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UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

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PRE-RACE NOTES

With a noon start and forecasts again expecting high 90-degree temperatures, the heat is on the minds of everyone here, and as tough as it is for the fans and crews, the drivers might have it worse.

“These conditions are extremely challenging as far as racing surface goes for our crew chiefs, but also as drivers, in these heavy firesuits when the cockpit temperatures over 150 degrees,” Erica Enders explained yesterday. “Granted, you're not in there for too long, but getting your temperature up that high is not conducive to great decision making, and you need to be adequately hydrated, which is not easy because you're chugging water and your stomach's full of it and you're still thirsty. Keeping your core body temperature down will be key. I like to get in my car and put a frozen rag on my head and just like kind of chill out for just a second. Not to be gross, but you're so sweaty, and your firesuit's stuck to you and you feel like a stuffed sausage, and it's awful."��

Added Austin Prock, "You gotta stay hydrated. I started pumping water into me last Tuesday just to try and get prepared because once you get here, if you're not hydrated by the time you get here, you're never going to catch up."

***

Bob Tasca III was the star of Funny Car qualifying with three 4.0-second passes and the No. 1 spot, thanks to a gameplan he developed with crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Todd Okuhara. Knowing the track would be so hot and not capable of handling their normal 12,000 horsepower, they hatched a plan.

“No BS, we just grabbed heads out of a junk pile that we weren't going to run, we've put a blower on the car that we literally couldn't sell this offseason -- it was just garbage -- and I told them to put the worst parts we own on the race car because you can't fix it with clutch -- the car makes too much power -- ��so we maybe took 2,000 horsepower away from it,” he explained yesterday. “This is the hottest racetrack that I've ever been down in my life and we ran 320 mph with the worst parts that I own, so I'm pretty happy.”

We'll see if that same plan works out today.

***

Four-time Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence is just one round-win away from joining a short list of drivers to claim 500 win lights in Top Fue competition in the NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag racing Series, but he’ll have to beat Justin Ashley to get there

Torrence would become the seventh driver to accomplish the feat, following Tony Schumacher (884 current round wins), Doug Kalitta (780), Larry Dixon (678), Antron Brown (605), Joe Amato (527), and Cory McClenathan (515).
��

TOP FUEL ROUND 1

The track temp is a sizzling 139 degrees as we kick off eliminations. A dropped cylinder dooms Dan Mercier in the opening match against Josh Hart, who gets the round win with a 3.98. It's just the fourth round win of a tough year for Hart. Antron Brown follows with a stronger 3.91 alongside Billy Torrence, whose Capco dragster hazes the tires through mid-track, which was the issue for a lot of cars Saturday.

***

Low qualifier Shawn Langdon reels off a matching 3.91 to easily handle Lex Joon and will be joined in round two by his teammate, Doug Kalitta, who got a bye run after Cameron Ferre's Jerry Freeman-owned team was unable to make the call due to parts damage,

***

Tony Stewart, whose No. 3 qualifying spot was the best of his young Top Fuel career, bashes out low e.t. of the round so far with a 3.87 against Clay Millican, whose Parts Plus/Rick Ware Racing car was idling high during staging, and it may have affected his run much as he posts just a 4.10.

***

Like Stewart, Shawn Reed's No. 4 ranking in qualifying was a career-best, but his day ends against Bristol winner Tony Schumacher as tire smoke also claims him. He valiantly pedaled but to no avail. Schumacher runs just 4.09 and will cede second-round lane choice to Antron Brown.

***

Mission Challenge winner Brittany Force is hoping her good weekend turns great for the Hendrickcars.com team as she takes on class rookie Jasmine Salinas, and she blasts to an effortless 3.92 after Salinas hazes the tires at half-track and then backfires the blower.

***

After opening the season without a first-round exit through the first six events, Justin Ashley enters this weekend after back-to-back first-round losses in Epping and Bristol. He hasn't had back-to-back first-round losses since the final two events of the 2022 campaign. Ashley has never won in Virginia in Top Fel but did pick up a regional win in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2018.

