{"id":106199,"date":"2026-06-01T15:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=106199"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:11:13","slug":"langdon-prock-anderson-a-smith-are-maryland-victors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/langdon-prock-anderson-a-smith-are-maryland-victors\/","title":{"rendered":"Langdon, Prock, Anderson, A. Smith are Maryland Victors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anderson, Langdon, Prock and A. Smith celebrate their victories – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No one can dispute the success of NHRA\u2019s inaugural visit to Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, MD. There the NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series put on a three-day show for huge crowds who witnessed surprising races throughout the first annual Potomac NHRA Nationals presented by JEGS.<\/p>\n

Probably the biggest revelation was the complete turnaround of Tasca Racing which, with two-time Funny Car champion Austin Prock behind the wheel hadn\u2019t made it past the semifinals until this seventh race in a 20-contest 75th anniversary season for NHRA. In fact, before this week, Prock had only won two rounds, at Route 66 Raceway, but he and his Jimmy- and Thomas Prock-led crew found the sweet spot on a very fast racetrack and earned their first diamond Wally winner\u2019s trophy in dominant fashion.<\/p>\n

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Bob Tasca and his Funny Car driver Austin Prock celebrate their win – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our memories are deep here: we recall that team departed Gainesville when they failed to make the field, leaving before eliminations began on Sunday. We recall the qualifying trials, the sad trips down the track as the Prock family searched for their sweet spot. It appeared they\u2019d found a cure in Maryland, as Prock\u2019s Ford Mustang was the cream of the crop, earning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge crown on Saturday and then doubling up on Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prock didn\u2019t even make it to the top half of the field, qualifying 11th and having to face four-time champ Matt Hagan in Tony Stewart Racing\u2019s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat first thing Sunday morning. The situation required a cool head and Prock kept his end of that bargain, upsetting Hagan, taking a second-round bout against Spencer Hyde\u2019s similar Mustang, beating three-time champ Ron Capps\u2019 Toyota GR Supra and, finally, defeating former John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the finals, 3.95\/324.20 to 3.971\/323\/50. Every lap Prock ran on Sunday was a sub-four-second run; his opponents, Beckman excepted, couldn\u2019t do the same.<\/p>\n

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The Prock family is back! Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTo be seven races in and win the Mission Challenge this weekend, and win the diamond Wally, I think it says a lot about this race team and what we\u2019re capable of. I\u2019m just very proud of this whole Ford Racing team. It was a great weekend, but this is just the beginning of the new era of the Prock Rocket,\u201d Austin Prock declared after claiming his second trophy of the weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a competitor you\u2019re just kind of beat down, and then the race car started coning alive again, and I felt like I was behind the race car at times, where the race car was performing better than I was. After Joliet, I was really, really hard on myself after the semifinals. I didn\u2019t leave good enough to even put us in contention. I wanted to come in here this weekend and prove to myself that I\u2019ve still got it, and I feel like I did that.\u201d Prock\u2019s loss in the Chicago semifinals placed him in Saturday\u2019s Challenge and allowed him and his team to announce their return.<\/p>\n

Despite his semifinal departure, Ron Capps leads the standings, relegating Kalitta Motorsports\u2019 J.R. Todd to second (-16) in his Toyota GR Supra followed by double-victor Chad Geeen\u2019s Mustang, Hagan, Jordan Vandergriff in John Force Racing\u2019s Chevrolet SS, his teammates Alexis DeJoria and Jack Beckman, Spencer Hyde\u2019s Mustang, Prock and Daniel Wilkerson. A slim 276 points separate first through tenth, after Prock rejoined the group after languishing beyond reach of the top ten for six contests.<\/p>\n

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Matt and Angie Smith at top end after her 200th win for an NHRA female competitor – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another great story was the redemption of Angie Smith, who lost in Joliet to husband Matt when she had a run-defying issue with her transmission. Since the Matt Smith Racing (MSR) four-Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle team depends on Matt Smith\u2019s tune-ups to access speed, the fact that their team leader was relegated to hospital before Friday\u2019s opening stanza with gallstone issues, the squad needed to step up for their captain. Smith contacted Chip Ellis to sub for him and tune-ups were delivered by computer for Angie Smith, Ellis, John Hall and Jianna Evaristo to help get them down the track.<\/p>\n

