Matt Hagan and Steve Torrence snapped a small winless streak Sunday afternoon after claiming victories in their respective NHRA classes.
Hagan’s victory was his first since Denver of this year and it was Torrence’s first win since Sonoma before going on a two-race winless streak.
Funny Car
After winning last week in Topeka, all-time great John Force looked to continue the momentum and leave Brainerd with another victory. Unfortunately for Force, he was eliminated early by Ron Capps as Force’s car went sideways in his lane. Despite that, Force locked himself into the Countdown to the Championship that begins after Indianapolis.
Hagan qualified the Dodge SRT Charger in the fourth position and set up a first-round match-up with No. 13 qualifier Dale Creasy Jr. Hagan won the first round with a time of 3.911 seconds and 328.80 mph to advance to his sixth career quarterfinal appearance to face Paul Lee. In the quarter round, Hagan won again albeit on a holeshot victory with a .070 reaction time to Lee’s .095 reaction time.
Hagan faced No. 1 qualifier Bob Tasca III in the semis. The Don Schumacher Racing driver was once again victorious after eliminating Tasca with a time of 3.932 seconds and 328.30 mph to face Cruz Pedregon in the finals.
Pedregon, who has not won at the track since 1992 in his rookie Funny Car season, advanced to the finals after winning against Gary Densham in the first round, Ron Capps in the second and J.R. Todd in the semi final.
In the finals, Hagan and Pedregon squared off against each other. Hagan got off the line first with a .051 reaction time to Pedregon’s .106. Hagan went on to take his first ever track victory eliminating Pedregon with an ET of 3.923 seconds and 327.98 mph. The victory was Hagan’s second of the season and the 38th of his Funny Car career.
“We’re trying to get where we need to be and should be coming off a championship run last year,” Hagan said. “(Crew chief) Dickie Venables, you give that guy enough shots at the race track and he’s a bad man. I really just want to do my job up there. I really pride myself on leaving the starting line really well, and I think most of my competitors understand that. It’s just going to take everything. You’re going to have to leave well and race well, and right now we’re doing that.”
Pedregon earned his first runner-up finish of the season and the 41st of his career after finishing second.
Following a three race consecutive win streak from Norwalk to Somona, Torrence lost in the first round to Antron Brown in Pomona and a semi-final loss to Brittany Force last weekend in Topeka.
The Kilgore, Texas native hoped to rebound this weekend at Brainerd, a racetrack that Steve has not won at yet, but one that his father, Billy Torrence, did in 2018.
Torrence qualified in the second position after three rounds of qualifying Saturday and had a first round match against No. 11 Terry Totten. Torrence won with a time of 3.697 seconds at 330.31 mph to advance to Round 2.
Torrence then earned a bye into the final round (with a low car count this weekend) by eliminating Justin Ashley in the second round. Torrence’s run of 3.737 seconds and 326.48 mph beat Ashley despite Ashley leaving the finish line first.
All eyes were on the semi-finals as that round would determine who Torrence would face in the finals, either Topeka winner Brittany Force or Clay Millican (who has not won since 2018).
As both Force and Millican left the starting line, Force’s Monster Energy machine lost traction and Millican flew right past her, eliminating Force.
In the final round, it was Millican who got off the staging lane first by .001 reaction time. However, the victory went to Torrence who won with an ET of 3.712 seconds and 323.74 mph. The victory was Torrence’s seventh of the season and the 47th of his career.
“It is what it is,” Torrence said who leads Force by 383 points following today’s victory. “(The adjustment) gives more teams a shot at the championship, I guess, and that’s what they’re going for. We can’t change that. All we can do is go out and do our job. If you win the races, the points will take care of themselves.”
“I did everything possible to screw it up,” he admitted of his .132 of a second reaction time, “but those Capco boys bailed me out again. Those things happen and when they do you just have to put them behind you and get back in the game. We got lucky, but we’ll take it and learn from it.”
Millican had a decent day, but came up short and notched the 15th career runner-up of his career and second consecutive of the season. His first runner-up was last weekend at Topeka to Brittany Force.