Steve Torrence, gunning for his 500th round win at the place he made his first Top Fuel start, gets it with a 4,01 against cylinder-dropping Ashley's 4.49.

"It's been a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and a lot of success and heartache all at the same time," he said,�� "but to be able to do it with my family and with those Capco boys, has been remarkable, It's crazy to think I'm 41 years old. I've been out here since I was 23. You know, just a kid doing this and it's spectacular. This is where it all started for me here in Richmond."

Ashley's loss and Langdon's first-round win moves Langdon into second place in the standings behind only Kalitta.

***

Top Fuel second-round matchups (lane choice first):��Shawn Langdon vs. Steve Torrence; Antron Brown vs. Tony Schumacher; Doug Kalitta vs. Josh Hart; Tony Stewart vs. Brittany Force

***

FUNNY CAR ROUND ONE

Chad Green, the No. 2 qualifier, had hopes for a long day, but a stuck throttle on the burnout ends those dreams. He gets the car stopped well downtrack and exits the car, but opponent Mike Smith has to shut his engine off on the line until the Simpson Safety Safari can clear Green's machine. Smith idles down the track for the win, his first since the 2018 Reading event.

***

Bob Tasca III and his "junk-pile" tune-up rack up their fourth straight 4.0-second pass, a 4.06, to beat Dave Richards, whose 4.18 is his best run of the meet. Right behind him, and as expected, Austin Prock matches Tasca with a 4.04 despite a dropped cylinder at the top end, a run that sends Cruz Pedregon to the showers.

Like every race for him this season, the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals is another fresh start for Funny Car rookie Prock. He never won here in his relatively short Top Fuel career, but a Funny Car win would be especially special to him.

The Virginia Nationals was the last race won by the late Eric Medlen, who also drove for John Force Racing, beginning in 2004 when Prock was just nine years old. Medlen died as the result of injuries suffered in a testing incident in March 2007, just a year after winning the Virginia Nationals.

“Eric was a great friend of mine, and a mentor to me,” Prock said. “He took me under his wing and took care of me and taught me (a lot). It'd be very cool for me to be able to join him as a Virginia Nationals winner.”

***

Blake Alexander powers Jim Head's entry into round two with a solid 4.10 against Buddy Hull, who had to step off the throttle at half-track which will earn him a second-round date with either John Force or Terry Haddock.

***

Force's car drops a cylinder and then lights up before the finish line. Force does an incredible driving job to not hit the wall in his lane, but the car then makes a hard turn across the centerline into the opposite wall, then, on two wheels, careens back across the track back into the wall in his lane, nearly taking flight.

After an excruciating wait, word is he's conscious and alert. Official statement here.

Teammate Prock is on the scene and clearly heartsick to see his boss get racked up like this. "He's a tough son of a bitch; I know he'll be back," he said, his voice cracking.

It's a tough break for Force who's having one of his best seasons in a while with two wins and a runner-up through the year's first eight events.

We're obviously down for an extended period.

***

Just over an hour later, we're ready to resume Round 1 of Funny Car, with Ron Capps facing off with Alexis DeJoria. It hasn't been a good recent stretch for Capps, with only two rounds over the last four events, and he has no final-round appearances so far this season. DeJoria's Bandero Toyota initially can't get into reverse after the burnout, but she finally gets it going with a crew assist. She gets back to the line, but they shut the car off and Capps soloes into round two with a 4.09.

***

Four-time world champ Matt Hagan and J.R. Todd, who is hot off of his runner-up in Bristol, both lose traction at half-track and pedal and almost coast to the finish line, where Hagan turns on the win light with a 4.33 to Todd's 4.39. The final pair of the round is an easy win for Daniel Wilkerson after Paul Lee smokes 'em early. D-Wilk crosses the finish line coasting after breaking traction downtrack.

***

Funny Car second-round matchups (lane choice first): Bob Tasca III; John Force vs. Blake Alexander; Matt Hagan vs. Mike Smith; Austin Prock vs. Ron Capps

PRO STOCK ROUND 1

Pro Stock racing in Virginia kicks off the same way it ended in Bristol, with Jeg Coughlin Jr. facing Greg Anderson, and Anderson reverses that outcome with a 6.63 victory over Jeg, spoiling his 54th birthday.