It all worked to perfection and, by Sunday, Matt Smith was out of confinement and back at the track, albeit being careful. He did acknowledge the death of Kyle Busch forced him to take physicians\u2019 advice and take care of his issue; he hopes that knowledge will help others as he deals with his physical issues. Angie Smith\u2019s pink Buell, as always wearing the colors of Denso, was the class of the field, as it had been in Joliet, but this time she romped through all four eliminations and earned the 200th NHRA victory for a woman. She received the trophy from none other than Shirley Muldowney, making her first victory in nearly four seasons even more satisfying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means everything [to get the 200th women\u2019s victory in NHRA competition]. From Erica to Shirley to Angelle, to all of those ladies who have paved the way for me to come out here and get to call some of them my really good friends, and that\u2019s what means so much to me. We have such a close relationship and I will always be the 200th! I\u2019m glad I can represent the women of NHRA,\u201d Smith said. On Friday morning at 7am, it was possible that there would be zero MSR Buells on the grounds, but by 10am Matt Smith had figured out a way to make it all work, even as he was away from the track.<\/p>\n

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Angie Smith – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMatt said, \u2018We\u2019re running all four bikes, I believe in you and you can do it.\u2019 So that\u2019s what we did. It was tough and it was not easy, but it\u2019s one of those things when your team believes in you and your husband believes in you. Matt is a remarkable person,\u201d she reminded, \u201cfor him to just navigate running four motorcycles, lining four people up. It was a challenge and, as a team, we had to step up to the plate. I was very thankful that Matt made it back before the first round. He didn\u2019t want to be at the hospital; he anted to be there with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every lap that Angie Smith ran on Sunday was over 200mph and, in fact most full-season riders eclipsed that mark at least once over the weekend. Angie Smith\u2019s final round against the Buell of Ryan Oehler was tight: 6.683\/201.52 defeated the Illinois rider\u2019s 6.741\/201.91. Those four laps elevated Angie Smith to second in class behind Vance & Hines Motorsports\u2019 reigning champion Richard Gadson and his Suzuki Hayabusa3, with Matt Smith third, followed by Gaige Herrera (who didn\u2019t make it out of the first round on Sunday), MSR\u2019s John Hall, Clayton Howey\u2019s Suzuki, Oehler, Chase Van Sant\u2019s Suzuki, Evaristo and Brayden Davis\u2019 Buell.<\/p>\n

In Top Fuel, Kalitta Motorsports continues its repaving of the field, with its claim on the top two spots in the dragster class. The finals in this category saw Shawn Langdon, the 2013 titleholder take teammate Doug Kalitta in another tight battle: 3.762\/334.90 to the reigning two-time champ\u2019s 3.766\/334.24. Kalitta is tuned by the legendary Alan Johnson; Langdon\u2019s crew chief is Brian Husen, who used to be Johnson\u2019s second. That they continue to battle voraciously shows the health of this team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Langdon wins for the 3rd straight time – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier on a crowd-sellout Saturday, his third time taking the top spot and he refined that on Sunday by earning his third consecutive victory of the season, now leading Kalitta by 76 points. With a short field, Langdon was unopposed in the first round of play, but still earned a 3.718\/338 on his own. In the quarters, he beat Justin Ashley, who lost traction going down the 1,000-foot dragstrip. He took Billy Torrence in the semifinals to go against his teammate in one of the closest battles NHRA has seen in 2026, winning by about an inch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a little too close for comfort,\u201d Langdon admitted, \u201cbut when you race Doug Kalitta and (crew chief) Alan Johnson, you better be on your A game. Man, our Kalitta Air Careers team has been so good lately. They\u2019ve given me a better race car than I deserve, but three in a row is bad ass – give it the hat trick! I\u2019m very fortunate to be able to race Connie Kalitta\u2019s car and race against Doug. It\u2019s been a tough week for a lot of us in the racing industry with (the death of) Kyle Busch; we\u2019re definitely thinking about the Busch family. Hopefully they know we love and support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shawn Langdon leads the points chase – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Behind the Kalitta Motorsorts duo, Tony Stewart Racing\u2019s Leah Pruett holds third place in points, followed by her husband Tony Stewart for Elite Motorsports, John Force Racing\u2019s Josh Hart, Maddi Gordon from Ron Capps Motorsports, Ashley, Torrence, Antron Brown and Clay Millican. There\u2019s a massive 428-point gap from first to tenth place.<\/p>\n

