Action during a hot weekend at the Texas Motorplex saw a track speed record fall and points leads in all four professional classes get extended. Races were in the NHRA FallNationals.
In Top Fuel, Doug Kalitta continued his dominating run in the Countdown to the Championship. He advanced to his fourth straight final and captured his second straight race. Kalitta has been in every final in the playoffs so far. Kalitta’s route to the final put him up against Jasmine Salinas in the opening round and Ida Zetterstrom in round two. His semifinal match up would be teammate and second in points Shawn Langdon. Kalitta motored his way past Langdon with a 3.805 at 332.59 mph to Langdon’s tire smoking 4.545 at 193.10 mph. In the final round, Kalitta would square off against Texas native and four-time champion Steve Torrence, who had announced that this race would be his last for the 2025 season and he made the best of it. Torrence gave it a ride with a 3.874 at 317.46 mph but fell short of Kalitta’s 3.777 at 333.04 mph.
Kalitta now has four wins this season and 59 in his career and expanded his points lead to 141 over Justin Ashley with two races remaining.
Brittany Force was once again the car to watch in Top Fuel during Friday night qualifying, Oct. 10 as she and her Monster Energy dragster ripped off a 340.57 mph blast to set the track speed record. She then repeated the effort Sunday morning during round one with a 340.14 mph run. Force is the only driver to run over 340 mph multiple times and at multiple tracks.
In Funny Car, Austin Prock set the perfect weekend as he qualified on the pole Friday night under the lights and was low et of three out of four qualifying sessions. On Sunday, he was et of every round as took down Blake Alexander in round one, Spencer Hyde in the second round and Chad Green in the semifinals to reach the final round. That final round was no exception, as Prock went 3.959 seconds at 328.30 mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to the tire smoking run of 4.405 at 199.80 mph from Ron Capps. This will inch Prock closer to his second Funny Car championship as he came into the weekend with a 20-point lead over Matt Hagan. With a loss in the opening round in Texas, Hagan could do nothing but watch Prock extend the points lead to 112.
This was Prock’s ninth win of the season and the 21st in his career, and his first career victory at the Texas Motorplex.
In Pro Stock, Dallas Glenn moved one step closer to his first world championship. Glenn took down Aaron Stanfield in the finals with a 6.605 at 208.89 to Stanfield’s 6.622 at 208.75 mph. Glenn picked up his seventh win this season. This is his first win at the Texas Motorplex. Glenn extended his points lead to 60 over KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson, who was beaten by Stanfield in the semifinals.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Richard Gadson had an amazing weekend, qualifying on the pole and scored the event win over rookie Brayden Davis in the final round with a run of 6.796 at 200.37 to Davis’s 6.817 at 200.34 mph. Gadson also extended his lead to 72 points over teammate and two-time champion Gaige Herrera.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads next to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 25th annual Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals Oct. 30 through Nov. 2.
