{"id":102920,"date":"2025-10-15T07:42:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=102920"},"modified":"2025-10-15T07:42:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:42:04","slug":"kalitta-prock-glenn-gadson-secure-texas-fallnationals-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/kalitta-prock-glenn-gadson-secure-texas-fallnationals-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalitta, Prock, Glenn, Gadson Secure Texas FallNationals Titles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Richard Gadson, Dallas Glenn, Austin Prock, Doug Kalitta celebrate their wins – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was hot in Texas when NHRA held its 40th annual FallNationals race at Texas Motorplex the weekend of October 10-12. The sun shone, the track was slick and there were times, during both qualifying and eliminations, when drivers and riders had a tough time going from the Christmas Tree to the finish line\u2019s lights. Celebrating its 40-year partnership with NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the Ennis, TX facility kept racers and fans enthralled for a full 10 days in its Stampede of Speed, from morning to night, at the track and in the surrounding area, as the community joined in.<\/p>\n

By the time four rounds of qualifying and four elimination rounds were completed, the look of this year\u2019s six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs gained a lot of clarity. Each competitor in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle that was leading the points coning into this fourth of six playoff contests, was able to don the special 40th anniversary navy blue cowboy hat and claim Wally trophies for winning on Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advancing to his fourth consecutive final round, Kalitta Motorsports\u2019 Doug Kalitta earned the Top Fuel nod, Austin Prock in his John Force Racing Chevrolet SS claimed his first Texas Motorplex victory (and ninth Funny Car win of the year), Dallas Glenn took his KB Titan Racing Pro Stock Chevy Camaro to a seventh 2025 win while Richard Gadson earned his third Pro Stock Motorcycle victory and second in this Countdown playoff season on his Vance and Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3.<\/p>\n

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Was this really four-time Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence\u2019s final 2025 race? – Mark Rebilas for Torrence Racing photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shortly before the weekend\u2019s competition began, Texas native Steve Torrence, a four-time Top Fuel champion announced that this would be his final run of the season. Even with two races left to run and even though he\u2019s been in the thick of the championship fight. Torrence\u2019s hot rod went to the final round on Sunday and, while the 42-year-old succumbed to points leader Doug Kalitta, it happened in a tight fight. This was Torrence\u2019s seventh time in the final round in his 11th battle at Texas Motorplex; he\u2019s now in fourth place. Will he change his mind and fight to the finish, with only two events left on the calendar? We\u2019ll find out at Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

For Kalitta, earning his fourth win of the 2025 season from the No. 5 seed, beating Jasmine Salinas, Ida Zetterstrom and teammate Shawn Langdon en route to his sixth final round in the past seven races, beating the four-time titleholder and earning his 59th career victory and second straight win, Kalitta admitted he was \u201cjust real proud of my guys. I have the best in the business behind me and it\u2019s an incredible feat to do what we\u2019re trying to do – and try to stay ahead. Everybody\u2019s hungry right now.. it\u2019s a huge relief to get this win and it\u2019s a real big deal for us!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta is making moves at the right time – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some notable drivers were out of action quickly on Sunday, including both Tony Stewart Racing entries, for team owner Tony Stewart in Top Fuel and four-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan. Stewart came into the six-race Countdown as NHRA’s dragster leader, but tough outings in Reading, Charlotte and St. Louis, coupled with a first-round loss to Clay Millican on Sunday pushed the multi-time racing champion back to sixth place, behind Doug Kalitta, Justin Ashley, Shawn Langdon, Steve Torrence and Brittany Force. Millican, Shawn Reed, reigning champion Antron Brown and Josh Hart now complete the top ten.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hagan was part of a double up for Stewart\u2019s team in 2023, when both he and Leah Pruett, Stewart\u2019s wife, won their class race wins in Dallas. The team has three wins in the past two years at the NHRA FallNationals, making Tony Stewart Racing\u2019s first-round demise even tougher. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t the weekend we were looking for,\u201d two-time 2025 Top Fuel winner Stewart admitted. Hagan\u2019s explosion in the first qualifying session put the Funny Car ace in catch-up mode. Starting 12th in the 16-car field, \u201cThis was a really challenging weekend and obviously not what we set out to do losing first round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin Prock picked up his ninth victory of the 2025 campaign and extended his lead over Hagan with victory against three-time champion Ron Capps\u2019 Toyota GR Supra in the final round after Capps\u2019 chutes opened shortly after his launch. Now holding an advantage of 112 points on Hagan, Prock had a near-perfect race meeting during the track\u2019s 40th anniversary celebration. During Friday night\u2019s Battle for the Saddle qualifying session, Prock earned his sixth top seed of the season as no one was able to beat his 3.876-sec run on the 1,000-foot track at 336.07mph. \u201cAll our cards fell right today, and we were able to extend our point lead, so that definitely feels really good,\u201d Prock said after earning his first Texas Motorplex victory. \u201cIt\u2019s one hell of an opportunity to turn on win lights and bring home race wins and extend the points lead on top of it; you can\u2019t ask for much more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Austin Prock\u2019s Friday blast in his John Force Racing Chevrolet SS gave him the No. 1 seed – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prock\u2019s 112-point advantage on Hagan\u2019s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat is only the beginning. He also leads teammate Jack Beckman, final round opponent Capps, Daniel Wilkerson\u2019s Ford Mustang, Paul Lee\u2019s and Cruz Pedregon\u2019s Chargers, Chad Green and rookie Spencer Hyde in Mustangs and Alexis DeJoria\u2019s Charger. There\u2019s a 290-point cap from first to tenth place in the Flopper class.<\/p>\n

