Texas Motorplex is celebrating its 40th birthday and, yes, everything really is bigger in Texas. This upcoming weekend, the fourth of six NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoff races for drivers and riders vying to be champions in Mission Foods Drag Racing Series takes place. And it will be big. Very, very big.
In fact, the facility began its celebration a week early with its annual Stampede of Speed, a 10-day celebration of drag racing and the state of Texas that’s part music and food festival, part rustling cattle and part competition on the dragstrip. From the cattle drive through downtown Waxahachie to the Stars of Texas music shows that preview the drag racing extravaganza to come, Texas Motorplex has pulled out all the stops to honor the Meyer family that built and still controls this facility, as well as the racers that gravitate to the Motorplex.
While racing officially began on Monday, October 6, there were some match races held on Saturday and Sunday, together with concerts, bull riding, barbecue and appearances by Texas country stars. Divisional NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition began on Monday, the 6th and continues through the week. In addition, a Stampede Shootout has featured bracket racing along with the divisional competition, while the invite-only Champion’s dinner that fetes last year’s winners of the 39th FallNationals was scheduled for Wednesday, October 8. In addition to their Wally trophies for winning last year, Justin Ashley, Matt Hagan, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Gaige Herrera received their cowboy hats to commemorate their wins in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, respectively.
One of the biggest races in NHRA’s sportsman ranks, the JEGS Allstars, is slated to start on Wednesday and continue through Saturday as the specialty competition is at Texas Motorplex for a third straight year, leaving Sunday for the finals of the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, as well as the Lucas Oil Sportsman shows. JEGS Allstars features the top Lucas Oil Ddrag Racing Series competing in this unique event. There is so much to see at this track and in the surrounding area cities that join the Meyer family in this celebration of speed.
Even before the Countdown races begin, NHRA’s biggest stars will be on-site Thursday evening for the FallNationals’ Pre-Stage Fan Fest from 6-9PM. It features a driver and rider autograph session with more than 50 Mission Foods stars on-hand for this free, family-friendly event. Those signing autographs include Brittany Force, Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley, Ron Capps, Antron Brown, Matt and Angie Smith, as well as Texas natives Steve Torrence and Erica Enders. “This is the largest free driver autograph session of the season, and we appreciate our competitors taking the time to visit with our amazing fans,” said Christie Meyer Johnson, co-owner of Texas Motorplex with her dad, Billy Meyer.
With three races down and three to go in the Countdown to the Championship, it’s still early in the game to name who’s going to be crowned champion at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip the middle of November. This event has always been pivotal in the six-race playoff series, coming after three races in a row to start the battle for titles. This year, rather than the standard cowboy hat that accompanies their Wally trophies, there will be special, one-time-only navy blue hat that commemorates Texas Motorplex’s 40-year history.
Fans are encouraged to wear black and yellow as part of a special “Black and Yellow Bash” on Friday night, celebrating the JEGS Friday Night Live and the track’s 40th anniversary celebration. JEGS Friday Night Live features the track’s popular “Battle for the Saddle, pulling $40,000 in bonus money for drivers in all four Mission Foods categories: Top Fuel and Funny Car ($15,000 each), Pro Stock’s low qualifier gets $7,500 and the quickest Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifier on Friday night saddles up with an added $5,000.
So who is hot as the weather that’s forecast for this upcoming weekend? While he owns an 86-point advantage on last year’s FallNationals’ winner Justin Ashley, Doug Kalitta knows he has to keep up his momentum. Having raced into the final round at the first three contests, winning the most recent race in St. Louis, Kalitta and his black-and-gold Mobil DELVAC 100th anniversary Toyota team are focused on continuing to succeed. “The points can swing out here; it’s all about getting as many as you can,” Kalitta noted. “Being ahead is definitely where we want to stay, but it’s gonna take every point you can possibly get,” with his competition running strongly.
That competition includes teammate Shawn Langdon in third place, Tony Stewart in fourth and Clay Millican in fifth, followed by Brittany Force, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence, Shawn Reed and Josh Hart. The gap from first to tenth place is 292 points but, with 1.5 points in hand for the finale this could go any which way before it’s over.
There are 17 dragsters on the entry list, with Jasmine Salinas making her first Playoff start after going to the semifinals in Indy at the close of the regular season. Tony Schumacher has already arrived at the Motorplex and could be a “spoiler” this weekend, as could Ida Zeterstrom, who went to her first NHRA final round in St. Louis. Others include local Mitch King, Cameron Ferre, Doug Foley and Kyle Satenstein.
The fight for Funny Car honors is even tighter than Top Fuel, with Austin Prock’s John Force Racing Chevrolet SS leading Matt Hagan’s Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat by a scant 20 points, thanks to the latter’s St. Louis win. Hagan has a special affinity for this Texas track, having gone to the finals each of the last six years, dating back to his 2019 victory here. He’s won here five times and knows success in Dallas (actually Ennis, TX) can be a championship springboard: “We have a real opportunity to win this thing and the biggest thing we can do is just be ready,” to overcome Prock’s eight wins thus far over 17 events.