While qualifying in Maryland for Pro Stock competitors showed signs of life for the Elite Motorsports team, by the time the field was winnowed for the final time, it was an all-KB Titan Racing bout between six-time champ Greg Anderson and reigning titleholder Dallas Glenn. Anderson won his 114th race by defeating first Brandon Miller\u2019s Dodge Dart, teammate Deric Kramer and Elite\u2019s Greg Stanfield, while Glenn galloped past Shane Tucker, Elite\u2019s Aaron Stanfield and Troy Coughlin Jr. to take on his teammate and most successful racer in this class. While Anderson didn\u2019t have the reaction time, (.084 to Glenn\u2019s .027), once the younger driver experienced big tire shake after the tree, it was all over. Anderson hit 6.472 at 212.46 to take his second diamond trophy of this 75th anniversary season.<\/p>\n

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A pensive Greg Anderson – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a recurring theme, Anderson invoked Kyle Busch: \u201cWhen Kyle was asked why winning never got old for him, he said, \u2018Because you never know when it\u2019s going to be the last one,\u2019 and it\u2019s true,\u201d Anderson stated. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what tomorrow brings. You\u2019re not guaranteed anything, so you have to appreciate it, appreciate that you got into the record books, that you made great runs in your racecar, that you got to race in front of a great crowd. You have to appreciate it, because you just never know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did Anderson gain the cherished diamond trophy, he took the track record for elapsed time, 6.464-sec in the quarterfinals. \u201cThis is great,\u201d he crowed, \u201cand I don\u2019t know how many other people in the class have history here, if any.\u201d Anderson raced at the Maryland International Raceway dragstrip before it became an NHRA-sanctioned track. \u201cI\u2019m the only one who can remember the last time I was here – and that was 25 years ago.\u201d Owing to his history at the track, \u201cIt made me feel good about being here, like I understood the place and knew that I could do well here. It means a lot to me to be the first winner at the Potomac Nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Anderson celebrates his 114th victory with his KB Titan Racing team – Gary Nastase photo for Auto Imagery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the win, Anderson lags his teammate Glenn by a scant 19 points, while Elite\u2019s Greg Stanfield is third, KB Titan\u2019s Matt Hartford holds fourth place, six-time champ Erica Enders of Elite is fifth, followed by her teammate Aaron Stanfield, KN Titan\u2019s Matt Latino, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr. of Elite Motorsports and KB Titan Racing\u2019s Eric Latino. There\u2019s a wide gap of 339 points from first through tenth places in this highly competitive class.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s back to familiar territory for NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series in just a few days, when the NHRA New England Nationals presented by bproauto take place at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock are on the docket for the eighth race of this special, 75th anniversary season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No one can dispute the success of NHRA\u2019s inaugural visit to Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, MD.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":106203,"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":[4730,9474,5452,8365,9740,9966,7,13310,5626],"class_list":["post-106199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-kalitta-motorsports","tag-kb-titan-racing","tag-maryland-international-raceway","tag-matt-smith-racing","tag-mission-2fast2tasty-challenge","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-potomac-nhra-nationals-presented-by-jegs","tag-tasca-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Anderson-Langdon-Prock-A-Smith.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-rCT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106199","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=106199"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106213,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106199\/revisions\/106213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}