Dallas Glenn is moving closer and closer to his first NHRA Pro Stock championship, one he\u2019ll have to wait to claim most likely until Pomona, where he succumbed to his KB Titan team leader Greg Anderson last November. This weekend Glenn battled Elite Motorsports\u2019 Aaron Stanfield in the final round, giving him seven victories on the year for a total of 20 wins since he joined the class. He\u2019s got a 60-point advantage on Anderson, who lost in the penultimate round to Stanfield. This Texas-sized victory was Glenn\u2019s third victory in four playoff races held to date. \u201cI just need to keep turning on win lights,\u201d Glenn acknowledged. \u201cI just need to go up there and just take everything one round at a time, do everything I can and let the crew chiefs do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dallas Glenn is leading Pro Stock – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even so, Glenn doesn\u2019t believe he\u2019s driving as well as he did in 2024, when he lost the title to Anderson in the last pass of the year. Still, he does feel \u201ca little bit more relaxed this year. If I can continue to do that, continue to turn on win lights, continue to have a little bit of luck on my side, I think we can wrap it up.\u201d Stanfield enjoyed his second final round appearance of the season, 27th of his career after beating teammate Erica Enders, KB Titan\u2019s Matt Hartford and Greg Anderson. Racing as the 12th seed, Stanfield had to battle hard to get to the final round. \u201cWith two races left and points and a half in Pomona, a runner-up finish keeps us in the conversation for a top three finish for the time being,\u201d Stanfield mused. \u201cWe\u2019ve got our work cut out for us, that\u2019s for sure!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro Stock remains a KB Titan Racing tributary. Glenn, Anderson and Hartford claim the top three spots, followed by Elite\u2019s Aaron Stanfield, KB Titan\u2019s Cory Reed and Eric Latino, Elite\u2019s Enders, KB\u2019s Cody Coughlin and the Elite pair of Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr., both of whom will be racing under the JEGS banner in 2026, Elite announced at the Texas venue.<\/p>\n

There is never a \u201cperfect\u201d weekend of racing, but during the 40th NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, Richard Gadson came wicked close to perfection. The Vance and Hines Motorsports second-year Suzuki Hayabusa3 rider took the No. 1 seed and marauded through the tight field, one in which the final round came down to one of two V&H Suzuki bikes. One of them was not reigning V&H titleholder, Gaige Herrera, who fouled out in the semifinal bout against Brayden Davis, a part-time teammate to Herrera and Gadson. It\u2019s seldom that Herrera incurs a red light; this one opened plenty of eyes.<\/p>\n

Gadson qualified No. 1 on Friday night and continued run strongly throughout the remaining two time trials and four rounds of racing. When Herrera faltered in the semifinal round, Gadson was able to take command of the situation and his last-round reaction time of .011-second was what he needed to earn his first Dallas victory and second in the Countdown to the Championship. Showing his cool in high-pressure situations., Gadson has revealed that he, like Herrera, was the right guy to take on this challenge for Vance and Hines.<\/p>\n

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Richard Gadson won his third NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle race and leads the points – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou watch this happen for other people and you want it for yourself,\u201d Gadson remarked. \u201cI try to live in the moment; I try to remember that this is the stuff you watched Gaige do, stuff you watched Andrew [Hines] and Eddie [Krawiec, his crew chief] do, and you\u2019re doing it right now. I just try to be present mentally in that moment and just say you\u2019re living that dream.\u201d When he looked at the eliminations ladder on Sunday morning, Gadson knew it would be tough: \u201cEverybody\u2019s tough right now. I\u2019m just trying to keep my foot on the gas and hold on for life. I\u2019m extremely motivated right now; I feel like I have something to prove!\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Gadson is proving to be a remarkable rider, as is Herrera, and as is Davis. As Gadson clicked past Lance Bonham\u2019s Buell, Clayton Howey on a\u00a0<\/span>Suzuki and Matt Smith Racing\u2019s six-time champion Matt Smith heading to his final round, Davis beat Ryan Oehler\u2019s and John Hall\u2019s Buell motorcycles before Herrera managed to take himself out of the show. Gadson leads Herrera by 72 points, with Matt Smith\u2019s Buell third, Brayden Davis\u2019 Suzuki fourth, John Hall\u2019s, Angie Smith\u2019s and Jianna Evaristo\u2019s Buells fifth through seventh, Chase Van Sant, Steve Johnson and Chris Bostick in tenth place, the latter three riders on climbing aboard Suzuki motorcycles.<\/p>\n

The tour takes two weekends off before hitting The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 30-November 2. As is customary., the 25th annual Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Direct Connection will be full of Halloween playfulness, as it always is, but the tension surrounding the four-class Countdown to the Championship will make the fifth of six playoff races one in which all players will have their game faces on, costumes optional.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the time four rounds of qualifying and four elimination rounds were completed, the look of this year\u2019s six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs gained a lot of clarity<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":102923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[12638,6606,39,1259,8745,511,9966,7,10147,8642,9918,515],"class_list":["post-102920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-40th-nhra-fallnationals","tag-austin-prock","tag-chevrolet","tag-countdown-to-the-championship","tag-dallas-glenn","tag-doug-kalitta","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-richard-gadson","tag-stampede-of-speed","tag-suzuki-hayabusa3","tag-texas-motorplex"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Gadson-Glenn-Prock-Kalitta-min-e1760539315801.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-qM0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102920"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102933,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102920\/revisions\/102933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}