Top Fuel Results
Steve Torrence
Clay Millican
Brittany Force
Antron Brown
Mike Salinas
Justin Ashley
T.J. Zizzo
Doug Kalitta
Leah Pruett
Shawn Langdon
Terry Totten
Top Fuel Championship Points Standings
Steve Torrence, 1,212 points
Brittany Force, -383
Antron Brown, -421
Leah Pruett, -581
Mike Salinas, -581
Shawn Langdon, -592
Clay Millican, -633
Justin Ashley, -634
Billy Torrence, -702
Doug Kalitta, -709
Up Next: The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will take a few weeks off before heading to one of their most prestigious races, the U.S. Nationals, scheduled for Sept. 1 – Sept. 5.
NHRA returned to action this past weekend at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado for the Mile High Nationals and we saw former champions in the winner circle following Sunday’s on-track action.
Last year’s champions in Funny Car, Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle all claimed their respective class victories. Matt Hagan finally earned his elusive win of the season in Funny Car. Steve Torrence continued his Top Fuel dominance by scoring his fifth victory and Matt Smith collected his third Wally of 2021, his first since Atlanta.
Funny Car
Matt Hagan had not won yet this season through the first seven races after being dominant in the Funny Car category last year. The Don Schumacher Racing driver earned his 42nd No. 1 qualifier Saturday night after posting an E.T. of 3.966 and 319.22 mph during Friday’s session which paired him with No. 14 qualifier Chris King in the first round.
King was a Funny Car newcomer but was eliminated by Hagan after Hagan won with a time of 4.045 seconds and 317.49 mph that helped him have a bye run in the second round. Hagan easily advanced to the semis facing his Don Schumacher teammate Ron Capps. Hagan roared to a time of 4.022 seconds and 314.53 mph to face Alexis DeJoria in the finals.
The final for DeJoria was her first since returning to the sport a couple of years ago. DeJoria scored victories over Jack Wyatt, championship points leader Bob Tasca and a tire-smoking Tim Wilkerson in the semis to face off against Hagan.
When the two fired off the starting line, it was Hagan who outraced DeJoria to his 37th career victory by setting the E.T. of 4.105 seconds and 305.70 mph.
“This mountain has chewed me up and spit me out several years in a row. I’m just so glad to pull this win out,” said Hagan, who jumped to third in points. “I’ve been trying to get this trophy for so long. It’s an important race and it’s one of those things where we finally got it done. I just cannot say enough about my team. I’m so proud of each one of them and those guys love doing what they do. My heart was beating out of my chest there in the finals.
“It felt like I was running for a championship. When you see all these fans in the stands, it gives me chill bumps. We love Denver and we love the fans that are here. I’m glad we got it done in front of them. Every win that you can get, you’re grateful for and I’m just blessed here today.”
For DeJoria, Sunday was solid for her, but the second-place finish would be her first runner-up of the season and the fourth runner-up of her career.
“This is definitely the best race weekend I have ever had at Bandimere Speedway,” said DeJoria. “We qualified No. 2. We had a pretty consistent car during eliminations and we made it to my team’s first final round since I came back into the sport last year. We are just so hungry. We have had so many semifinals leading up to this. We have had great success in qualifying. We were just missing those final rounds. Now that we have tasted it we are going to have more of these. It is just a matter of time and I know I keep saying that but it is true.”
“In the final round we dropped cylinders right at the start,” said DeJoria. “My car was down on power. I saw Hagan move ahead and I was on his tail the whole way down. If he slipped up at all we had him. It is just one of those things. We are going to go to Sonoma with our heads held high.”
Funny Car Results
Matt Hagan
Alexis DeJoria
Ron Capps
Tim Wilkerson
John Force
Bob Tasca III
Paul Lee
Jack Wyatt
Terry Haddock
Cruz Pedregon
Robert Hight
Jim Campbell
Chris King
J.R. Todd
Funny Car Championship Point Standings
Bob Tasca, 643 points
John Force, 593
Matt Hagan, 558
J.R. Todd, 532
Ron Capps, 529
Robert Hight, 517
Alexis DeJoria, 498
Tim Wilkerson, 477
Cruz Pedregon, 450
Terry Haddock, 274
Top Fuel
Top Fuel was certainly the most interesting class of the afternoon. There were two “new” drivers in the category. Former Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin was making his Top Fuel debut this weekend while Top Fuel and Funny Car nostalgia driver, Joey Haas, also made his debut.
