High-speed crashes, surprise victories and early exits marked racing at the House of Chaos.
The Koretsky family is known for making chaos on NHRA racetracks. Kenny Koretsky raced as “Captain Chaos” in Pro Stock and son Kyle has been “Kid Chaos” in the same class. Now that the Koretsky family owns Maple Grove Raceway outside Reading, PA, that track is known as the House of Chaos.
And so it is. After four rounds of qualifying and another four rounds of eliminations in the 40th Reading NHRA Nationals for the initial Countdown to the Championship playoffs race in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, chaos reigned and only one of the four No. 1 seeds was left standing after a chaotic day of racing. The crowds left sated and the competitors wondered what was yet to come in the next five events before the championship concludes at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in November?
Only two months after a vicious accident at his home race in Seattle, Shawn Reed took the winner’s trophy in Top Fuel, showing that a guy with multiple fractured ribs and an amputated left index finger was, indeed, to be feared. The second-year racer earned his first career NHRA Top Fuel race win, coming from fourth in the qualifying order. Reed knocked off rookie Kyle Satenstein in the first round, got around tire-hazing Shawn Langdon before sending top qualifier Clay Millican back to his trailer.
That brought Reed to the final round, up against 2023 champ Doug Kalitta, whose second-round accident while racing Tony Stewart – both drivers were okay, their cars not so much – caused Kalitta Motorsports to pull out the spare car to race in both the semifinals and the final round. In only his second final round appearance since joining the tour last year, Reed was fortunate when Kalitta, in his fourth final round this season, lost traction immediately, while Reed strutted to a 3.844-second pass at 326.63 mph.
Racing last weekend at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series competition held at Hebron, OH, Reed was his class’ winner as he checked out his personal condition and the readiness of his team for this six-contest playoffs. Reed was ready for this primetime exercise in speed. NHRA regulars had every reason to think that Reed could possibly run the table a second week, which he did.
“This car has always been good,” Reed reminded. “Early in the year, we were running into a few little issues on Sunday morning that would bite us, but these last several weeks, going back to when Jordan Vandergriff was driving, we qualified No. 3 at Brainerd and No. 2 in Indy and then won the IHRA last weekend in Ohio. Hats off to Rob Wendland, Ryan Elliott and our whole team,” he said
“We dragged this bucket of bolts up there every weekend for a year and a half and we finally got a Wally!” Reed’s first finals appearance was a stout seven-plus years ago at the 2018 Gatornationals. With his final round bout, Kalitta took over the points lead as the series goes three weekends in a row to start the Countdown. Kalitta has 18 points on Stewart and 33 on teammate Shawn Langdon.
While Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican made it as far as the semifinal round, the same couldn’t be said for the top qualifier in Funny Car, Canadian rookie Spencer Hyde. Driving Jim Head’s Ford Mustang, Hyde made a quarterfinal exit after beating Phil Burkart’s Mustang in the initial go. Round two wasn’t kind to Hyde as he joined fellow marquee drivers Austin Prock and Jack Beckman on the sidelines, falling to Blake Alexander in Chad Green’s Dodge Charger. Alexander would go on to the final round, facing two-time champion Cruz Pedregon’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.
It had been 55 races since Pedregon stood in the Winner’s Circle, but when the driver/owner beat Bob Tasca III’s Ford Mustang, John Force Racing’s points leader Austin Prock in his Chevrolet SS and took out Paul Lee’s Charger, the scene was set. Pedregon earned his 40th win with a blast of 3.969 seconds at 330.63 mph. He the starting line advantage over Alexander, never faltered and earned his third victory at this track. It was kind of appropriate that this was both the 40th NHRA national event at Maple Grove and Pedregon’s 40th national event Funny Car win.
“This s very special, very special,” Pedregon said. After going so long without a victory, “You start to doubt yourself, as an owner and as a driver, and I’ve done that a lot in the last couple of years. I thought, ‘Maybe this is it.’ But we took the hard road. I hired young guys who weren’t already on other teams; it was like a draft.
“We went through the growing pains, but now I’ve got a good group They’re still learning,” he stated, “but they’re hungry and now here we are.” Sunday morning, Pedregon held a group meeting and reminded his team that the playoffs are a six-race clash. “I’ve won this race before and sat in the winner’s circle wondering how we did it. We can do that again, if we’re mistake-free, aggressive and if we stay the course.”
