What's New in the World of Drag Racing - UPDATED: September 6, 2023

The latest update as of September 6, 2023

DODGE Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals - ELIMINATIONS

After a few dramatic moments in the final qualifying sessions, four full fields of PRO drivers and crews anxiously awaited the start of one gruelling day of final eliminations. For half the contestants their six-day odyssey of the U.S. Nationals would come to an early end in the next hour but for the first round winners, another hour or two or three of hard work and close competition lay ahead. While we don't have pics of every car that went down the track on Monday, we've provided a wide cross-section of racers in all four categories.

TOP FUEL Eliminations - Round ONE

(LEFT) With some of the best atmospheric and track conditions of the weekend, the #8 vs #9 pairing opened Top Fuel eliminations, Driving the "Kalitta Air" entry, Shawn Langdon prevailed in this match against Josh Hart (not shown), despite a misfiring cylinder that limited him to a 3.809 - 315.71 clocking.

(RIGHT) The underdog extraordinaire from Chicago, T. J. Zizzo, running with "Rustoleum" backing, came into the first round with lane choice, but left late and smoked the tires early, falling to Clay Millican (not shown) with a coasting 4.348 - 183.59 effort. After running so well in qualifying, with a 3.736 - 330.07 in Friday's first session, this loss had to be a major diappointment.

(LEFT) The first upset of the round came next, as #2 qualifier, Brittany Force, left with opponent Antron Brown (not shown) and was side-by-side with him at the 660' mark, before exploding the supercharger and slowing to a losing 3.870 at only 244.21 mph. For Brown, after nothing but struggles in qualifying, to get past a very tough opponent in the first round was quite a turnaround

(RIGHT) Another racer that doesn't run on a regular basis, with the U.S. Nationals being just his sixth race of the season, is Doug Foley, sporting the colours of "Alloy". He improved on his qualifying best, pounding out a 3.763 - 317.87 against Justin Ashley (not shown), but it was all undone by a slightly late leave. Giving Ashley a seven hundredths advantage in reaction times is usually a fatal mistake, and this time it certainly was.

(LEFT) With owner Pat Dakin content to be on the sidelines, Spencer Massey ran well in qualifying, dipping into the 3.70's with the "Commercial Metals" car. He stayed in the 3.7-zone, with a very good 3.798 - 326.95, but it wasn't quite enough to stay with Doug Kalitta (not shown). Both drivers left together, but Kalitta's low e.t. of the meet 3.692 was simply too good.

(RIGHT) Qualifying for the first time in his nascent Top Fuel career, former A/Fuel Dragster racer Will Smith wheeled the Larry Dixon-owned "Band of Brothers" entry to a 3.822 - 312.78 to hold down the bump spot. He nearly matched those numbers in the opening round, with a solid 3.830 - 309.42, and a quicker reaction (.033) time than his opponent, Steve Torrence, (not shown). But it wasn't enough to stay with the former world champion.

Even though it was before noon, the exhaust flames were clearly visible on the Tony Schumacher driven "Scag" entry, and it was a good precursor to a solid 3.770 - 326.00, his best of the event. He even left first by a few thousandths on opponent Doug Kalitta (not shown), but the margin at the finish line was .005 seconds in Kalitta's favour, and a 3-ft win, by far the closest race of the round.

FUNNY CAR Eliminations - Round ONE

(LEFT) Funny Car's ultimate underdog, Terry Haddock, who virtually trademarked the phrase "I'm too stupid to quit" has come a long way from his "cannon fodder" days. With expert tuning assistance from Johnny West, he's qualified at nine of the ten events he's entered this season. A solid 4.0 performer, he stayed right there with a 4.060 - 300.80 (shutting off a little early), but it was several car lengths behind opponent Bob Tasca III (not shown).

(RIGHT) A part-timer, partly due to his college studies, and partly due to a less than gargantuan budget, second-generation flopper pilot Bobby Bode III came into eliminations without a full pass on his qualifying card. He ran into the same problems that beset him in qualifying, running well to half track, before slowing to a losing 4.187 - 253.90 against a much quicker and faster effort from Alexis DeJoria (not shown).

(LEFT) Low qualifier Robert Hight, matched his qualifying speed with a 329.67 mph run, but fell just a tad short on e.t. with a 3.889 being just a few ticks slower than his #1 qualifying 3.853. Even though he left second to opponent Paul Lee (not shown), he ran away to a train length victory over Lee's low 4-second pass.

(RIGHT) Starting eliminations from the #4 qualifying position, Matt Hagan put the power down all the way to the stripe, notching a very quick and fast 3.914 - 329.91 to easily dispose of Alex Laughlin (not shown). With Ron Capps running in the next pair, and the winner of that match being Hagan's opponent in the second round, the DODGE team was hoping they were quick enough to hold lane choice.

