The 41st annual FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs was just as hot as expected this past weekend, when the second race – of 20 – in NHRA’s diamond anniversary season took place on Firebird Motorsports Park’s dragstrip.
The winners, after four early qualifying sessions and four combative elimination rounds, were 2013 titleholder Shawn Langdon in Top Fuel, three-time Funny Car champ Ron Capps and reigning Pro Stock champion Dallas Glenn. It was a haul to get to the Winner’s Circle for all three victors, but the risks were rewarded with 75th anniversary diamond Wally winner’s trophies.
In Top Fuel, it was a Kalitta Motorsports race. Shawn Langdon won on Sunday from his No.1 starting slot that enabled the Californian to take a bye in the first round, beat eight-time titleholder Tony Schumacher in the quarters, take out emerging mega-star Maddi Gordon of Ron Capps Motorsports in the semifinals – her second such result in two races – and beat returnee Leah Pruett in a competitive final round, using a 3.877/325.45 lap to outrun her by 0.0543. The duo’s reaction times were just .01 apart!
Earning his third consecutive victory at this Phoenix-adjacent track, Langdon’s 23rd victory equaled his 23rd No. 1 in this class. “One of the prime focuses for this year is on making good runs when it gets hot out, and being able to have a car that you can gain the small bonus points,” Langdon explained of his team’s priorities during testing before the season began. “That’s the thing about being part of this team; even though you win a race, they’re still looking at the finer details. Brian [Husen, crew chief] leads the way and he demands perfection, and the car’s not perfect. We are going to make it perfect,” he threatened.
Despite his win, Langdon remains in third place behind Doug Kalitta and John Force Racing’s Josh Hart, winner of the season starting Gatornationals. That threesome is hounded by Leah Pruett, Maddi Gordon, Tony Stewart, Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher, Billy Torrence and a tenth-place tie for Justin Ashley and Shawn Reed.
The victory for Ron Capps in his Supra Flopper wasn’t a walk in the park or even a modicum of “easy.” After qualifying seventh to start his day against fellow Californian Jason Rupert, Capps executed well in the first round against his tractionless opponent, then had a massive explosion in his quarterfinal bout against Daniel Wilkerson’s Ford Mustang, the boomer coming at the finish line. Capps and his Dean “Guido” Antonelli-led squad came back to defeat reigning Phoenix winner Paul Lee’s Dodge Charger in the semifinal bout before taking the win against No.1 qualifier Spencer Hyde in Jim Head’s Mustang. This was Hyde’s third final round appearance.
After last year’s big explosion and crash at this race, earning his 78th career national event Wally and tenth since starting his own team in 2022, Capps set low E.T. in all four of his elimination rounds on Sunday. As he held the diamond trophy emblematic of NHRA’s 75th season aloft, Capps noted, “This is the coveted one right here. You just think of the legacy and what’s gone into this! We knew this [race] was going to be a battle of attrition and dropped cylinders today. This win reminded me a lot of my first win in St.Louis (1997), because it was hot and we had 150-degree track temps there, dropped cylinders all day but still won the race!”
Chad Green, the Gatornationals winner retains first place in Funny Car, followed by Sunday’s final round duo, Spencer Hyde and Ron Capps. J.R. Todd (Supra) holds fourth place points, while Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger), Alexis DeJoria’s and Jordan Vandergriff’s John Force Racing Chevrolet SSs, Paul Lee, Daniel Wilkerson and Jack Beckman rounds out the top ten for JFR.
The Funny Car champion from the past two seasons made the field for this event, as Austin Prock took Tasca Racing’s Ford Mustang to the ninth qualifying slot; he failed to make the field in Gainesville two weeks ago. Up against Todd in the first round, he was unable to stop the Kalitta Motorsports racer, with tire smoke ending his day. Prock remained optimistic, noting “measurable progress.”
Reigning Pro Stock champ Dallas Glenn of KB Titan Racing had an easier time getting through the conditions on offer and managed to earn Saturday’s victory in the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of this short season. He was joined in Saturday’s winner’s podium by Doug Kalitta in Top Fuel and J.R. Todd in Funny Car, enunciating the success of Kalitta Motorsports over the hot weekend. Glenn held off Cody Coughlin, also racing with KB Titan in the final round for a clean sweep of the weekend and his first diamond Wally trophy this year.
In his 41st final round of his rather young career, Glenn acknowledged, “It feels really good. Last year’s final was very ugly and it was all caused by a mistake on my part and then a malfunction on Greg’s part. So to come here and do a much better job for the fans feels really great.” Realizing his error in last year’s final against teammate Greg Anderson when he jumped the start, Glenn’s attitude has changed. “I definitely feel like I have a lot less pressure on me this year. I feel more relaxed on race day… just going with the flow and definitely not putting as much pressure on myself.”
Glenn now owns the lead in Pro Stock, followed by three teammates: Gatornationals winner Matt Hartford, Cody Coughlin and Greg Anderson. Elite Motorsport’s Erica Enders is fifth, Elite’s Greg Stanfield sixth, KB Titan’s Matt Latino in seventh, Elite’s Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Aaron Stanfield, with rookie Cody Anderson completing the top 10 in this class.
Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock have a week to regroup before heading to historic In-N-Out Burger Dragstrip for this year’s Lucas Oil Winternationals, set for April 9-12, which will again celebrate the running of the #2Fast2Tasty Mission Challenge as well as traditional qualifying and elimination rounds. Among the heroes being celebrated during this 75th anniversary season are six-time NHRA world champion Kenny Bernstein, who made an historic 310-mph run down the quarter-mile distance at this track in 1994.
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