Funny Car
The top two drivers in the NHRA Funny Car standings met in the semifinals Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Heading into the week Austin Prock led with 1044 points, 256 points ahead of Bob Tasca III, who’s first round 338.77 was the top speed of the weekend in the division. Tasca III beat Prock off the line by .022, and after losing the lead heading into the midsection was able to outpace Prock’s Camaro and sneak across the line with a .03 second lead, securing his place in the final.
Tasca III faced Ron Capps in the final and prevailed with a 4.088 ET after Capps stepped off the pedal due to tire slippage at around half-track leaving Tasca III to coast to a victory with a less-than-normal run where he also had to step off the throttle well before the finish line. Tasca’s 4.088 run time would not have gotten him through Saturday qualifying, but it was good enough for another series victory, one that his team hopes will keep him close to the point leader Prock to challenge for the title down the stretch.
Tasca III said he was surprised at the final outcome, “I was transitioning to the finish line and it was pulling great, and I didn’t hear him [Capps], I didn’t see him. Then it knocks the tire off and, oh my god. You have no idea how that feels sitting in the car. Your heart falls to your stomach. I rolled out. I rolled back in, and I looked out the side window, and I figured that he was probably in trouble as well,” he said.
Top Fuel
Despite having a record-breaking run on Saturday, Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta had a rough start and lost in the first round to Ron August Junior. Tony “Smoke” Stewart then won against August Jr.
Smoke used his legendary NASCAR skills to the fullest, making it to the finals, but couldn’t get the win from Antron Brown who took the Wally. Stewart was able to beat Brown off the line but Brown reached a top speed about 8 mph faster than Stewart at 329 mph to finish in 3.746 ET.
This is Brown’s third win of the season and fifth at the Sonoma Raceway. “If you want to go somewhere to race and want to know what a piece of heaven feels like, come to Sonoma Raceway. At night the track gets crispy cool, and you can run really, really good,” Brown said. He said Sonoma Raceway is the time racers need to start peaking if they want to win the championship. “That’s what we came here to do. We’re racing here. No more testing. No more tuning. We’re here to start polishing our [racing] package and make it right on point. And that’s what this racetrack brings out of us. It makes me feel calm, relaxed
Reflecting on his win against Stewart, Brown said that he expects to see Stewart in the winners circle “multiple times” soon.
“I always had a great deal of respect for Tony Stewart. He’s one of my heroes in NASCAR,” Brown said. “He is a student to anything that he drives. He learns it. He understands the science behind it and manipulates it to make it better.”
Pro Stock
Jeg Coughlin Jr. answered the call-out loss to his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. yesterday by taking him out in the first round of eliminations.
Cory Reed picked up his first three wins Sunday on his way to the finals, however he ultimately lost the Wally to Aaron Stanfield, who finished with a 6.540 ET at 209.98 mph.
This was Stanfield’s 3rd win in the last four races and he attributed his performance to his team.
“They push me to be the best, and when I see how badly they want to win it pushes me even more to want to win,” he said. He also dedicated his win to Tim “The Iceman” Kelly who had recently died due to a bout with cancer.
“We were racing with him in our hearts today and it feels really good to get that [win] today in honor of him,” Stanfield said.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
The last two weeks brought some much needed parity to the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle division. Last week in Seattle, Chase Van Sant ended Gaige Herrera’s 11 race win streak, and today John Hall of Matt Smith’s DENSO racing team knocked out Herrera in the quarterfinals, despite Herrera’s .001 reaction time. In a Zoom call with NHRA and Pro Stock Motorcycle racing teams last week, Smith called out the lack of parity and even threatened to pull his five bikes out of a division that only ran twelve riders this week.
Smith had a strong showing throughout the weekend. He knocked off Van Sant in the quarterfinals, securing a third-round bye and a spot in the finals. Hall beat Hector Arana Jr. in the semifinals to set up a showdown in the final with his teammate. Smith won the final for his first win of the season with a 6.700 ET run, edging out Hall’s 6.746. Hall beat Smith off the line with a .034 reaction time to Smith’s .044, but Smith took over after the 660 ft. mark and powered past his teammate for the victory.
Smith still hopes to challenge for his seventh career title this season. “We’re jelling going into Indy and the countdown and I think they know we’re here,” he said. “If I get to that magic number seven, I promise you I will put a young gun on [his] bike, and you’ll see what a young gun can do on it.”
He praised his team, who were able to prepare the V-Twin motor of his bike, which tends to run best at high altitudes, to run well at the sea-level Sonoma Raceway. He also accredited some of his speed to the geography of the raceway itself. “When we get that tailwind, we run big [fast] speeds out here,” he said.
He continued the post race interview by expressing dissatisfaction regarding the controversy within the division, as the Vance-Hines team has dominated the season. “It’s Andrew Hines. Hines threw every rider in our class under the bus. He said the reason they’re the best in the class is Gaige Herrera. It’s not Gaige Herrera. It’s the bike itself,” Smith said, “Gaige is a great rider. Don’t get me wrong, but he’s no better than me. He’s no better than Richard Gadson. He’s no better than Joey Gladstone, or Chase Van Sant, in my opinion.”
NHRA resumes August 15 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota.
NHRA will return next year to Sonoma Raceway on July 25, 2025.