(LEFT) With a Don "The Snake" Prudhomme wrap on the car, and the man himself standing behind the starting line, Ron Capps had to be feeling the pressure to live up to his mentor's success at Indy. It didn't faze him as he pounded out a 3.894 - 326.87 to take lane choice in the next round. But as good as the run was, it was only the third quickest of the round to that point.

(RIGHT) Facing an opponent that he's been running against for 30 years, John Force was hoping to keep his winning record against Cruz Pedregon going, but it wasn't to be as Pedregon left first by a couple of hundredths, then outran the "GOAT" to the finish line, for a car length victory. Force's 3.998 - 318.69 just wasn't enough on race day.

(LEFT) A quick reaction time and strong run until just before the finish line was enough for J.R. Todd to advance to the second round. Leaving on opponent Blake Alexander (not shown) by half a tenth and pounding out a 3.913 at 304.19 was enough to take the win over Alexander's solid 3.972 - 324.83 effort. Todd='s e.t. gave lane choice to Bob Tasca III in the next round.

(RIGHT) Closing out the round was the pairing of the two "Team Wilkerson" cars, with Tim facing Chad Green (not shown). It turned into the closest race of the round as Green's .034 reaction time gave him a very short-lived lead, to the 60' mark, before Wilkerson took over and hung on for the half car length win with a very good 3.913 - 329.58 over Green's close 3.989 - 328.94 pass. Wilkerson's run wasn't quick enough to give him lane choice for his second round match with Robert Hight.

PRO STOCK Eliminations - Round ONE

(LEFT) As usually happens, the #8 and #9 qualifiers faced off in the opening pairing of eliminations. The race turned into a solo for Camrie Caruso as her scheduled opposition, Cristian Caudra, (not shown) left a huge oildown on his burnout. The culprit was the filler cap on the rear end fell off and the resulting cleanup took nearly a full hour, most likely the longest of the entire season. Meanwhile, Caruso cruised into the quarter final round with a solid 6.630 - 206.51 to kick off Pro Stock eliminations.

(RIGHT) The second Caudra driver in the field, Fernando Caudra Jr. had a much better result as his decent 6.652 - 205.41 was more than enough to handle the tractionless Bo Butner (not shown). However, it wasn't likely that Caudra's run would give him lane choice in the next round, and with the oiled down lane possibly suspect, it might prove difficult for anyone forced to run there.

(LEFT) Facing the wiley veteran Greg Anderson (not shown), young Kyle Koretsky took an easy win when Anderson shut off at the 1000' mark, allowing an unspectacular 6.639 - 206.32 pass for Koretsky to turn on the winlight. With the quicker qualifiers running later in the first round, lane choice might not be going to Koretsky in the second round.

(RIGHT) Coming into Indy with four wins and seven final round appearances in 11 races, Dallas Glenn was well in front of the points standings, but he only qualified in the #5 position, earning him a tough first round match with Deric Kramer (not shown). Both drivers launched with nearly identical reaction times, but Glenn's 6.631 - 206.45 earned him a .0035 winning margin, a gap at the finish line of barely one foot.

(LEFT) One of the serious contenders this season, Matt Hartford qualified on top of the field with an excllent 6.569, earning him a first round matchup with young Mason McGaha (not shown). When the ambers flashed, it was over very quickly as McGaha ran into instant trouble and Hartford motored away with the quickest and fastest run - so far - in the first round. The scoreboards lit up with a 6.613 - 206.83 to give him lane choice over Camrie Caruso in the next round.

(RIGHT) The defending series champion, Erica Enders, rebounded from a terrible opening quarter of the season, with wins in two of the last five races coming into the U.S. Nationals, and showed she was ready to rumble with a first round win over Chris McGaha (not shown), in a surprising close race. Erica left first and finished first with a very good 6.618 - 208.17 to take a slightly more than half car length win over the Texas veteran. Her e.t. also earned her lane choice over Dallas Glenn in the second round.

(LEFT) The next race was virtually over when they let the clutch out, as Aaron Stanfield put a full tenth of a second holeshot on Eric Latino (not shown), before running away to a two car-length win. Stanfield stopped the timers with low e.t. and top speed of the first round, at 6.613 - 208.26 to grant him lane choice over Koretsky in round two.

(RIGHT) Closing out the first round of eliminations was a pairing of the #2 and #15 qualifiers, and it went according to form, with Troy Coughlin Jr. taking a car length victory over the good effort of Jerry Tucker (not shown). They both left with nearly identical lights, but Coughlin's much better 6.619 - 207.59 was more than enough to turn on the winlight. It also gave him lane choice over Fernando Caudra Jr. in the next round.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Eliminations - Round ONE

We will admit that we're not major fans of the two-wheeled racers, but all the teams and riders are professional and put on a very good show for the fans. Some close racing and impressive performance are hallmarks of the class. However, this year has seen virtually total dominance from the Vance & Hines team, with sophomore racer Gaige Herrara notching six wins and a runnerup in the eight races before the U.S. Nationals.