The NHRA Mission Foods drag racing series brought its thundering ground-pounding show to the Sonoma wine country for the 36th time, with the Denso Nationals at the famed Sonoma Raceway, July 26 through 28. This season marked the return of all four of the main professional categories of Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and the Pro Stock Motorcycles.
The event featured some upsets, a new face in the Top Fuel category and the absence of one of the greatest in the sport of NHRA drag racing, John Force. For the first time in the three-plus decades that the NHRA drag racing series has been run at this track, Force was not able to attend, following a horrific 302 mph crash at an event about a month earlier at Virginia Motorsport Park. His engine exploded, as his car neared the finish line, causing the body to break and fold down on itself, while staying attached the car. Due to this, the parachutes failed to deploy (and/or could not be deployed) and Force was not able to visually see where he was going. The car crossed from the right lane to the left lane, where he contacted the wall at about 302 mph. Thanks to much of the safety design and equipment installed on the cars today (many developed by his team, following Eric Medlen’s fatal accident in 2007), Force survived, though very seriously injured. The investigations are still on going, as to why the parachutes did not deploy, so as to insure against similar accidents from happening in the future. Force is recovering and resting at his west coast home. At 75 years of age, Force has always kept himself in the best of physical condition, but his mending process will be a long one. As far as driving his race car again, there is no definitive word in either direction, at this time, but his health progress is going well; as per periodic updates from his family.
The event before this one, in Seattle, featured the end of an 11-event winning streak in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category by Gaige Herrera, as he was beaten in the final round by Chase Van Sant. And then, there was the continuing progress of Tony Stewart in the Top Fuel category. Stewart has previously won at Sonoma Raceway, in NASCAR at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in 2016. His progress in the Top Fuel class is improving quickly, though really not too much of a surprise, as he can literally drive the wheels off any car (or motorcycle) he has raced with.
Doug Kalitta (2023 champion) led the qualifying in the Top Fuel category at Sonoma with a 3.649 at 336.40 mph effort. In a major surprise upset, local part-time racer, Ron August Jr., defeated Kalitta in the opening round of competition. Due to the short field (14 cars on 16-car ladder), August received a bye run in to the semi-final, where he was taken out be Top Fuel rookie, Tony Stewart. There were quite a few great performances during the event by Brittany Force, Steve Torrence and Doug Kalitta, as all three ran 3.6 second zone runs. In eliminations, Antron Brown and Steve Torrence sort of stole the show as both drivers ran 3.747 seconds (332.43 mph-Torrence, 333.74 mph-Brown) with Brown taking the win light based on his 0.71 to 0.079 reaction time advantage (0.009 second MOV). In the final round, Brown defeated Stewart, 3.7846 at 329.71 mph to 3.774 at 321.73 mph. Just for reference, Stewart left first with a 0.071 to 0.078 reaction time advantage. It was Stewart’s first Top Fuel final round appearance and probably not his last.
In Funny Car, Austin Prock has been the talk of the town all season. Driving the car Robert Hight would normally be driving (Hight is out for the season recovering from some personal medical issues), Prock has the series point lead, having won four events. But, Bob Tasca III has also been a big presence in the class, with his speed performances. He unofficially clocked a 341-mph speed during a special pre-season race event earlier this year. He kept his presence known by taking the pole and running 3.839 at 337.66 mph. He then went 338.77 mph in eliminations, defeating Prock on a hole-shot (0.022 to 0.053) 3.931 at 336.15 mph to 3.901 at 333.99 mph in the semi-finals. In the final round Tasca claimed his third season victory over Ron Capps, as both cars lost traction during the run, 4.085 at 277.15 mph to 4.729 at 175.59 mph.
In Pro Stock, it has often been Erica Enders and Greg Anderson that lead the stories. Anderson qualified on the pole and Enders qualified fifth. Enders was taken out by (teammate) Aaron Stanfield on a 0.016 to 0.041 hole shot in round two. Anderson fared better, but lost to Stanfield in the semi-finals, when his car ‘broke’ on the launch. In the final Stanfield took out Pro Stock class rookie Cory Reed (Pro Stock Motorcycle racer last season), 6.540 at 209.98 mph to 6.557 at 209.65 mph for his third win of the season (11th of career). Parity in this category is growing.
Pro Stock Motorcycle was becoming known as the “Gaige Herrera show”, as he won 11 straight events going into the Northwest Nationals a week earlier in Kent, Washington. But that win streak was ended by Chase Van Sant. At Sonoma, class rival Matt Smith captured the pole and ran the short field ladder (12 motorcycles on a 16-bike ladder) gauntlet, as he and his team spent much of the previous three weeks finding more performance. In round two, Herrera lost to John Hall, 6.741 at 201.94 mph to 6.847 at 200.41 mph. In the final, Smith defeated Hall for his first win of the season (39th career) with a 6.700 at 203.77 mph to 6.746 at 200.26 mph performance.
