 by just three thousandths of a second. “Jim [Head, car owner and crew chief] gave me a great car and I can finally say the driver did his job, and hopefully we can come back and do something in round two,” said Hyde.
The opening round of the Green family father/son battle went to Chad, who drove to a 3.952 for the win after son, Hunter rattled the tires early.
A further sign of the improved conditions as Ron Capps set low E.T. of the weekend with a 3.861 in his win against Bobby Bode. Capps is easily one of the most popular drivers in Brainerd as he often makes time for his fans in the Brainerd Zoo, the expansive campground adjacent to the drag strip.
Low qualifier Jack Beckman dodged a bullet when his PEAK Camaro hazed the tires down track against Dave Richards. Beckman still managed to run a 3.895 at “just” 319 mph, while Richards made his best run of the weekend at 4.002.
Ron Capps didn’t have low E.T. for long as championship leader Austin Prock lowered the boom with a 3.855 to set the bar a bit higher. Prock’s run came against Jim Campbell, who drove Jim Dunn’s car to a 4.026 despite blowing the burst panel before the finish line.
The best side-by-side race of the round? That was almost certainly the battle between Paul Lee and J.R. Todd. After an even start, Todd surged ahead slightly to win, 3.894 to 3.923, even though the DHL Toyota clearly wasn’t running on all eight cylinders at the finish line.
Daniel Wilkerson didn’t run in the 3.8s, but his team was clearly satisfied by their 3.919, 332.34 mph run in their win against Bob Tasca III. Wilkerson will have a tough battle in round two as he faces low qualifier Jack Beckman.
Quarterfinal pairings (lane choice first): Spencer Hyde vs. Chad Green; Ron Capps vs. J.R. Todd; Austin Prock vs. Matt Hagan; Jack Beckman vs. Daniel Wilkerson
Cody Coughlin was almost perfect off the starting line and appeared headed for the quarterfinals before he rattled the tires and fell back against Eric Latino, who was happy to take the win with a 6.643 in his GESi entry. Coughlin likely took little consolation in his .009 reaction time.
After the first two Pro Stock cars in round one shook the tires in the left lane, Erica Enders and her team elected to swap lanes with round one opponent Greg Stanfield, who is celebrating his 60th birthday. There was no gift for the birthday boy as Enders won a solid 6.560 to 6.589 side-by-side battle.
Cory Reed put together a tidy package with a .006 light and a 6.560 to seal his win against Deric Kramer, who wasn’t exactly slow with a 6.594. Reed began the day in fourth place in the Pro Stock standings and has a shot to run down Matt Hartford for the No. 3 spot.
As far as close races go, it’s tough to beat Matt Hartford and his win against Troy Coughlin Jr. Separated by a thousandth of a second at the start, Hartford won by a 6.581 to 6.582 count for a margin of victory of just .002-second. If nothing else, the match was further proof that the battle between rival KB Titan and Elite camps is once again a fair fight.
Jeg Coughlin Jr., the class leader in reaction times, was able to score a win againsdt David Cuadra with a 6.583, which came with a very Coughlin-like .019 light.
Dallas Glenn set low elapsed time of the weekend with a 6.554 in his win over Fernando Cuadra Jr., who fouled. Glenn got to enjoy the run for maybe a minute or two as Greg Anderson stunned the Brainerd crowd with a track record 6.521, 208.07 in his win against Chris Vang, who fouled.
Quarterfinal pairings (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Eric Latino; Dallas Glenn vs. Jeg Coughlin Jr.; Erica Enders vs. Matt Hartford; Cory Reed vs. Aaron Stanfield.
After a short rain delay, eliminations continued in Top Fuel where Doug Kalitta made a clean 3.683 pass in his Mac Tools dragster to kick off the round.
Billy Torrence came to Brainerd to have some fun with his Super Comp car and maybe hurt some feelings in Top Fuel as he took the place of his son, Steve. He did just that with a 3.708 to 3.746 win against Tony Stewart, a win that benefits points leader Shawn Langdon.
For the tenth time in the last seven races, Brittany Force topped 340-mph with a titanic 341.25 mph blast in her win against Shawn Langdon. Force also set low elapsed time of the round at 3.679 to earn lane choice for her semifinal battle against Clay Millican.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Doug Kalitta vs. Billy Torrence; Brittany Force vs. Clay Millican
Chad Green, looking to recapture the magic that led to his season-opening Gainesville victory, did just that with a 3.979 to 3.942 holeshot victory over Spencer Hyde. Green’s win was critical in the points chase as he moved past Cruz Pedregon and Alexis DeJoria to claim a spot in the Top 10.
