Ashley, Prock, Enders, Herrera Wear U.S. Nationals Crowns
The 71st Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals are history. And what a history they’ve been, with some of the best conditions ever seen at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, IN over the Labor Day long weekend. With five rounds of qualifying and special events, followed by four rounds of racing on the actual Labor Day holiday, the U.S. Nationals are always the biggest straight-line race in the United States – and perhaps the world.
Let the record show that Justin Ashley earned his first U.S. Nationals win in Top Fuel, his third victory of the season and 18th since he began his quest to race to the top in NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He earned the regular season finale victory 18 years after his father, Mike Ashley won this prestigious event in Funny Car. “When you win Indy, it’s just something that nobody can take away from you. The fact that my father won here 18 years ago, to have him here now and to win this event in Top Fuel, it really is special,” he said.
To get his big win, Ashley had to power past racing legend and second year Top Fuel contender Tony Stewart with a holeshot. Known for his reaction times, Ashley pulled an .027-sec reaction time to Smoke’s .053 and that was the difference. To reach the finals from the 14th qualifying slot, Ashley defeated reigning titleholder Antron Brown, 2023 champ Doug Kalitta, Tripp Tatum III to meet Stewart in the final round. Ashley hit 3.839/326.16 to Stewart’s 3.815/321.88, showing that a good leaver can overcome a quicker car at the 1,000-foot stripe.
For Austin Prock, the victor in Funny Car, it was a second straight win in the U.S. Nationals, this year against teammate Jack Beckman. Winning in his sponsor’s title race was the capper to a cash-filled weekend, in which he scored $330,000 for earning the regular season title, the PlayNHRA All-Star Callout and the U.S. Nationals win, a feat even his team owner, 16-time champion John Force couldn’t match.
After winning this race in his dominant rookie Funny Car season last year, “We came out guns blazing, and it just put a little bit of an extra pep in our step. To go out there and execute and do the job and have a dominant performance like we did last year, and then to come back again this year and do it just surreal,” Prock said. “It was a dream of mine to win a championship, but you never know if that’s going to happen. They say, when you win the U.S. Nationals once, it puts you in an elite group. When you do it back-to-back, it’s an even more elite group.”
The second-place qualifier to Beckman, Prock and his Chevrolet SS defeated Julie Nataas in Del Worsham’s Toyota GR Supra, Bob Tasca III’s Ford Mustang, Blake Alexander in Chad Green’s Dodge Charger to meet his teammate, who was up in smoke nearly from the start. While No. 1 qualifier Beckman had the better RT by .003, he rattled the tires at about 60 feet and that was it as Prock cruised to the win, 3.903/332.92 to Beckman’s 4.553/236.09.
It’s been a tough year for Elite Motorsports, the group that was built around [now] six-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders. But the team turned it around in Indy this week, as Enders secured her 50th Pro Stock Wally trophy in the final round against KB Titan Racing’s Matt Hartford, 6.564/209.95 to 6.609/209.04. This was Enders’ fourth win at the U.S. Nationals and she picked up her first Wally trophy of the 2025 season on Monday afternoon.
“That monkey’s been on our back since Gainesville season opener in 2024,” she acknowledged of her wait to win No. 50; she’d gone 30 events without securing victory. “The only thing I can relate it to is our 2016 season, when we changed manufacturers (Chevy to Dodge and back to Chevy again).” She acknowledged that her team’s been somewhat befuddled by its lack of success. “The scoreboard did not tell us what the dyno was telling us,” Enders said. “It has been super challenging and I wondered if I still had it… “
To reach her final round, Enders made her best qualifying effort of the season as the No. 3 seed. Enders beat teammates Greg Stanfield, Aaron Stanfield and KB Titan’s regular season champion Dallas Glenn, whose car couldn’t make it down the track. KB Titan’s team leader, Greg Anderson was gone in the quarterfinals after being beat by Elite’s Fernando Cuadra Jr.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, which didn’t race in Brainerd two weeks ago, saw reigning two-time consecutive champion Gaige Herrera secure his second straight U.S. Nationals title, using an incredible .003 reaction time to defeat teammate Brayden Davis in the final round – on a holeshot. Herrera’s 6.834/199.32 pass on his Vance and Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3 held, thanks to that ability to leave well, as Davis ran 6.799/198.93 at the quarter-mile. Herrera also secured the regular season title at Indy and takes the points lead into the six-race Countdown to the Championship.