Blake Alexander, always a threat in any nitro class, reached the final round for the first time this season with wins against four-time champ Matt Hagan (Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat), No. 1 qualifier Spencer Hyde (Mustang) and three-time champ Ron Capps’ Toyota GR Supra. As Funny Car exits the verdant Mohnton, PA track, Prock has a 25-point advantage over teammate Beckman and 29 points on Capps.
The sole No. 1 qualifier to survive four rounds of racing was Pro Stock’s heir apparent Dallas Glenn, who came into the Countdown as the No. 1 seed. Picking up his fifth victory of the 2025 season in ten final rounds this year, the KB Titan Racing standout earned the 18th win of his young career. As the No. 1 seed in Pro Stock this weekend, Glenn had his way with Shane Tucker and two KB Titan teammates: Deric Kramer and six-time champ Greg Anderson.
That semifinal round between the top racers at KB Titan Racing was appropriately chaotic. Anderson had issues on his burnout, crossing the starting line beams, and on his second attempt, he crossed the beams again, leading to an automatic disqualification and a solo run for Glenn. In the finals against teammate and first-time final round racer Cody Coughlin, Glenn had a far better reaction time, yet won the contest by a scant .0555 seconds, 6.557 (209.23) to Coughlin’s 6.562 (208.68),
Glenn leaves Pennsylvania with a 62-point lead over Anderson. “You definitely come in here and my goal, every race in the Countdown, is to leave with a little bit more of a lead. We definitely capitalized on that today. What a crazy day,” Glenn related. “Having Cody Coughlin the final, with me taking out Erica Enders and Eric Latino taking out Aaron Stanfield, it was just a wild weekend They call it the House of Chaos for a reason. The car is working fantastic right now. I just have to make sure I don’t beat myself!”
Anyone thinking Pro Stock Motorcycle would be a Vance and Hines Motorsports runaway needs to pull back a bit. This weekend, John Hall showed that he belongs as part of this championship battle, as the Matt Smith Racing Buell rider earned his second Wally winner’s trophy of this season and fourth overall. Beating team owner and builder Matt Smith in the final round was never going to be easy, as Smith had – until Sunday – an 11-5 advantage, but the duo were tied in the final rounds. Hall was first out of the gate with an .050 reaction time to Smith’s .069, and was first to the quarter-mile stripe at 6.802 (199.70) to Smith’s problematic 6.950 (167.66).
Hall beat Kelly Clontz’ Suzuki Hayabusa3 in the first round, then defeated reigning two-time consecutive champion Gaige Herrera in the quarterfinals, keeping Herrera from Maple Grove’s Winner Circle for the third time in his short career. Hall’s semifinal bout against part-timer Brayden Davis, who is running all six Countdown races on a Vance and Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3, meant Hall and Smith were fated to meet in the first MSR intra-squad final since Sonoma in 2024. Smith prevailed in that one; it was Hall’s turn this past Sunday.
“They’re all special for me; to do this in the Countdown is great because there are six races and you need to bring your A game,” Hall said. After putting a new tire on his motorcycle but not being satisfied with it, Hall’s side of the MSR pits went back to their older rear tire and got the right results. “We went four 6.80s in a row. The track was great and I need to say thanks to the Koretsky for a great track and thanks to MSR.
“It is great that they gave me this opportunity – Matt and Angie Smith gave me an opportunity to come out here and compete, probably in the later stages of my career, and I’m just thankful for everything.” Despite his final round loss to teammate Hall, Matt Smith moved to the points lead, riding to his fourth final round of the season and 85th of his career. To reach this final round, Smith beat Brandon Litten’s Suzuki, teammate Joanna Evaristo’s Buell and Vance & Hines’ Richard Gadson’s Suzuki Hayabusa3. Still he has a light six points separating himself from Hall and Herrera, with Gadson just nine points back in fourth.
The 40th Reading NHRA Nationals had great weather and superb competition. Next weekend’s race, September 19-21, the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, NC marks the first time NHRA has raced four-wide in the Countdown.
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