NHRA held an action-packed meeting on the Bristol Dragway drag strip in Tennessee this past weekend, combining the weather-affected New England Nationals with the scheduled Thunder Valley Nationals to give racers and fans enough on-track action to last them at least until the tour encamps in Norwalk, OH two weeks from now.
After weather scotched any opportunities to race in Epping, NH, NHRA elected to have the seventh contest of the year in Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations during Saturday’s dual qualifying sessions and revert to normal scheduling for Sunday’s Bristol eliminations. That made for a full Saturday of racing in Thunder Valley and gave fans more action than they’ve ever gotten in a single day of straight-line racing, NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series style.
Let’s start with the Epping contest, won by Justin Ashley’s Maynard Ashley Racing dragster in Top Fuel, beating eight-time Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher (who also races under the Maynard family’s flag) with a lap of 3.846 seconds at 324.12mph. It was Ashley’s third win of the young season. Bob Tasca III’s Ford Mustang earned the nod in Funny Car, giving the Rhode Island native a first “home” win pretty darn far away from home as he defeated 16-time champ John Force’s Chevrolet Camaro SS, Force appearing in his 265th final round, to earn his first win of the year.
The competition for New England Nationals glory began on Friday evening and continued through Saturday’s dual qualifying sessions, even as drivers were also attempting to earn upper berth starting positions for Sunday’s Thunder Valley Nationals AND take home the latest Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Those points and money prizes went to Aaron Stanfield’s Elite Motorsports Camaro and, once again Gaige Herrera’s Vance & Hines Suzuki Hayabusa.
Herrera continued his mastery Saturday afternoon as he earned No. 1 qualifier in the two-wheeled class, joining Tony Stewart Racing’s Leah Pruett in Top Fuel as she earned her 14th No. 1, Robert Hight and his John Force Racing Camaro SS in Funny Car and reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders’ Elite Motorsports Camaro, the latter finally looking like the champion she is after a truly tough start to her season. This was her first No. 1 qualifier of the season. It would presage Sunday’s eliminations.
Justin Ashley ended his superb weekend by winning the 22nd Thunder Valley Nationals a second straight time and increasing the points lead he took after winning the 10th New England Nationals a day earlier, along with the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where he’s collected $30,000 and nine championship points. “It’s hard to turn on win lights in this sport, so I just have so much gratitude for my entire team and the work they did to turn this car around, round after round, and make sure it went down the race track,” he said.
Ashley was the No. 4 qualifier for Sunday’s race and got to the finals by beating Doug Foley, Josh Hart, Austin Prock (without lane choice) and, finally, fellow Toyota driver and friend Antron Brown, the No. 1 qualifier in New England. Ashley’s victory marked Toyota’s 199th NHRA victory and left him in NHRA’s catbird seat, 64 points ahead of four-time champ Steve Torrence. Reigning titleholder Brittany Force is third, followed by her John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock, Antron Brown, Leah Pruett, Mike Salinas, Josh Hart, Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon. There’s a 266-point gap from first to tenth.
Bob Tasca III may have driven his Mustang to the Winner’s Circle in Epping at Bristol, but the remainder of his weekend wasn’t the thrill show he had hoped for. When Robert Hight’s primary tuner, Jimmy Prock found the sweet spot for his driver’s Camaro, Tasca ended up with the No. 4 spot, behind Ron Capps and Chad Green. Tasca would be out of the running after a single round, while reigning titleholder and 2022 Bristol winner Ron Capps used his No. 2 qualifier to make it to the finals against a resilient Alexis DeJoria, both of them racing Toyota GR Supra Floppers. Capps got to the finals by defeating Dave Richards’ Mustang, John Force’s Camaro SS and Green’s Mustang.
Capps’ victory and Tony Stewart Racing’s Matt Hagan’s second round defeat in his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, courtesy of Hight, enabled the Californian to take the top spot in Funny Car standings by a miserly 32 points. Hight is third, Green is fourth, followed by DeJoria, Tasca III, Tim Wilkerson, Force, Cruz Pedregon and J.R. Todd of Kalitta Motorsports. With his victory, Capps became the most successful racer at Bristol Dragway, earning his seventh win in Tennessee and first victory of the season and taking over the winningest mantle from Tony Schumacher, who has six wins at this facility. In giving Toyota its 198th win Capps noted, “I was pretty stoked when we pulled up for the final round and all four nitro cars were Toyota teams. While it’s great on Monday morning to see that we’re the points leaders, it doesn’t really count until Sunday at Pomona. We’re just trying to get wins and just get our consistency down, but this is huge,” he said.
The 2023 season has been a very tough one for Erica Enders, easily her most difficult since the 2016 start of the fuel injection era in Pro Stock. She’s had the kind of poor luck you wouldn’t wish on a flea and has had difficulty just getting her Elite Motorsports Camaro down each drag strip where her class has raced. That all turned around this past weekend and, for Enders and her team, not a moment too soon.
After qualifying No. 1 for the 44th time in her illustrious career and third occasion on Bristol’s dragstrip, Enders advanced to the final round by beating Mason McGaha, Kyle Koretsky and fellow five-time champ Greg Anderson before beating Deric Kramer in the finals with her 6.680/204.08 lap to Kramer’s 6.727/197.05, both racing Camaros.While points leader Dallas Glenn of KB Titan Racing fell to teammate Anderson in the second round, he maintained a healthy 139-point advantage on Kramer, followed by Matt Hartford, Troy Coughlin Jr., Aaron Stanfield – who won the Factory Stock Showdown competition – with Anderson sixth and Camrie Caruso seventh. Enders, who wasn’t even in the top 10 after Pro Stock’s most recent race in Joliet, vaulted into eighth place, followed by Cristian Cuadra and Bo Butner III, both Elite Motorsports teammates.
Enders isn’t the only competitor who’s had a tough start to the season. With Gaige Herrera wiping up the Pro Stock Motorcycle class on his Vance & Hines Suzuki Hayabusa, the onus has been on other Suzuki riders to procure the Hayabusa3 bodywork so they might be able to, at least be somewhat competitive. Last year was one of the most competitive for veteran Steve Johnson, who finished fifth in the overall standings, using Monster heads on his Suzuki motorcycle. Johnson came into Bristol with a new body and had hopes of making his way up the points standings from eighth.
Johnson did just that, ruining Herrera’s previously perfect season as he beat Joey Gladstone’s Suzuki Hayabusa, the Vance & Hines Suzuki Hayabusa of Eddie Krawiec with a hole shot, a truly competitive Hector Arana Jr.’s Buell and, finally, taking Herrera out of his perfection zone when the Vance & Hines rider fouled at the line. Although Herrera maintains a 216-point advantage over his teammate, Krawiec, Johnson vaulted into third place and is only eight points out of second, with Arana Jr.’s Buell, Matt Smith’s Suzuki, Angie Smith’s Buell, rookie Chase Van Sant on his WAR Suzuki, Gladstone, Chip Ellis (Buell) and Jianna Evaristo’s Matt Smith Racing Suzuki completing the top 10.
After having two races in one weekend, both the competitors in NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series and every ancillary member of the drag racing community might need a weekend off. They’ve got it! The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, where all four Camping World classes convene again at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park at Norwalk, OH is set for June 22-25.
Leave a Reply