Anderson beat Erica Enders in the Mission Challenge final yesterday with a .004 reaction time and had a .001 light in a losing effort in the Bristol final against Jeg Coughlin, who will be his first-round opponent today.

The multi-time world champ, not especially known for his killer lights, was at a loss to explain his sizzling starting-line performance,

“I wish I knew; if I did, I’d bottle it,” he said. “You never know if your last good light is gonna be your last good light, so I'm just gonna keep playing the cards I'm playing and somehow they're working for me right now. I don't honestly have the answer. I'm trying as hard as I can. But I always do that., and things are coming up good right now.”

***

It's Bo Butner's first eliminations of the season in a traditional Pro Stock car, but he gets the win light on a 6.723 to 6.720 holeshot over Jerry Tucker. Butner is also competing in Mountain Motor Pro Stock, so that would be a wild double if he can pull it off.

***

Dallas Glenn dispatches Mason McGaha on a 6.65 to 6.66 count, then Aaron Stanfield beats Val Semland with a 6.677 that won't get him lane choice, as right behind them, Troy Coughlin Jr. runs 6.6733 to trailer Matt Hartford.

***

Deric Kramer is four sixes across the board with a 6.666 to end the McGaha family's victory hopes, but Kramer will surrender second-round lane pick to Glenn. No. 2 qualifier Eric Latino adds another KB/Titan car to the next round with a great 6.624, low e.t. of the round, to dispatch Brandon Miller.

***

Erica Enders is looking to pick up a victory at Virginia Motorsports Park for the first time, a feat that will mean she has one at every track currently on tour. Her best finish is a runner-up in 2018 to Tanner Gray but she moves a step closer to breaking that drought with an easy 6.629 victory over Kenny Delco, which sets her up for a round-two date with Greg Anderson.

***

Pro Stock second-round matchups (lane choice first): Erica Enders vs. Greg Anderson; Troy Coughlin Jr. vs. Aaron Stanfield; Eric Latino vs. Bo Butner; Dallas Glenn vs, Deric Kramer

***

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND 1

Bristol runner-up Jianna Evaristo continues her strong run by defeating class veteran Steve Johnson with a 6.905; just how good that elapsed time is won't be known until Gaige Herrera and Matt Smith take to the track.

***

Hector Arana posts a 6.928 to defeat Marc Ingwersenand right behind that John Hall takes the win over Kelly Clontz in which both ran 6.88 but that was never really close after Hall snatched a strong starting-line edge. As good as Hall's run was, he won't have second-round lane choice as Chase Van Sant rockets to a 6.82 right behind him in sending Ron Tornow down to defeat.

***

The Smith family dukes out next with husband versus wife, and Angie puts down a strong .016 light on his .063 and beats him on a holeshot, 6.80 to 6.78. Angie's bike struggled mightily in qualifying, so this is a huge rebound and a tough loss for title contender Matt. Eiji Kawakami also takes a stab at a holeshot win, leaving on Richard Gadson, but can't hold off the RevZilla Suzuki, which wins with a 6.87.

***

History in the making here for Gaige Herrera. Bostick goes .007 on him, but it's not enough and Herrera's 36th straight round win breaks the record he had shared with Pro Stock icon Bob Glidden, which was established over the 1988-87 seasons.

“It’s amazing,” said a humble Herrera. “To be able to get the ultimate round record in just my second season, it’s hard to take it in. It’s been such a wild ride in such a short time.”

***

Pro Stock Motorcycle second-round matchups (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. bye; Chase Van Sant vs. John Hall; Richard Gadson vs. Jianna Evaristo; Angie Smith vs. Hector Arana Jr.

***

TOP FUEL ROUND TWO

Some very welcoming clouds have moved in blocking the blast furnace that has been the sun all weekend long. It will probably drop both the track and air temp going forward, good news for the fans but the crew chiefs will have to make adjustments. It's kind of a peek-a-boo game from minute to minute as the sun comes and goes.