Meanwhile, Colorado local, Greg Carrillo, defeated Antron Brown in the first round going 3.860 seconds and 316.23 mph to win over Brown.
However, when the action all was said and done, Steve Torrence was standing with his head held high for his fifth victory of the 2021 season.
Torrence qualified second and faced Rob Passey in the first round. Torrence got the victory over Passey in Round 1, a bye run in the second and a semi-final win over Mike Salinas that propelled him to the finals.
The debuting Joey Haas also was solid through his rounds with victories over Alex Laughlin and an upset over Leah Pruett in Round 2. He then coasted to a victory in the semis after Clay Millican’s car shut off leaving the staging lanes.
As Torrence and Haas left the lanes, Steve Torrence easily won over Haas posting an E.T. of 3.860 seconds and 320.36 mph to win the 45th victory of his career.
“I was pulling for him all day,” said the three-time reigning World Champion, “and I know there were a lot of people hoping he could get past us in the final. That’s a guy with a lot of heart and I hope I get to race him a lot more. I have complete respect for that whole (Terry) Totten team. It was fun to watch them.
“But these Capco Boys are just so bad to the bone,” Torrence continued. “Those guys were having one of those races where it’s just your day and, after they got past Clay (Millican), I was a little concerned. But Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana, my whole team, they just did what they do and fortunately, I was able to do my job, too.”
Top Fuel Results
Steve Torrence
Joey Haas
Mike Salinas
Clay Millican
Brittany Force
Greg Carrilo
Leah Pruett
Shawn Langdon
Antron Brown
Buddy Hull
Rob Passey
Doug Kalitta
Alex Laughlin
Top Fuel Championship Point Standings
Steve Torrence, 858 points
Antron Brown, 551
Brittany Force, 505
Billy Torrence, 448
Shawn Langdon, 418
Mike Salinas, 395
Doug Kalitta, 367
Leah Pruett, 362
Justin Ashley, 337
Clay Millican, 328
Pro Stock Motorcycle
No. 1 qualifier Matt Smith earned his third win and the 29th victory of his career Sunday afternoon after eliminating Eddie Krawiec. Matt Smith won with a time of 7.118 seconds and 189.04 mph in the final round to secure the victory.
“This place is hard to run at, but I love this racetrack and I was successful here in the early part of my career,” said Smith, who made the quickest run in all three qualifying sessions and three of the four rounds of eliminations this weekend. “What an awesome facility and I’m so glad to get to come out here. My bike was fast all weekend and it was just super impressive. We’ve got a tough field, so it’s always going to be tough, but this bike is on kill right now.”
It was an easy start for Smith as he had a bye run in the first round which got him to the second round. Smith then won over Cory Reed in the second round going 7.147 seconds and 189.26 mph. A victory over Andrew Hines in the semis got him to the finals.
Krawiec qualified sixth with a time of 7.182 seconds and 189.18 mph and faced Jerry Savoie in the first round. He won with a time of 7.150 seconds and 185.15 mph. Krawiec then faced Charlotte winner Steve Johnson in the second round and won with a time of 7.166 seconds and 189.73 mph to advance to the semis.
In the semis, Krawiec got a victory over Angie Smith after Smith fouled on the Christmas tree.
When the two Pro Stock Motorcycles raced down the track, Krawiec obtained his first runner-up of the season with Matt Smith getting the win.
Up Next: The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will continue to head west to visit Sonoma Raceway on July 23-25, live on NHRA.TV (with a subscription) and FOX networks.
After having a couple of weeks off, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series got their season back on track Friday night at New England Dragway for the annual New England Nationals.
The Camping World Drag Series took to the track late Friday night for the first session of qualifying and a rarity of Friday night qualifying.