There was an audible difference in throttle response between Daniel Wilkerson and Jack Beckman and that was bad news for the SCAG team as Wilkerson fouled by .013-second to hand Beckman a free pass to the semifinals. Neither driver made it to the finish line under power, which means Beckman won’t have lane choice when he races ?? in the semifinals.
As Austin Prock sped to a 3.886 in his Cornwell Tools Camaro, Matt Hagan had his hands full in the other lane after he banged a supercharger in his American Rebel Light Dodge. The accompanying fire was extinguished quickly and Hagan wasn’t hurt, but also was not amused as he surveyed the damage.
The DHL team saved the best for last as J.R. Todd re-set the quickest run of the weekend with a 3.852 to easily beat Ron Capps and earn lane choice for his semifinal race against Beckman.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Austin Prock vs. Chad Green; J.R. Todd vs. Jack Beckman
Score another win for the Elite team as Aaron Stanfield, the No. 13 qualifier, took out Cory Reed in a very close, 6.579 to 6.582 battle. Stanfield aided himself with a solid .012 reaction time off the starting line.
Erica Enders will go to the semifinals on a high note after a .014 light and a 6.572 in her win over longtime rival Matt Hartford, who fouled by eight-thousandths. Enders has been to the semifinals just one other time this season, when she was a runner-up in Epping
Dallas Glenn rolled into the semifinals with a 6.564 to beat Jeg Coughlin Jr., who red-lighted by a thousandth of a second. It would not have mattered as Coughlin’s 6.600 run was well behind Glenn’s RAD Torque Systems Camaro.
Once again, Greg Anderson had low E.T. of the round with a 6.551 to beat Eric Latino and earn lane choice against Aaron Stanfield. Anderosn has been to the semifinals or further in 10 of 11 events this season.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Aaron Stanfield; Dallas Glenn vs. Erica Enders
Doug Kalitta has had the Midas touch this weekend and he has now won seven consecutive rounds following a 3.665 against Billy Torrence, who didn’t exactly embarrass himself with a 3.710 in his first appearance of the season.
Kalitta will have lane choice in the final as he takes on Clay Millican, who emerged as a finalist after a thrilling side-by-side race against Brittany Force. Millican won by just nine thousandths, 3.715 to 3.718 to reach the final for the first time since his win earlier this season in Pomona.
Hard to say who has been more consistent this weekend, Doug Kalitta or Funny Car finalist Austin Prock. The current leader, Prock is going to his 28th career final round after a 3.879 win against Chad Green, who smoked the tires early. Prock also used the opportunity to all-but clinch the regular season championship in Funny Car, and the six-figure bonus that goes with it.
Prock has been rock solid this weekend, but he won’t have lane choice after J.R. Todd threw down a 3.863, 334.32 in his win over Jack Beckman. Todd is going to his first final since Epping, which is also the site of his latest victory.
The first pair of the Pro Stock semi’s was everything that fans had hoped it would be as Erica Enders left first against Dallas Glenn by just .002-second, (.009 to .011) but Glenn had just enough power to take the win, 6.579 to 6.583. Despite the loss, there was a clear sigh of relief from the Elite team as they’ve made steady progress from their early season woes.
The KB Titan team went two-for-two as Greg Anderson overpowered Aaron Stanfield, 6.555 to 6.583. Anderson and Glenn have met in the final six times this season including four wide events.
TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
Anthony Troyer def. Jackie Fricke
TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
Sean Bellemeur def. Bob McCosh
COMP
Matt Harris def. Cali Neff
SUPER STOCK
Jason DeForrest def. Len Schnieder
STOCK
Ryan Hutar def. Joe Santangelo
SUPER COMP
Brian Johnson def. Bob Prose
SUPER GAS
Jason Kenny def. Trevor Larson
SUPER STREET
Donnie Durenburger def. Scott Cowles
RIGHT TRAILERS TOP SPORTSMAN
Michael Chitty def. Jim Thorp
RIGHT TRAILERS TOP DRAGSTER
Mark Grame def. Holden Laris
JOHNSON’S HORESEPOWERD GARAGE MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK
John DeFlorian def. Mike Coughlin
PINGEL TOP FUEL MOTORCYCLE
Larry McBride def. Mitch Brown
PRO OUTLAW SNOWMOBILE
Edwin Wirbel def. Louis Wirbel
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