Car counts are down and nobody’s happy. Steve Torrence didn’t make the trip out west for the two NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Western Swing contests, even though these races are two of the four remaining contests in the 2025 “regular season” before the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin in Reading, PA this September.
Another Steve, Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Steve Johnson, who’s been known to show up and watch races when the bikes aren’t even running, wasn’t at Seattle and isn’t on the entry list for Sonoma. As the longest-serving racer in his class and one of the top – if not The top – independent Suzuki competitor of all time, Johnson doesn’t have the budget that Vance and Hines possess for its pair of motorcycles, obviously, or that Matt Smith is able to appropriate for his quartet of Buell riders.
The budget to rent a bike – something Johnson is looking to do for this weekend if the price is right – and the amount Vance & Hines wants for its third bike is, well, out of his budget (“That’s for the rich folk”), ensures that Johnson returns to competition with his own Monster-headed Suzuki at the Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend, but he’d relish the trip to Sonoma if he can find the right equipment.
The absence of the fastest racer to the eighth-mile in Top Fuel, Mike Salinas, has been felt since last year when medical issues forced Salinas to step away. There was talk of his return in 2025 but that was talk. Just talk. Salinas doesn’t have the budget to compete with the big wheels in dragster racing. Or if he does have the money, he’s using it for projects he thinks will make him money, not lose that greenery. So scrap both Scrappers Racing dragsters – for Mike and daughter Jasmine – from the grid for now, even as the top tech guru for that team, Rob Flynn departs to Rick Ware Racing to tune eight-time dragster champ Tony Schumacher. Now that should be a match made in winners circles.
And scratch injured Shawn Reed, whose program with Rob Wendland has seen him edge closer and closer to the fourth win light on Sundays. Reed’s massive accident last Saturday and the resultant removal of his left index finger will slow the Washingtonian and keep him out of the cockpit for at least this race as he refocuses his in-cockpit activity to reflect the loss. As such, there are now ten dragsters on the entry list, for this 37th Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, including the second consecutive race for JCM Racing’s Ida Zetterstrom, marking nearly a year since she began her US career in earnest.
Reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, who has won five times at Sonoma Raceway – including 2024 – will note his 75th race as an NHRA team owner this weekend as he tries to settle his car and get a bit more consistent. With a single win in 11 races, a single runner-up slot and having qualified No. 1 one time, Brown is looking to end up as No. 1 on Sunday on a track he knows can be rewarding with its speeds, particularly in the cool of Friday night’s second session.
One racer who really needs to find a way back to the winners circle is last year’s Funny Car winner at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals: Bob Tasca III. The Ford Mustang’s most stalwart racer, Tasca has seen peaks and valleys this season, but that’s been normal for the Rhode Island racer; he’s either knocking out his competition or being on the receiving end. The challenging conditions in Seattle created headaches for Tasca, who lost facing John Force Racing’s Jack Beckman’a Chevrolet SS in the first round.
Many fans – and nearly all of the racers – on-site for this weekend’s visit to northern California’s wine country will be thinking about Eric Medlen, who grew up the general area. There’s usually an ice cream social after the finals because Medlen always said you could never be sad eating ice cream. Sonoma Raceway’s Speedway Children’s Charities normally gets into the act, this year with support from public relations specialist Elon Werner’s Drag Race Bracket Bonanza (DRBB), a free-to-play online bracket game popular with everyone in the staight-line racing community.
“A very generous sponsor approached us about making it possible for us to highlight Speedway Children’s Charities Sonoma for this race,” Werner noted, “and we jumped at the opportunity. I am hopeful that a good chunk of our player base will find it in their hearts to donate this weekend.” DRBB is encouraging their players to make a $4 donation or more in honor of Eric Medlen; the No. 4 was Medlen’s car number competing with John Force Racing.
As Elite Motorsports tries to find a way to stop the juggernaut of KB Titan Racing, which has won every one of the Pro Stock races held this far in the 2025 campaign, the sole saving grace for this team has been Jeg Coughlin Jr., although both Greg and Aaron Stanfield have both shown signs of vigor. Coughlin scored a runner-up result last weekend in Seattle and he thinks the team is finally picking up the requisite amount of speed to take in eliminations battles. While Elite has been good, they haven’t been good enough and they know it. Still, at Seattle, “We got two cars in the semifinals with Greg Stanfield and I,” Coughlin commented. “To make our first final of the year, we’re looking forward to Sonoma.” Aaron Stanfield of Elite won this race last season.
The true fever pitch will be in the depleted ranks of Pro Stock Motorcycle. Sonoma hosts the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout again this weekend, featuring eight of the top riders in class who will race for glory, money, and the carrot of a double-up opportunity. This notoriously fast and quick track has hosted a variety of bonus races for a number of years, with this Pro Stock Motorcycle bonus race marking its third consecutive appearance.
The field for this year’s Callout with competitors calling out their first-round opponent in the Saturday contest that takes place during qualifying sessions after the initial Callout selection on Friday. Vance and Hines Motorsport’s Gaige Herrera, the reigning, consecutive two-time champion who won last weekend in Seattle, has the first choice of opponent for his Suzuki Hayabusa3, followed by six-time champ and 2024 Sonoma winner Matt Smith’s Buell, Bristol victor and V&H racer Richard Gadson on his Suzuki, Angie Smith with her Buell, Norwalk winner and Matt Smith Racing rider John Hall ( Buell), Jianna Evaristo on her Matt Smith Racing Buell, Suzuki riding WAR Racing’s Chase Van Sant and his squadmate Chris Bostick.
There are 13 riders on the Pro Stock Motorcycle entry list, while Pro Stock has 18 entries listed. There are 18 Funny Cars expected to compete in these rolling hills (where sheep do the manicuring), while the ten Top Fuel entrants are the least of the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series competitors. With two late-afternoon and into-the-night qualifying sessions on tap for Friday, a pre-noon start to activities on Saturday and with Sunday eliminations starting at 10:30AM PT, comfortable conditions await, with daytime, sunny skies and temps in the mid-70s to about 80 degrees on Sunday. Friday night should be clear and cool, the kind of conditions that help crew chiefs earn their salaries.
Friday evening should bring about some great opportunities for speed and resulting records. After all, who can forget the 2017 run by John Force Racing’s Robert Hight, who regaled and stunned everyone on-site with his Funny Car speed of 339.87 mph? That car, of course, is now driven by reigning Funny Car champion Austin Prock, who ran a lap in excess of 341mph when he secured his first world title last November. Will there be more jaw-dropping speeds throughout this weekend? It could happen. This weekend, the FOX broadcast network will air Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at 6PM ET, with the remaining sessions on FS1 and FS2. Check your local listings.
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