91����

Friday’s opening qualifying runs at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals produced some of the quickest elapsed times and fastest speeds of the season and Saturday’s final two sessions promises to deliver more of the same.

After missing the Norwalk event, Brittany Force needs a strong finish to the regular season in order to maintain her spot in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The Monster Energy team delivered on Friday with a 3.668 run that is currently good for No. 2. It was the quickest run of the year for the two-time world champion.

“I don’t know if we’re back,” said co-crew chief John Collins of the first day’s results, “but it’s getting a little better. We were trying to run a little quicker than that, you know. A.J. (Alan Johnson, tuner on Doug Kalitta’s dragster, which set the pace at 3.649 seconds) made a good run. We were trying to go to No. 1, but we’re happy with that.”

***

Noticeably absent from Friday’s second Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying session was championship leader and reigning world champion Gaige Herrera, who also happens to be the top seed in Saturday’s GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar NHRA Callout event. Herrera enters the day far down the order, as he’s 12th out of the 12 bikes in Sonoma. So, what gives?

“It’s totally on me,” said crew chief Andrew Hines. “I dropped the ball on the tune-up. I got a few parameters wrong and the bike would start, but it wouldn’t take any throttle. It’s not ideal because we used the first session to test and didn’t get down the track so we don’t have much data for today.”

Hines didn’t seem to lack for confidence as the Vance & Hines team not only decided to call out Matt Smith for today’s GETTRX Callout event, but they’ve also chosen to be the first pair out.

“If this bike does what it’s supposed to, we should be able to run a mid-6.6,” said Hines. “I expect that Matt can also run a 6.6 so I think the fans will see two great side-by-side runs.

***

Pro Stock Q3

When Pro Stock teams arrived in Sonoma on Saturday and saw overcast skies and no headwind, it quickly became obvious that not only was Matt Hartford’s low qualifying time of 6.511 from Friday was in jeopardy, but so was Chris McGaha’s decade old track record of 6.499.It took just two pairs for Cory Reed to bump Hartford from the top spot and four pairs for Greg Anderson to erase history with a 6.491 in his HendrickCars.com Camaro.

Dallas Glenn was nearly able to match his teammate with a 6.497, but there was little cause for celebration in the RAD Torque Systems camp as Glenn lost in the first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty via a holeshot to Troy Coughlin Jr., who left first with a .018 light and won with a 6.518.

In the final, Coughlin will race against his uncle, Jeg Coughlin Jr., who scored a 6.516 to 6.539 win over Chris McGaha. The Coughlins previously raced in the final of the Mission Challenge in Las Vegas.

***

��

GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar NHRA Callout Round 1

Perhaps the most anticipated race of the year in Pro Stock Motorcycle kicked off the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar NHRA Callout when Gaige Herrera took on arch rival Matt Smith. Herrera had the quicker light and ran a 6.688, which is quicker than the existing Sonoma Raceway track record, but it wasn’t enough as Smith powered his Denso Buell to a 6.662, 203.68 to not only win the round by just nine-thousandths, but also take over the lead in qualifying.

“I don’t know if tide is turning, but I feel like we have the best bike today,” said Smith.

Smith’s wife, Angie, also turned on the win light following a 6.722 to 6.738 win against Seattle champ Chase Van Sant. Jianna Evaristo made the best run of her career with a 6.674, 204.54 to stop John Hall while Steve Johnson advanced on a red-light from Hector Arana Jr.

In the third round of qualifying, Chris Bostick also made a dramatic improvement with a 6.777. Richard Gadson wasn’t able to get off the starting line on his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Matt Smith vs. Steve Johnson; Jianna Evaristo vs. Angie Smith.

***

Top Fuel Q3

After Friday’s second session delivered a slew of 3.6-second runs in Top Fuel, the trend continued on Saturday. Justin Ashley and Antron Brown both made improvements with Ashley wheeling his SCAG Power Equipment entry to a 3.683 while Brown was close behind at 3.685.

Opening round wins in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge went to Shawn Langdon and Kalitta Motorsports teammate Doug Kalitta.

Langdon used a holeshot to defeat Clay Millican, 3.677 to 3.664 in one of the quickest side-by-side races in the history of the sport. Although he didn’t get the win light, Millican did blister the speed clocks with a 338.26 mph run in his Denso dragster. Last week in Seattle, Millican defeated Langdon by two-thousandths and this time, the margin of victory as just .004-second.

Kalitta, who ran a 3.649 on Friday, used a 3.679 to stop Steve Torrence, who rattled the tires at half-track.

***

Funny Car Q3

There were multiple personal bests during the third round of Funny Car qualifying including Daniel Wilkerson, who ran a 3.887 in his SCAG Power Equipment entry and a 3.984 by hard charging independent Jason Rupert, who is flying the colors of�� Race Communications, California’s largest fiber internet provider.

The best run of the round came from Matt Hagan, who powered to a 3.839 to tie provisional leader Bob Tasca III, who held on to the top spot due to a faster speed. Ron Capps also made a satisfactory run in his NAPA Toyota with a 3.891.

