91做厙

NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Langdon, Prock, Enders, and Herrera sit atop final Gatornationals fields

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Austin Prock (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all qualified No. 1 at the first of 21 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
09 Mar 2024
NHRA National Dragster staff
Race coverage
Shawn Langdon

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Austin Prock (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all qualified No. 1 at the first of 21 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

Langdon earned his first No. 1 spot since 2020, closing out qualifying with a 3.682 at 334.15 under the lights in his 11,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Careers Toyota dragster. After naming Brian Husen crew chief heading into the season, Langdon is already off to a great start, making a pair of runs in the 3.60s this weekend. Hell now look to pick up his first win since the 2020 NHRA U.S. Nationals as well.

That just shows the changes weve made, with Brian coming in, the changes have shown great rewards so far, Langdon said. Brian has a really good control of the car right now. Its really cool to see and Im really proud of him. Im excited that he has this opportunity and Im really lucky to be his driver. We know what this team is capable, so were looking forward to a great year.

Langdon took the second spot with a 3.690 at 333.08 and defending event winner Mike Salinas qualified third after going 3.705. Tony Stewart qualified ninth in his Top Fuel debut with a 3.725 310.34.

In Funny Car, Prock maintained the No. 1 spot on the strength of Fridays track-record run of 3.820-seconds at 334.65 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS. It was a sterling qualifying performance in his first 91做厙 Funny Car race, as Prock made three strong passes heading into eliminations, where hell face off with John Smith in the opening round.

Im very excited for tomorrow. We really couldnt have done much better, Prock said. Im happy with this No. 1 qualifier and were really going to have to see what it looks like in the morning. If the track is like what it was today or Friday, youre going to be throwing Hail Marys. Im really looking forward to getting out there in my first 91做厙 Funny Car start and get this car in the winners circle.

Bob Tasca III stayed second with his 3.829 at 337.75, also setting a new track speed record on Saturday after going 338.09. Ron Capps took the third position with a 3.871 at 333.00.

Erica Enders stayed No. 1 in Pro Stock, picking up her 35th career top qualifier, after going 6.549 at 208.10 in her Johnsons Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/SCAG Power Equipment car. Shell open up eliminations against Kelley Murphy and has a great opportunity to win the Gatornationals for the first time.

Weve got a really great race car this weekend, so it seems to be translating very well, Enders said. But theres a lot of really great cars out there and great drivers, so we just have to put our heads down and go to work, and hope for no parts failures or weird things happening. But I feel good and I feel confident in the cockpit.

Enders Elite Motorsports teammate Cristian Cuadra stayed second after a run of 6.552 at 209.10 on Friday and Dallas Glenns 6.556 at 208.59 gave him the third slot.
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Gaige Herrera improved on Fridays two runs, taking his 10th straight No. 1 qualifier on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki with a run of 6.746 at 200.50. It continues a remarkable run for the defending event winner, who won his first race in the class a year ago in Gainesville. Hell look to repeat that on Sunday, opening eliminations against Joey Gladstone.

Im very pleased and we were happy to improve a little bit, Herrera said. Im feeling comfortable and confident going into tomorrow. Its very cool to come back here and start off where we left off to end last year. Ive got to give all the credit to my team. They havent missed a beat, so it feels good to come back here and basically start like we did last year.

Matt Smith improved to a 6.768 at 202.45 to stay second, while LE Tonglet qualified third with a 6.771 at 197.88.

Eliminations for the 55th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday at Gainesville Raceway.