The teams were eager to rocket their cars down the track to post a fast time in hopes of being the provisional No. 1 qualifier. However, many cars had traction trouble in the first round as there was multiple tire smoke from various drivers resulting in slower mph speed and slower times.
Funny Car
A few lucky drivers in the Funny Car division were able to elapse the 300 mph mark, including Blake Alexander, J.R. Todd and the current provisional No. 1 qualifier, Matt Hagan for Don Schumacher Racing. Hagan went 3.891 seconds and 331.53 mph in the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye machine. Should Hagan hang on through the remaining two rounds, the qualifying run will give him his first No. 1 qualifier of the 2021 season. Hagan will receive three bonus points for his efforts.
“New England Dragway has shown us a lot of love these past couple of years. When you put Don Schumacher Racing Performance and Dickie Venables together, that’s the kind of results you can expect,” said Hagan, a 36-time Funny Car winner who is hopeful history will repeat itself on Sunday, and he’ll be able to break through for his first victory of the season.
“We’ve got great parts, great people, and I’m glad we laid down a great run tonight. A lot of people had trouble making it down the track with it being so cold. There was a lot of shaking, a lot of smoking, a lot of stuff going on, but Dickie had a really good combo for that. It just builds a lot of confidence going into tomorrow. Hats off to my guys for putting a great race car underneath me.”
In one of the more intriguing runs of the night, Cruz Pedregon was up against Blake Alexander in his initial qualifying run. Unfortunately for the two-time champion, the Pedregon Snap-On machine ending up breaking. The result put him last on the speed charts (13th) and missing the show. Fortunately for Pedregon, he will have two more chances Saturday to improve his qualifying run.
Steve Torrence and the CAPCO crew, who have three wins in five races and one runner-up finish, were looking to continue their 2021 season dominance . Despite Torrence dominating most of the season so far, it was the other Torrence (Billy, Steve’s father) who posted a quick time of 3.744 seconds and 324.98 mph to put him to the top of the board for Round 1. Billy Torrence will be seeking his first No. 1 qualifier of the season since Atlanta earlier in the season.
Pro Stock
For the Pro Stock category, up and comer Mason McGaha put in a decent run of 6.538 and 210.28 mph to climb to the top of the charts. Currently, McGaha has not had any No. 1 qualifiers in his young 13-race career so far. This weekend would be his first if McGaha stays on top of the board.
Official Round 1 Qualifying Results are below. Please note, Pro Stock Motorcycles are not scheduled to compete this weekend as this race is not on their schedule.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will have two more rounds of qualifying on Saturday with the second round slated for 12:30 p.m. ET live on NHRA.TV (subscription service).
On the final race day of the season, NHRA drivers, and teams took to the track for their 11th and final race of the year after a crazy chaotic season due to COVID-related issues.
While there were race winners to be celebrated, champions in every class such as Funny Car, Top Fuel, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle were yet to be decided as well.
Top Fuel
Coming into the last race of the year, Steve Torrence was looking to end on a high note after claiming victories as of late. He also had an opponent to watch out for as well, and that included his rival Doug Kalitta who still had a mathematical shot as each elimination was awarded 30 additional points to the respective winner of their round.
For Torrence, it was simple. All he had to do was just win and move on to the next round. The same can also be said for Kalitta. When the first round came, Torrence was already moving after getting the victory over Kebin Kinsley by going 3.736 seconds and 325.45 mph to advance to Round 2. Now, the Texan had to wait, and watch Kalitta do his job. Unfortunately for Kalitta, he was eliminated early after falling to Justin Ashley and ending his 2020 season early. With Kalitta out early, Torrence had the title wrapped up in his hands for the third time in his career and the second consecutive after winning last year.
However, just because the championship was already decided, a race winner for the Top Fuel class wasn’t. Antron Brown earned a Round 1 victory over last week’s winner Tony Schumacher by going 3.720 seconds and 326.87 mph to advance. Brown would capitalize on that momentum by getting victories over Clay Millican in the second round and Steve’s dad, Billy Torrence, in the semifinals. Brown ended up racing the 2020 Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence in the final round of the season after Steve got victories over Troy Buff in Round 2 and Justin Ashley in the semifinal.
