The second of the three-race NHRA Western Swing takes place this weekend a few tempting miles from California’s wine country, as the Camping World Drag Racing Series takes to the dragstrip at Sonoma Raceway. After racing at altitude, losing power in the midst and dealing with the contrast of short fields and racing-deprived fans who traveled from all over the country to savor this competition, drag racers will be competing at close to sea level and with fandom’s open entry again this weekend.
We all know winning at 5,580 feet above sea level at Bandimere Speedway outside Denver, CO is always a crapshoot. There’s the lack of air, the July heat and the fact that tuneups used at every other track simply don’t work at altitude. It’s got to be a relief for the crew chiefs to have power back again for Sonoma – and to have competition in the Wine Country.
Last weekend, Steve Torrence added to his win column by defeating part-timer Joey Haas (not on this week’s entry list) as he amassed his fourth victory in the last five races. There are, again, less than 16 dragsters on the Top Fuel entry list; 12 of the nitro-burning projectiles have signed up to race this weekend at Sonoma, but this is a strong group, anchored by points leader Torrence, second-placed Antron Brown (-307), top Denver qualifier Brittany Force, who’s in third place and 353 points behind Torrence. It appears Force can go quickly in qualifying but has issues once Sunday arrives.
Force set a Denver track record for elapsed time during qualifying for her 21st No. 1 since joining this tour in 2016. Force is still chasing her first victory in Sonoma. “I like getting back into the seat with a short turnaround time,” she said. “As a driver, it keeps me mentally in the game and focused. Our car has been hitting its marks – a win is coming,” she warned.
2019 Sonoma winner Billy Torrence won’t be at the track again this weekend, but the drivers in fifth through 10th, Shawn Langdon, Mike Salinas, Doug Kalitta, Leah Pruett, a returning Justin Ashley and Clay Millican will attempt to upset the CAPCO Contractor’s rampaging apple cart. Part-timers on the entry list include Buddy Hull in Terry Haddock’s dragster, Cameron Ferre for Worsham Racing and Ron August Jr’s self-entered machine.
Finally, after years of trying, reigning Funny Car champion Matt Hagan brought his Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the Winner’s Circle in Denver, a great relief for the Virginia cattle farmer who has been trying to secure victory in his sponsor’s race since he joined the NHRA tour. He’ll have a whale of a job working to sweep the Western Swing as there are 19 Funny Car entries on the grounds in Sonoma. Hagan’s win on the mountain propelled him to third in the points chase, behind only Bob Tasca III in his Ford Mustang and John Force’s Chevrolet Camaro SS. He’s 85 points out of the lead, a number that could easily change this weekend.
Every top-10 Funny Car racer will be looking to add to their totals in Sonoma. Joining Tasca, Force and Hagan are J.R. Todd’s Toyota Camry from Kalitta Motorsports, Hagan’s teammate and 2016 champ Ron Capps, speed record-holder and 2019 Sonoma winner Robert Hight, president of John Force Racing with his Camaro SS, Denver runner-up Alexis DeJoria in her Camry, Tim Wilkerson’s Ford Shelby Mustang, Cruz Pedregon’s Charger SRT Hellcat and Terry Haddock’s Mustang.
They’ll be joined by Paul Lee’s Charger, which raced at Denver and secured a second-round result after red-lighting in those quarter-finals, Blake Alexander in Jim Head’s Mustang, Steven Densham in his dad Gary’s Mustang, Jeff Diehl’s Camry, nostalgia racer Jason Rupert, who’ll have Rahn Tobler helping out next weekend in Pomona (car brand not given), Christopher Morel in a Charger, Tony Jurado in a Mustang and Alex Miladinovich’s Camry.
After sitting out the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil – even as the track video highlighted Larry Morgan’s Pro Stock victory over “King of the Mountain” Allen Johnson in 2015 – the door slammers return to competition in Sonoma this weekend, with a stout 17-car entry, led by reigning titleholder Erica Enders and points leader Greg Anderson, who are fighting tooth and nail for this year’s championship.
