The 38th annual DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals had more twists and turns than the road course that surrounds its quarter-mile dragstrip. NHRA’s 11th race of its 75h anniversary Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season featured victories by reigning Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta against local favorite Jasmine Salinas in her first career final round, Jordan Vandergriff’s second win in his first season driving a John Force Racing Chevrolet SS and an all-Elite Motorsports Pro Stock final where Greg Stanfield earned a repeat visit to the Winner’s Circle over teammate and six-time champ Erica Enders.
Kalitta came close to running the table for the weekend: he was quickest on Friday and his got his third No.1 of the season on Saturday. What he didn’t get was the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory; he and teammate Shawn Langdon have dominated the specialty event this year and it was Langdon’s turn for the prize this time around. But the points leader was gone after the second round, losing to Salinas by .0222. Kalitta had a second round bye after beating 14th qualifier Clay Millican in the first round and blasted to 3.730 at a blistering 338.00-mph. Kalitta and Antron Brown had a pedalfest in the third round, but Kalitta’s use of the left lane throughout paid off for him – four times.
The final round was exceptionally competitive for both Kalitta and Salinas. While she had the starting line advantage, he had the lead by the 60-foot mark and nearly hit the 340 mark at the 1,000-foot stripe, turning 3.731 at 339.96 to Salinas’ 3.815 at 319.14. She dropped a cylinder along the way but kept her foot in it to make the reigning titleholder work for his 61st national event win and his second straight, giving him seven Wally trophies at this circuit. “This is a very special place for me,” Kalitta explained. “We had a little dry spell through the years;, hut I’m glad we managed to et the last two wins here.”
Vandergriff didn’t look like a winner after the first round of qualifying, when he and Chad Green pedaled down the track, not even clearing 200mph. But crew chief Chris Cunningham came back as part of the first pair in the second go-round at dusk, He tuned the first-year Funny Car driver to 3.849 at 332.43 – and it held through another eight pair of competitors. That Friday night light couldn’t be beat in Saturday sunshine, as Vandergriff watched his John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman compete in the finals of the Funny Car Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which went to his opponent, Ron Capps as the two cars, Beckman’s Chevy and Capps’ GR Supra pedaled late in the going.
On race day Vandergriff claimed his win from the left lane, beating Jason Rupert’s Ford Mustang, Matt Hagan’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and Austin Prock’s Mustang, after that driver eliminated points leader Capps in the first round. In the final round against Daniel Wilkerson’s Ford – a Ford vs Chevy battle of the young guns – Vandergriff lost the reaction time battle but was ahead by the 60-foot mark and wasn’t to be chased down, denying the second-generation member of the Wilkerson family yet another chance for his first winner’s trophy by a margin of .0422. Vandergriff’s lap of 3.900/330.72 was another clean, straight run over Wilk’s 3.950/301.33.
There were some changes his team effected after Norwalk, where they were out after the first round. They paid off with a consistent machine from the second round of qualifying through the final round, one that moved this driver to second in points behind Capps. “My team behind me had the car running so well and so smooth at this race,” Vandergriff explained. “Today was one of those days where I got up there, and I knew I was going to go straight and tried and true. Heading into this final round, I knew that we had the car. Getting my second win, it means a lot because I’m thinking, ‘how do I get a second one?’. The first one felt like such a whirlwind and a dream come true. Now I’m going to go home and look at two Wallys and ask myself how to get a third.”
This year’s Pro Stock class has been a KB Titan Racing runaway, with their team holding sway over the class once dominated by Elite Motorsports. Then came Norwalk and Aaron Stanfield’s defeat of Matt Hartford. This race was an Elite race from the start of eliminations on a third sunny day that featured moderate temperatures. Points leader Dallas Glenn (who won Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge) was nipped by teammate Eric Latino in the first round; Eric’s son Matt was victorious over Greg Anderson, while independent racer Mason McGaha dispensed with No. 1 surprise qualifier Chris Vang from Elite, who set his best time and speed on Friday evening. By the semifinals, it was an all-Elite competition, with Stanfield beating Jeg Coughlin Jr. and ended with Stanfield’s first win of the season and seventh in his professional career.
Stanfield, too, stuck with the left lane and he was lethal on the starting line, especially in the finals against another serious starter, Enders. He went .015 to hold off the 49-win team leader. His lap of 6.551/21212.30 held off her minutely quicker 6.550/210.87 by .0166, or about five feet. This is Elite’s fifth consecutive win in the Wine Country with Stanfield delivering the last pair and moving to third in the points chase. “I’m not sure why I do so well here. It must be the wine! It’s a great place with great fans and I just feel really comfortable here,” the winner said “The Elite cars are fast right now. I’m jut proud, excited and thankful to be driving for them.”
Crews are packing and heading north Monday, as there’s no rest before the 12th race of the season takes place July 24-26, the 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals, held at Pacific Raceways in Seattle, WA.