When the final round came, it was a close drag race, as Antron Brown would get the hole shot victory over Torrence with the reaction time of .042 seconds. The Las Vegas victory was Brown’s first of the season and his first victory in over two years with his last victory coming at Seattle in 2018.
“This feels so good. The last race of the year to go out with a win, Lord knows, all the glory goes to him, and at the end of the day we had so many people that stuck with us this season,” said Brown who closed out the year ranked fifth in the Top Fuel standings.
“Getting (crew chief) Brian Corradi back in our stable and teaming up again with Mark Oswald and Brad Mason and the rest of this Matco team has been incredible. There are so many people who have stuck by us. The TRD support is amazing and Global Electronic Technology coming aboard this year, and Hangsterfer’s has been so loyal to us. Our supporters give us the motivation, and we beat the resistance with persistence. We have a great staff at DSR. We never gave up or quit. We put our heads down and Brian and Mark and the guys just kept marching forward. It feels so good to end the season with a win. We know we have our work cut out for us in ’21. We’re going to keep improving and working hard. We’ve got a great place to start next season. We can run with anybody out there. We just have to get better, be more consistent and do what we do and that’s win rounds. When you win rounds, you win races and when you win races you win championships.”
Antron Brown Hoist the Wally for the First Time This Season, Photo Courtesy of Auto Imagery
As Brown celebrated the victory, Torrence, the Kilgore, Texas native enjoyed the third Top Fuel championship of his career after being runner-up for the third time this season and the 22nd of his career.
“I am excited to win our third championship” he acknowledged, “(but) I’m a big Doug Kalitta fan. I know what it takes to get here, what it takes to be in this position and how hard every one of those guys over there (at Kalitta Racing) work and how hard Doug’s worked. “The amount of time that he’s spent out here, to come up short, not just one time, but so many times, it’s a mixed emotion for me,” he said. “I know where his head’s at right now. I know how he feels. I’m happy for my team and myself, but I was saddened for Doug and that whole Mac Tools team. They fought so hard. They had a great car.”
Torrence also gave credit to his team following his championship-winning victory and dedicated the title-winning effort to Dom Lagana (crew member for Torrence’s team) who was injured in a car accident following the U.S. Nationals event.
“These (Capco boys) spend countless hours and days and weeks working on this race car and then they give it to me with the hopes that I’m going to go do my job,” Torrence said. “(The Nationals), after Dom’s accident, was extremely difficult. I never found myself in an emotionally motivated situation where you’re trying to do it for your brother (who’s) fighting for his life.
“You want nothing more than to win that race for him (but) I went up there and lost on a holeshot (to Leah Pruett). I didn’t take it well,” he admitted. “I didn’t do my job that race but, fortunately, we were able to redirect our focus. “(Through) nothing short of a miracle and the grace of the Good Lord, Dom he said of the younger brother of car chief Bobby Lagana Jr. “He’s gonna be banged up, in bad shape, but we’re gonna do whatever we have to do to get him back out here with us.”
By winning the Top Fuel championship for the third consecutive time, Torrence made history by tying legendary greats Tony Schumacher and Joe Amato as the only driver to win three Top Fuel Championships. Torrence ends the 2020 season with four victories, three runner-ups and three No. 1 qualifiers.
Steve Torrence Wins His Third Top Fuel Championship, Photo Courtesy of NHRA.
Final Top Fuel Results
Antron Brown
Steve Torrence
Justin Ashley
Billy Torrence
Leah Pruett
Clay Millican
Troy Buff
Doug Kalitta
Jim Maroney
Kebin Kinsley
Shawn Langdon
Cameron Ferre
Chris Karamesines
Tony Schumacher
Funny Car
Three drivers had the chance to compete for the 2020 Funny Car Championship heading into the Las Vegas event. To no surprise of anyone, all three drivers running were all Don Schumacher Racing drivers with those being Matt Hagan, Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr. After leaving the SpringNationals event in Houston, those three drivers were separated by 43 points with Ron Capps having the slightest opportunity in fourth, but he would need a lot of help in order to make anything happen.