To reach the final round, Herrera beat Suzuki rider Chris Bostick, Buell stalwarts Angie Smith and Matt Smith (red light foul) to race Davis, who beat newcomer Dystany Spurlock, Hector Arana Jr. in round 2 as both broke, Arana with a starting line foul while Davis’ bike didn’t want to go down-track in the round (he had a similar issue in Sunday’s qualifying) and teammate Richard Gadson. This was Davis’ first final round appearance in his short, four-race Pro Stock Motorcycle career. He qualified for the Countdown with this result.
Herrera’s weekend was near-perfect: he qualified No. 1 and set the track E.T. record twice in qualifying – teammate Gadson won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday – as he went to the regular season title. “It’s very exciting, especially to get a holeshot win like that,” said Herrera. “To get back-to-back wins here in the U.S. Nationals is very special to me and it was crazy. I almost was in the sand because I was more excited and cheering than being on the brakes,” he laughed. “It’s very exciting, especially to get a holeshot win like that. I have a strong, level head on my shoulders, and I must thank my parents for that. It has not been easy,” he stated. “It’s always nerve-wracking, especially when I know what kind of bikes are in the other lane.”
Some teams, including John Force Racing, stayed at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park track to test on Tuesday. The top-10 standings, as they start the Countdown to the Championship, were set on Monday.
In Top Fuel, Tony Stewart earned the regular season win after Kalitta Motorsports’ Shawn Langdon (round 1) and Doug Kalitta (round 2) didn’t go as many rounds. He’s followed by Langdon, Justin Ashley, Kalitta, Brittany Force (who pulled out another speed record over 343-mph this weekend), Antron Brown, Clay Millican, Josh Hart, Steve Torrence and Shawn Reed, who thanked Jordan Vandergriff for keeping him in the game.
Funny Car standings see Austin Prock on top, Jack Beckman next, followed by Tony Stewart Racing’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat with Matt Hagan at the helm, Ron Capps’ Toyota GR Supra, Paul Lee’s Charger, J.R. Todd’s Supra, Daniel Wilkerson’s Ford Mustang, Alexis DeJoria’s Charger, Spencer Hyde’s and Bob Tasca III’s Mustangs.
Pro Stock continues to be a KB Titan rout in the top 10, with Dallas Glenn earning the regular season title, followed by six-time champ Greg Anderson, Matt Hartford and Cory Reed in fourth. Elite Motorsports’ Aaron Stanfield is fifth, KB Titan’s Eric Latino is sixth, Jeg Coughlin Jr, Erica Enders, Greg Stanfield line up seventh through ninth for Elite, while KB Titan’s Cody Coughlin is tenth.
Pro Stock Motorcycle is, once again a Vance & Hines vs Matt Smith Racing battle at the sharp end. Gaige Herrera and Richard Gadson lead into the Countdown on their Suzukis, with Matt Smith, teammates John Hall and Angie Smith following on their Buell motorcycles. Chase Van Sant’s Suzuki is sixth, Jianna Evaristo completes the Matt Smith Racing group in seventh, while Chris Bostick, Brayden Davis and Steve Johnson round out the top 10, riding Suzuki motorcycles.
The Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ Countdown to the Championship six-race playoffs start with the 40th annual NHRA Reading Nationals, presented by Nitro Fish on September 11-14 at historic Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton near Reading, PA.