The 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals brought many tuning challenges for the NHRA tuners, especially in the nitro classes. Hosted July 24 through 26 in Washington, it was a fast-paced event.
On Friday, the temperatures were warm and the track hot, requiring a lot of finesse by the crew chiefs and tuners, to get the most out of their cars. Saturday brought better conditions throughout the day, leading to better performances. Then on race day Sunday, conditions moved around each round between pairings, giving the crew chiefs a lot of curves to deal with. In the end, the lanes were pretty equal and consistency was more important than just being quicker and faster.
In Top Fuel, Josh Hart, who opened the season with a win in Gainesville, has struggled since then. The car that was feared by the competition, having the most 340 plus mph performances in the NHRA, has struggled. It started making a return in Seattle, as Hartford took the pole position with a 3.685 at 335.40 mph qualifying effort. In eliminations he went 3.670 at 336.15 mph on a first round bye, then 3.834 at 324.27 mph defeating Tony Stewart, 4.617 at 178.52 mph. After losing lane choice, Hart was defeated by Leah Pruett 3.717 at 332.51 mph to 3.777 at 331.61 mph. They left together, as Pruett advanced to the final round, taking out Will Smith, Justin Ashley and then Hart along the way. On the other side of the ladder, Doug Kalitta marched from the number three spot, past Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas and Antron Brown to advance to the final round, setting the low elapse time of the event (and eliminations) with a 3.669 second pass in the opening round against Reed. He also took the top speed of the event with a 338.43 mph pass in qualifying. In the final, Kalitta got away first (0.061 to 0.071) and never looked back, as he thundered to a 3.667 at 338.43 mph to 3.689 at 333.49 mph win over Pruett. It was his second consecutive win, sweeping the two-race Western swing. It was the 60th win of his career, and his second of the season. He now sits just five points behind teammate, Shawn Langdon, who lost in the opening round, in the Championship points battle. The event win, alongside JR Todd’s in Funny Car, gave team Kalitta their first double up of the season.
In the Funny Car category, JR Todd and his DHL team had the car to beat. After scoring the top qualifying spot with a 3.885 at 335.73 mph effort, he marched past Jeff Arend, Sonoma winner Jordan Vandergriff and Matt Hagan to advance to the final round.
On the other side of the ladder, Fast Jack Beckman qualified second and ran two consecutive 3.89 second runs to get past Tim Gibbons and Cruz Pedregon. In the semifinals, he squared off in the big match up against one-time JFR teammate, JFR driver and reigning two-time champ Austin Prock. Beckman ran quicker, 3.918 at 325.92 mph to 3.937 at 327.66 mph, but Prock got away first (0.046 to 0.076) to take a hole-shot win and a trip to the final round.
In the final, Prock left early (-0.005 seconds) to draw the red bulb, handing the win to JR Todd, who scored a 3.941 at 334.90 mph vs Prock’s 3.955 at 320.74 mph effort for his 23rd career win in Funny Car and first of the season.
The top three drivers in the Funny Car points race are Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and JR Todd.
In the Pro Stock class, the KD Titan powered cars of Greg Anderson, Dallas Glenn and Matt Hartford scored the top three spots. Six of the top eight cars were powered by KD Titan engines. Glenn appeared to be on his way to a final round, taking out Mason McGaha and Troy Coughlin, Jr. with ease. Then he met up with Sonoma winner Greg Stanfield and it was Stanfield who left first (0.016 to 0.031) and never looked back, taking a 6.508 at 211.03 mph to 6.514 at 210.73 mph win, advancing to a final round match up with Greg Anderson.
In the final, it was over in 0.008 seconds as Stanfield left too soon (-0.008 seconds) to be rewarded with a red-light (foul out). Anderson collected his 115th career win with a 6.508 at 211.00 mph run. Stanfield shut off early to a 15.183 at 65.86 mph. This was Anderson’s 12th win this season. He leads the points raced by eight over Glenn and 158 over Stanfield.
The next event is in Brainerd, Minnesota and followed by the Indy Nationals over the Labor Day Weekend. Indy represents the end of the regular season, with the six-event playoffs starting one week later.