When Saturday rolled around for qualifying, Capps qualified on the pole for the first time this season and the 25th of his career. Jack Beckman would qualify in the 10th position with Matt Hagan in second and Tommy Johnson Jr. good enough for fourth. As qualifying was completed, Hagan left the sessions with 900 overall points. Johnson Jr. trailed in second, 45 points behind, while Beckman was 52 points back in third. Another interesting item to note, if Hagan and Beckman won their respective rounds, they would end up facing each other.
On Sunday, things took a quick turn for the worse. Hagan was able to accomplish his job and win over No. 16 qualifier Cruz Pedregon by going 3.901 seconds and 328.38 mph to advance to Round 2. Next was Jack Beckman who was squaring off against Paul Lee. In an upset, Lee ended Beckman’s championship chances by eliminating Beckman in the first round. However, Hagan still had to worry about Johnson Jr. who won over Jim Campbell and advanced into the second round.
Hagan and Johnson Jr. continued their winning ways by winning in Round 2 as well as the semifinals. Capps on the other hand was also enjoying success by claiming victories over Chris Morel and J.R. Todd. The most intriguing matchup came in the semifinal as Capps was facing his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. Capps fired off a 3.906 seconds and 329.83 mph over Johnson Jr.’s 3.943 seconds and 324.20 mph to move on to the finals. Unfortunately for Johnson Jr., his championship hopes were dashed as well by being eliminated early.
Meanwhile, in the semifinal for Hagan, he was able to clinch the Funny Car championship with a victory over Alexis Dejoria. This eventually set a final round match between the Don Schumacher cars of Hagan and Capps. As the Christmas tree lights went green, Hagan overcame Capps for the victory as Capps’ car blew up, going up in smoke. The victory was Hagan’s third of the season and the 36th of his career.
“Dodge and the DSR fab shop, they’ve put a great race car underneath us. My crew chief Dickie Venables, I can’t say enough about the guy. He’s won me two world championships (2014, 2020) and we’ve runnered-up a few times. There’s a handful of guys on this team who haven’t won a championship before. I’m just so proud to give them that opportunity and I know how bad everybody wanted it. For us to have won three world championships now in this sport, it’s incredible.
“It all comes back down to my guys and the car they put under me. It’s not just me. I try not to mess it up. This is one of the most humbling sports I’ve been involved in and it always seems to come down to the last race and that certainly doesn’t make me look any younger. Thank you to everyone who supports what we do and we hope we made you proud to be a part of this.”
Matt Hagan Wins the 2020 Funny Car Championship, Photo Courtesy of Auto Imagery.
Hagan, who celebrated for the third time in his career winning the Funny Car Championship, is now tied with drivers Raymond Beadle and Robert Hight.
Capps had to settle for yet again another runner-up finish. The second-place finish was Capps’ 60th of his career.
“What a weekend. It all came to plan. Especially getting the No. 1 qualifying spot and that Camping World hat. We did get a lucky break first round, but Rahn Tobler and the NAPA/Pennzoil guys did a great job turning it back around. It went almost to plan until the final round. The car was running great and I’m not sure what happened, but another one of those pretty big explosions. Thanks to Impact for great safety gear and everyone at the DSR fab shop for mounting a great Dodge body. Two wins this year, some finals, a pole, not a bad 2020 season for this NAPA team.”
All four Don Schumacher Racing cars finished one through fourth in points. Hagan first, Johnson Jr. in second, Beckman in third and Capps in fourth. Schumacher also enjoyed a great season by winning all 11 races.
Final Funny Car Results
Matt Hagan
Ron Capps
Tommy Johnson Jr
Alexis Dejoria
Bob Tasca III
Blake Alexander
J.R. Todd
Paul Lee
Jack Beckman
Cruz Pedregon
Terry Haddock
Tim Wilkerson
Jim Campbell
Steven Densham
Dave Richards
Chris Morel
Pro Stock
In the Pro Stock category, Erica Enders, the three-time Pro Stock Champion, was looking forward to defending her 2019 title. Enders entered the final round with a 55 point advantage over second-place Jason Line. Enders qualified her Chevrolet Camaro in the 12th position after going 6.652 seconds and 205.35 mph. Line qualified in the second position, going 6.635 seconds and 206.39 mph.