After losing to teammate Jack Beckman in St. Louis’ quarterfinals, Prock sees the target on his back. Texas Motoeplex is one of the few tracks where the third generation drag racer hasn’t won, although he did qualify No. 1, posting a runner-up result in 2022 when he was racing To Fuel; he qualified as the No. 1 seed last year, too. Austin Prock knows the pendulum can swing either way and he just needs to execute to the best of his ability. “It’s going to work out how it’s going to work out and, for as well as we’ve done all year, I really want it to be us (at season’s close) and I think it can be,” he said.
Prock’s teammate Beckman is in third place, while Ron Capps’ Toyota GR Supra owns fourth and Daniel Wilkerson, still searching for his initial NHRA Funny Car win as a driver, holds fifth place points in his Ford Shelby Mustang. That quintet is followed by the Dodge Chargers of Paul Lee and Cruz Pedregon, rookie Spencer Hyde in Jim Head’s Mustang, Alexis DeJoria’s Dodge and Chad Green’s Mustang. The gap from first to tenth is a miserly 202 points.
While Buddy Hull is still recovering from his Sonoma hand injury, Alex Laughlin is taking the reins of Jim Dunn’s True Brand Dodge, which is repping the National Breast Cancer Foundation with a pink and black wrap for the second consecutive year. Also on the 17-car Flopper list are Bob Tasca III, Terry Haddock and Dave Richards in Ford Mustangs, Blake Alexander driving Chad Green’s Charger and Chicago firefighter Chris King’s Charger.
The Pro Stock pits features a 22-car field, as the nine-car Elite Motorsports group led by six-time class champion Erica Enders salutes her own Texas roots. This field includes an eight-car KB Titan Racing-affiliated entry. Plus, this weekend marks the return of race winner Camrie Caruso to the door-slammer class after a long layoff.
After three straight playoff races, the Countdown chase in Pro Stock has the appearance of a KB Titan Racing runaway, with only Elite’s Aaron Stanfield in the immediate hunt, in fourth place. He lags behind KB Titan’s Dallas Glenn, six-time champ Greg Anderson (-25) and Matt Hartford, who is 160 points behind Glenn. Stanfield, -200 points, has a long way to go if he intends to be part of the conversation in this or the final two events of the Countdown. KBN Titan’s Cory Reed, a first-time winner this year is fifth, followed by six-time champ Erica Enders, KB Titan’s Eric Latino and Cody Coughlin, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr. round out the top 10, with Troy a full 312 points behind Glenn. Others eligible include Elite’s Greg Stanfield, KB Titan’s Deric Kramer and independent racer Kenny Delco.
A full field of 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle competitions have signed up to race in this 40th anniversary contest at Texas Motorplex, featuring reigning class titleholder and defending race winner Gaige Herrera of Vance and Hines Motorsports. Riding his Suzuki Hayabusa3 along with teammates Richard Gadson and part-timer Brayden Davis (who qualified for the Countdown despite not racing in every PSM contest). There are nine Suzuki motorcycles of differing vintages and seven Buell/EBR twins on the entry list. In the latter group, Matt and Angie Smith are bringing their four-Buell team that includes double race winner John Hall and Jianna Evaristo to the track; they finished their prep and left Wednesday from their King, NC workshops.
Although he was last year’s race winner, Herrera ceded the top seed in this class to teammate Richard Gadson, who has a 29-point advantage heading into this contest. That duo have their eyes on the three Matt Smith Racing riders behind them: Matt Smith, John Hall and Angie Smith, riding in third through fifth. Brayden Davis is sixth for V&H, followed by Jianna Evaristo and Suzuki riders Chase Van Sant, Steve Johnson and Chris Bostick, whose WAR Suzuki is 263 points behind Gadson’s. Look for Marc Ingwersen and Ryan Oehler’s Buell motorcycles, along with Kelly Clontz (on a V&H Suzuki), Charles Poskey and Clayton Howey on Suzuki bikes, as well as Lance Bonham’s Buell this weekend.
One of the great treats – and traditions – at Texas Motorplex is their induction of Texas Motorplex Legends during this race weekend. This year’s inductees are truly stellar: John Force, TJ Bailey and Joe Luebano. Force, the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion who raced against track founder Billy Meyer and helped make the track the success it is, has seven Funny Car victories at the Motorplex, including winning both National events in 2000. The track is also celebrating its track specialist, TJ “El-Prepe” Bailey and its long-time creative artist Joe Luebano, both of whom pass away earlier this year.
“Recognizing John, TJ and Joe as Texas Motorplex Legends almost doesn’t feel like enough to celebrate and recognize their impact on the track and our racing family,” Cheristie Meyer Johnson declared. “John has done it all when it comes to racing, but his generosity with the fans and sponsors sets him apart even more,” she stressed. “We lost Joe and TJ earlier this year and the hole they have left in our hearts is slowly healing. They are with us in spirit every day, and this year’s Legends award is a true testament to their contributions to Texas Motorplex.”
In addition to the four Mission Foods Drag Racing Series classes, look to the Lucas Oil Sportsman Drag Racing Series competitors on-site this coming weekend: Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Sportsman, Top Dragster and Factory X.
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