91°µÍø

Texas drag racing fans will get a lot of bang for their buck on Saturday at the Texas 91°µÍø FallNationals with two full qualifying rounds that will set the fields for the critical event, which is the third of six in the Countdown to the championship. Saturday’s packed schedule will also feature the conclusion of the 38th annual JEGS Allstars event, which will crown individual and team champions from ten Lucas Oil Drag Racing series events.

On Friday, track records were shattered in including a 3.633 by four-time champion and native Texan Steve Torrence, who captured the provisional pole in Tip Fuel with his Capco Contractors dragster. Torrence led a pack of 11 drivers in the 3.6s including championship leader Doug Kalitta at 3.542 and Billy Torrence, who is making his first start of the season but showed zero signs of rust with a 3.660 while Justin Ashley, Brittany Force, Mike Salinas, Antron Brown, and Shawn Langdon round out the top eight.

The bump is already a competitive 3.846 by Jacob McNeal with two more runs on Saturday to set the field.

Bob Tasca III checked off a lot of boxes on his list of career achievements with the quickest pass of his career, a 3.822 at 335.55 in his Motorcraft Quick Lane Mustang. Tasca, the incoming championship leader. Knocked Matt Hagan from the top spot after Hagan had earlier run 3.846. Fellow title contenders Ron Capps and Robert Hight are third and fifth respectively with runs of 3.952 and 3.879. John Force, the most successful driver in the history of the Texas Motorplex is settled into the No. 4 spot with a 3.971.

The top eight drivers are all qualified with a 3.912 or quicker with Blake Alexander in the Head Racing/Pronto entry in the middle of the pack.

As one might expect the Pro Stock field is extremely close with just .021-second separating the top eight qualifiers. The field stretches from Deric Kramer’s 6.486 to Val Smeland’s 6.568. After Kramer, title contenders Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield occupy the next two spots with runs of 6.498.

There are 22 Pro Stock cars trying to make the 16 car field so there figures to be a spirited battle at the back of the field to earn a spot in Sunday’s field.

To no one’s surprise, Gaige Herrera leads the way in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a track record and with a 6.689, he’s not likely to surrender the top spot. Vance and Hines teammate Eddie Krawiec is second at 6.727 while Hector Arana Jr. earned some bonus points with a third-best 6.756 on his GETTRX Buell.

Herrera’s closest rival in the points, Matt Smith is No. 8 with a 6.870 on his Denso Suzuki. With a sizable 99 point lead to make up in the standings, Smith may hope to remain No. 8 with the possibility of racing Herrera in round two.

Saturday’s other main attraction will be the conclusion of the annual JEGS Allstars competition. Alcohol racers completed two rounds on Friday with the finals to be run on Saturday. The rest of the Lucas Oil Series classes will complete the event tomorrow with well over $120,000 split between the individual and team winners.

2022 EVENT WINNERS

Justin Ashley, Top Fuel; Ron Capps, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock; Hector Arana Jr., Pro Stock Motorcycle

 MOST VICTORIES

Tony Schumacher, 6, Top Fuel; John Force 7, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, 6, Pro Stock; Eddie Krawiec, Jerry Savoie, 3, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.636 seconds by Steve Torrence, Oct. '23; 338.40 mph by Justin Ashley, Oct. ‘23

Funny Car - 3.822 seconds by Bob Tasca III, Oct. '23; 338.60 mph by Robert Hight, Oct. '17

Pro Stock - 6.457 seconds by Greg Anderson, Oct. '15; 214.59 mph by Greg Anderson, Oct. ’15.

Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.689 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Oct. ‘22; 203.62 mph by Matt Smith, Oct. 22.

NATIONAL RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '19, Reading, Pa.; 338.94 mph by Brittany Force, Nov. ‘22, Pomona, Calif.

Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 339.87 mph by Robert Hight, July ’17, Sonoma, Calif.

Pro Stock - 6.450 sec. by Erica Enders, March '22, Gainesville, Fla.; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May '14, Englishtown, N.J.

EVENT SCHEDULE (Eastern Time)

SATURDAY, October 14

Lucas Oil Series Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8 a.m.
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

SUNDAY, October 15

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series eliminations at noon

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, October 15, FS1 will televise two hours minutes of pro qualifying coverage at 1:00 p.m. ET

SUNDAY, October. 15, FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at3 p.m. ET

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