The 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway produced some exciting racing and changes to the pecking order in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock this past weekend. While Saturday’s activities ran late, thanks to persistent rain showers, both Friday qualifying and Sunday eliminations went on to schedule, for the most part.
Winners were Justin Ashley in Top Fuel, Blake Alexander in Funny Car and Dallas Glenn in Pro Stock. How they arrived at the Winner’s Circle is, as ever, the tale of the tape. With two qualifying sessions Friday and Saturday, the latter combined with Mission’s #2Fast2Tasty Challenge races for Sonoma’s semifinalists, there was plenty to engage the fans. A spot of rain on Saturday lengthened the second day, when Sonoma winner Antron Brown in Top Fuel, Austin Prock’s Funny Car and five-time Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson took the Mission honors. Prock ran the table, also qualifying first in his John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS, while four-time Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence and Elite Motorsport’s Jerry Tucker earned their No. 1 slots for Sunday’s eliminations.
There are no guarantees in motorsports, and Sunday’s four rounds of eliminations provided winners who might not have been the top choices on fans’ dance cards. Proving that this time of year is a good time to have momentum, SCAG Racing’s Justin Ashley earned his third 2024 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series win light in that team’s animalistic nod to Brainerd International Raceway’s ‘Zoo” while Jim Head’s Blake Alexander took over Funny Car in his Ford Mustang, earning a bit of redemption after a massive engine explosion at Sonoma, the previous race.
For KB Titan Racing’s Dallas Glenn, it was good to get back to the Winner’s Circle after a few months that were ‘off” events. Taking his second straight win at Brainerd, Glenn defeated Mason McGaha in the final round after that driver was unable to mount a necessary charge. Glenn, victorious for the first time since Joliet in May, earned his third win of the 2024 campaign and 11th of his stellar career. Glenn prevailed over KB Titan Racing’s Eric Latino, Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield (the latter two Elite Motorsports racers) before meeting the second-generation independent Pro Stock racer.
“It feels really good,” Glenn admitted after McGaha ran into trouble early. “I went to three finals in that six-race streak where they kept winning. It was definitely good to finally seal the deal. We made a really nice run there in the final, even though I kind of got caught with my pants down on the tree (his RT was .066 to McGaha’s .011-sec). This is a big Pro Stock area,” Glenn said, acknowledging the fact that team leader Greg Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier is from Minnesota. “People around here definitely show up for this race. They support it and it’s really great seeing the stands packed and everybody up against the fence cheering every run you go up and down!”
Glenn led his class coming into this race and leads it even more coming out of Minnesota. Anderson is second, Enders third, followed by Stanfield, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr. in sixth place, all locked into the Countdown to the Championship that commences at Reading in September. Jerry Tucker, the No. 1 qualifier (who exited in the first round), Cristian Cuadra, Deric Kramer and Eric Latino round out the top 10, with Mason McGaha just 18 points out of tenth place. The weekend was notable in that all three of the Cuadra Pro Stock family of Pro Stock racers, Fernando Cuadra Jr. and twins Cristian and David Cuadra, all made it out of the first round. This is the first time in NHRA history that three siblings have prevailed in first-round races.
For Alexander, his fourth career NHRA victory and second In Funny Car was great redemption for the small team fielded by veteran Jim Head. Defeating Dave Richards/‘Toyota Camry, Jack Beckman substituting for the team leader in John Force Racing’s Chevrolet Camaro SS, a fouling Chad Green’s Mustang in the semifinals and four-time Funny Car champ Matt Hagan’s Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the final round when his opponent fouled at the start line.
The win places Alexander seventh in the pecking order of Austin Prock, Bob Tasca III, Hagan, J.R. Todd, John Force/Jack Beckman and Ron Capps, with Daniel Wilkerson, Green and Paul Lee comprising the balance of the top 10 in this class. At this time, only the first four are locked into NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship that begins after Labor Day weekend’s 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
“Sonoma,” Alexander said, “was the hardest race I’ve ever had in my career. Then to come here and have one of the best races I’ve ever had in my career, it means a lot. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I know that when I’m on, I’m one of the top guys out here. I know when I’m not on, just like anyone else. I can be a problem for my race team. So I’m trying to keep it tight, four straight runs every single time. Saying that is really easy to do, but doing that is really hard,” he remarked.