Line was set to face Cristian Cuadra in Round 1 while Enders was going to square off against Alex Laughlin in her round. As the time came for Enders to face Laughlin, the Houston, Texas native locked up the Pro Stock title after winning over Laughlin by going 6.662 seconds and 205.47 mph. Line had a losing effort in Round 1 after falling to Cuadra.
Despite winning the title early on, Enders was determined to win the race as well. She would move on to the finals after winning over Troy Coughlin Jr. in the second round and Greg Anderson in the semis to set herself up for a final round match with Kyle Koretsky. When those two met in the finals, it was Koretsky who ended up fouling in the left lane, automatically giving the victory to Enders for the fourth time this season and the 29th of her career. Enders is now a four-time champion after winning titles in 2014, 2015, and most recently, in 2019.
“Being able to lock up our fourth world championship and becoming the winningest of all time for females. Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey mean a lot to me and I’m in good company with them. I’ve not had the best year, but this is a lesson that you dig deep, you fight and pray with all the heart, you have every single chase you get because you never know when it’s your last. Richard Freeman gave me this opportunity and I’m a blessed girl.”
Erica Enders Celebrates Fourth NHRA Pro Stock Championship, Photo Courtesy of Chevy Racing.
Laughlin finishes second in points, just 167 points back of Enders.
Final Pro Stock Results
Erica Enders
Kyle Koretsky
Greg Anderson
Cristian Cuadra
Aaron Stanfield
Troy Coughlin Jr
Bo Butner
Matt Hartford
Deric Kramer
Jason Line
Kenny Delco
Jeg Coughlin
Mason McGaha
Chris McGaha
Aaron Strong
Alex Laughlin
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Last, and certainly not least, was the Pro Stock Motorcycle division. Matt Smith in his DENSO Auto Parts/Stockseth/MSR EBR Motorcycle had to worry about one competitor and that was Scotty Pollacheck, who entered the final event 58 points back from the top spot.
On Saturday, Smith qualified in the second position with a time of 6.821 seconds and 198.38 mph while Pollacheck qualified fourth after setting a time of 6.900 seconds and 196.04 mph.
In the first round on Sunday, Pollacheck won over David Barron by going 7.020 seconds and 191.62 mph. Smith got his victory in Round 1 after winning over two-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey. The victory for Smith set up the second-round match against Andrew Hines, as Pollacheck was set to face Angie Smith. Pollacheck would end up being eliminated by Angie and was unable to move onto any more rounds following the loss.
As for Smith, he got the victory over Hines by going 6.875 seconds and 196.13 mph to advance to the semifinals. By advancing, he would be set to face Steve Johnson in the semifinals. However, Smith would lose the round to Johnson, due to Smith’s bike not going off the starting line. Even though Smith could not race his way into the finals, the second-round win was enough for Smith to win his fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship.
“This was a long hard deal today,” M. Smith said. “That [Vance & Hines] group played their cards right and I had to race them in the first and second rounds. If you want to be the champ you have to beat the champ and I just beat the champ [Hines] to win this, so we are the champions. I can’t thank Denso and Mark Stockseth enough for what they do for me.”
Matt Smith Celebrates Winning the Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship, Photo Courtesy of NHRA.
With winning the championship, Smith now has four titles to his credit and is right up there with names such as Andrew Hines, Dave Schulz and Eddie Krawiec who have four or more championships.
In the final round, Angie Smith rocketed her bike over Steve Johnson to win her first race of the season in just eight starts.
“You never know when you’re going to get back here and I’m so emotional,” A. Smith said. “I want to thank my team. They have built me up and have told me to never give up. This one’s for them.”
Up Next: The NHRA 2020 season is now complete. The focus will now turn to the offseason and the 2021 season which is currently set to open up at the 52nd annual Gatornationals on March 12-14.