The final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge will feature�� Austin Prock and Blake Alexander. Prock gave up a sizable starting line lead to J.R. Todd but rallied to win with a 3.872 after Todd smoked the tires.

Alexander and his Head Racing team were able to come back from last night’s body-destroying engine explosion to score a 4.174 win over Seattle finalist Paul Lee, who smoked the tires.

***

GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar NHRA Callout semifinals

The $25,000 to prize in the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar NHRA Callout will go to the MSR camp as Matt Smith will take on his Scrappers Racing teammate, Jianna Evaristo. Smith, who took down low qualifier Gaige Herrera in round one, made quick work of Steve Johnson in the semifinals, 6.698 to 6.887. Smith also ran his best speed of the weekend at 204.39 mph.

Evaristo, racing at her home track, backed up an earlier career best 6.67 run with a 6.711 to beat Angie Smith who trailed with a 6.796 aboard her Denso Buell. ��

***

Pro Stock Q4

Greg Anderson will lead the Pro Stock field into Sunday’s final eliminations at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Anderson drove the HendrickCars.com Camaro to a blistering 6.491 on Saturday morning and his time wasn’t bettered during the afternoon session. Anderson, the winningest Pro Stock racer in the history of Sonoma Raceway, will be paired with newcomer Derrick Reese in round one. Reese made the field in his debut with a respectable 6.587 effort. ��

Anderson is followed by KB Titan teammates Dallas Glenn and Eric Latino, who ran 6.479 and 6.501 respectably. Elite Motorsports driver Aaron Stanfield is fourth in the field with a 6.505. The rest of the top half includes Erica Enders, Cory Reed, Friday leader Matt Hartford, and Seattle champ Jeg Coughlin Jr.

In the final session, Anderson picked up three additional bonus points with a 6.511 to set the pace while Dallas Glenn was close behind at 6.519 and Erica Enders also banked a bonus point after a 6.520.

Troy Coughlin Jr. defeated his uncle, Jeg Coughlin Jr., in the final of Saturday’s Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and they will be paired again for Sunday’s opening round. Troy got off the starting line with a .024 light and ran a 6.529 to hold off Jeg’s 6.522. Troy is the sixth different winner of the Mission Challenge in Pro Stock this season.

***

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q4

Matt Smith did just about everything he set out to do on Saturday in Sonoma as the six-time world champion qualified No. 1., set low elapsed time of the race with a 6.655, and won the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle Allstar NHRA Callout with a win over his teammate, Jianna Evaristo.

Smith, who defeated Gaige Herrera and Steve Johnson to advance, will race against Eiji Kawakami in round one and should he win that match, he’ll have a bye run into the semifinals.

Evaristo may have lost the Callout final, but she’s starting from the No. 2 spot and will race against rookie Clayton Howey in round one. Evaristo also picked up bonus points in Q4 with a 6.703 on her Scrappers Suzuki.

Herrera, who had his 11 race win streak stopped a week ago in Seattle, is third on the grid with a 6.688 and he’ll race Steve Johnson in round one.

Top Fuel Q4

Doug Kalitta may have lost in the final of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, but the reigning NHRA Top fuel champion did hold on to the top spot with Friday’s stunning 3.649-second run. Kalitta drove his Mac Tools entry to the top spot for the fifth time this season and 58th time in his career. As a result, Kalitta will race against Ron August in Sunday’s opening round.

Kalitta had the quickest car for most of the event, but smoked the tires in the final, allowing Shawn Langdon to drive his Kalitta Air entry to his first Mission Foods Challenge win of the season.

The entire Top Fuel field is one for the ages with the top eight qualifiers all in the 3.6s and the top 12 drivers in at 3.755 or quicker. Ironically, one driver who is not among the top qualifiers is four-time world champ and recent Seattle winner Steve Torrence who finished No. 13 and will have a tough drag when he takes on Clay Millican in round one.

Justin Ashley will also face a familiar opponent when he squares off against Tony Schumacher for the fifth time this season. Ashely is unbeaten this year against the eight-time world champion.

Funny Car, Q4

Bob Tasca III’s stout 3.893-second run from Friday night held up to take the top spot in Funny Car qualifying, but just barely. Matt Hagan was able to tie Tasca’s elapsed time, but Hagan could not match Tasca’s near-record 338.43 mph speed.

Tasca, who is admittedly conflicted by his desire to both run 340-mph and contend for the title, will be paired with Buddy Hull in round one. Hull, in Jim Dunn’s Dodge entry, is no pushover after running a 4.081 in the final session to secure his spot in the field.

Hagan will begin Sunday’s final eliminations with a race against Jeff Diehl, who was also very competitive with a 4.051.

Championship leader Austin Prock, the No. 4 qualifier, continued his mastry of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge with a final round win over Blake Alexander. Prock has now won six Mission Challengfe events this season including the last five in his Cornwell Tools Camaro.