In winning his eighth Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday and earning his No. 1 qualifier for Sunday’s eliminations, Austin Prock solidified his status as No. 1 seed in the Countdown to the Championship, despite his unusual showing in the second round of eliminations, where he left after a reaction time of .116-sec, allowing Kalitta Motorsports’ J.R. Todd to nab the win by .006-sec. “It’s embarrassing and it sucks for my team,” Prock said. “They tell you a good-running race car is the hardest one to drive, because all you can do is mess it up. I’ve been doing a good job of not (messing it up) but right now, I look like an idiot.”
Last year, the Top Fuel regular season belonged to Justin Ashley and his Mike Green and Tommy DeLago-led crew. They were top-notch through Indy and then, well, it was Kalitta Motorsports and Doug Kalitta who excelled when the championship was on the line. This regular season has been a fairly quiet one for Ashley, who has performed well but not exceptionally so. The 2024 regular season has, to this point, pretty much been a Kalitta Motorsports affair, with both the reigning titleholder and teammate Shawn Langdon racking up the elimination victories and being consistent round winners.
While Ashley earned his third victory of the 2024 campaign on Sunday in the team’s Cheetah II and Turf Tiger II-adorned Toyota dragster over Langdon, he holds third place behind the Michigan-based duo. Still, in his final round against Langdon, Ashley led from lights out to lights on over the 1,000-foot dragstrip, earning his 14th career victory after beating a smoking Billy Torrence, Tony Stewart – who suffered the same tire smoke – and Josh Hart, racing in his first semifinal of the year. It was Ashley’s first win since April and he was grateful. “Everything that we’ve done throughout the entire regular season so far has been done with intent and purpose,” Ashley explained.
“We want to win each and every race that we go to, but ultimately, it’s about positioning ourselves well for Indy and beyond. We broke out a new car this weekend and kudos to Mike and Tommy. They did an amazing job,” he said. “The car went up and down the track every time today. There’s just something about a new chassis that feels great. There’s going to be ups and downs, it’s about staying level-headed.” With this new chassis, Ashley and his team produced four rounds of competition in the 3.7-second range, from first to final rounds.
The final round appearance by both Ashley and Langdon marked 36 consecutive NHRA races where the Japanese manufacturer has gone to the finals in either Top Fuel and/or Funny Car. This was Toyota’s fifth straight NHRA victory and 13th in the last 14 NHRA events. Toyota has all five Countdown clinching drivers in its stables: Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, Ashley, Steve Torrence and Antron Brown. Still looking for their Countdown spots are Clay Millican, Tony Stewart, Tony Schumacher, Billy Torrence and Brittany Force. Ida Zetterstrom, who made her NHRA debut at this race, qualified 14th and raced No. 1 Steve Torrence in the first round to a holeshot win (3.773/320.81 to 3.750/321.35. She ran unopposed in the quarterfinals and was out at the lights in the third round when she left too early. “I’ve never gone red before,” she admitted. “For some reason my foot went before my mind told me to.”
What’s up next? It’s the 70th annual Big Go, the Super Bowl of straight-line racing, held at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, IN. That’s where the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge will be held, with winnings and points distributed post-race for all of the drivers who’ve qualified for the regular season race within each race. There’s also the Sox & Martin NHRA HEMI Challenge, scheduled for August 30th as the weekend gets underway for the pro classes.
Who will rise at Indy? Everyone wants to win this one and each team pulls out all the stops to achieve a trip to the Winners Circle at Indy. With so many spots still open in the Countdown and with seeding to complete, not only will this 70th Big Go be the most action-filled contest of the year, it’s bound to be an emotional week of drag racing.
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