Anderson is leading that battle and claims a 142-point lead over Enders, while rising star Aaron Stanfield in third (-169), Matt Hartford (-198), Mason McGaha, Deric Kramer, Dallas Glenn, Kyle Koretsky, Troy Coughlin Jr. and Chris McGaha (-375), all of whom are entered this weekend, will be trying to get their Chevrolet Camaro race cars in the Winner’s Circle.
Rob Tucker and Alan Prusiensky are driving the only two Dodge Darts in this weekend’s competition, and Alex Laughlin returns to Pro Stock competition after his initial, enthusiastic outing in Scott Palmer’s Top Fuel dragster last week. Val Smeland, Kenny Delco (11th in points with a bullet), Aaron Strong and Steve Graham are also entered for the Sonoma round. Sitting out last weekend’s Denver round was unusual for Pro Stock, which usually races on Bandimere Mountain, but many of the PS crowd turned up at JEGS SPEEDWeek at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio to quench competitive juices.
This is the first time in recent memory that Pro Stock Motorcycle will compete in all Western Swing races; the two-wheeled set customarily is excluded at Seattle, which couldn’t make the calendar this year, due to the ongoing pandemic. As a result, the bikes race this week in Sonoma and next week in Pomona, allowing Matt Smith the opportunity to earn a Western Swing sweep for the first time. There are 15 motorcycles on the entry list for Sonoma, with seven EBR/Buell motorcycles and eight Suzukis.
The two leaders in this category are four-time champ Matt Smith on his EBR and mega-veteran Steve Johnson’s four-valve Suzuki. Last weekend, Smith, along with wife Angie, led all comers in the class and he ended up owning the Wally trophy over Eddie Krawiec’s Vance & Hines’ Buell. It’s tough to make power at this altitude, but Matt Smith sure knows how to tune a motorcycle for any situation. Plus he is riding exceptionally well at this time.
Johnson, 163 points behind M. Smith in the points chase, had quite a weekend in Denver. Arriving at the track after testing the week before, Johnson set the 2nd best time on Friday night, only to have that quarter-mile pass DQ’d when the fuel he used at Norwalk was deemed outside the NHRA’s parameters. It’s head-scratching as to how fuel can become out-of-compliance after sitting in a can since the end of June, but that’s what NHRA saw. Johnson still managed to qualify third on Saturday, with a new can of fuel at his disposal, behind only Matt and Angie Smith.
Behind M. Smith and Johnson, Matt Smith Racing’s Scotty Pollacheck holds third place, but needs to watch his mirrors as Buell-riding Ryan Oehler is only four points behind him (-245 to -249), followed by V&H’s Angelle Sampey on a four-valve Suzuki, Angie Smith, Denver runner-up Eddie Krawiec’s V&H Buell, Joey Gladstone on a V&H 4-valve Suzuki Hayabusa, Karen Stoffer’s 2-valve Suzuki and Gladstone’s teammate and team owner Cory Reed’s Suzuki Hayabusa. Look for Andrew Hines’ Buell, Jerry Savoie’s four-valve Suzuki, Jim Underdahl and Jianna Salinas’ 2-valve Suzukis and Scott Bottorff’s Buell to shake up the standings.
Once again, NHRA will offer three qualifying sessions, with Friday’s timed sessions for the Camping World competitors starting at 6:30PM PT and Saturday’s sessions at the more customary hours of noon and 3PM Pacific time. Nitro eliminations on Sunday begin at 11AM. This weekend’s racing weather will be hot during the day and agreeable at night. At Sonoma, the Friday night qualifying session is legendary for quick times and the NHRA’s crew chiefs are ready to make the most of it.
The weekend is being dedicated to former racer, crew chief and track manager Kyle “Big Nasty” Seipel, who passed away in June at age 50 following a prolonged cancer battle. The Seipel family has been named Grand Marshal of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals and Pro Stock’s Troy Coughlin Jr. is “racing in Kyle’s honor,” he said of his good friend.
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