***

Round two kicks off with Doug Kalitta and Josh Hart squaring off, the cargo airline giant against the cargo truck giant. Hart loses a cylinder early and Kalitta flies to the win with a 3.96.

***

Bristol winner Tony Schumacher's weird season streak of reaching the final round after winning the first round ends here as Antron Brown defeats him with a 3.92.

***

Steve Torrence has been to three straight finals at Virginia Motorsports Park, winning twice (2018 and ’19) and runner-upping here in 2022 for an impressive 11-1 record (racing was not conducted at VMP in 2020, 2021, or 2023) but that streak ends here as Shawn Langdon beats him on a 3.976 to 3.971 holeshot. Langdon's engine went sour at the top end and he held on to win by just .003-second.

***

Tony Stewart has reached the semifinals for the second time in his Top Fuel career after defeating Brittany Force. 390 to 3.93 which will give him semifinal lane choice over Doug Kalitta.��

"It's been trying season, but the crew has been doing an awesome job," said Stewart. "We just have to keep digging."

***

Top Fuel semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Antron Brown vs. Shawn Langdon; Tony Stewart vs, Doug Kalitta

***

FUNNY CAR ROUND 2

Bob Tasca III's string of 4.0s ends in round two but not his string of win lights as he gets past Daniel Wilkerson to reach the semifinals with a 4.12. It's Tasca's first semi since he won the Las Vegas four-wide event in April.�� Once again, Austin Prock betters BT3 with a 4.03 to beat Ron Capps, whose pipes went funny and slowed him to a 4.12 loss.

***

With John Force obviously not able to return, Blake Alexander takes a solo run into the semifinals in Jim Head's car. Alexander also was in the semi's earlier this year in Chicago and Phoenix, and he looks good here with a 4.09 that will earn him lane choice over Tasca.

***

Matt Hagan joins the boss, Tony Stewart, in the semifinals with a 4.26 after Mike Smith appeared to double-stp the throttle at the green.

***

Funny Car semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Blake Alexander vs. Bob Tasca III; Austin Prock vs. Matt Hagan

***

PRO STOCK ROUND 2

Aaron Stanfield ends the Coughlin family's two-race win streak by beating Epping winner Troy Coughlin Jr. with a 6.68. A round earlier, Bristol champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. had fallen to Greg Anderson. Deric Kramer doesn't get far in the next pair, squaring the rear tires after he drops the clutch, allowing Dallas Glenn an easy 6.69 win.

***

Another massive showdown between Erica Enders and Greg Anderson, Nos. 2 and 3 in points separated by just five markers. Anderson defends his position, winning by .007-second and denying Enders the Virginia win once again. Enders left first by Anderson pulled back around her at the stripe.

***

Bo Butner's dream of a Pro Stock double ended earlier today when he lost in the first round of the Mountian Motor Pro Stock Stock class, but he keeps the other half alive by defeating Eric Latino with a 6.71.

***

Semifinal Pro Stock pairings (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Aaron Stanfield; Dallas Glenn vs Bo Butner

***

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND 2

Richard Gadson shows that Gaige Herrera is not the only Vance & Hines rider who's good at the tree as he scores a massive holeshot win over bristol runner-up Jianna Evaristo, 6.906 to 6.871, That's two straight semifinals for Gadson.

***

Chase Van Sant turns it red by .002-second against John Hall in the next match, giving Hall a free pass to a semifinal date with Gaige Herrera, who has a bye for the 14-bike field. Right behind that, Angie Sith also turns on the foul bulb with a -.034 red-light, giving Hector Arana Jr. a ride into the semi's. arana also was red but at -.009 she did it first.

***

Even with no opponent, Gaige Herrera hammers it home with a 6.78 to earn semifinal lane choice over Hall.

***

Pro Stock Motorcycle semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herera vs. John Hall; Hector Arana Jr. vs. Richard Gadson.

***

Well, this can't be a good thing.

Fans have been asked to leave the grandstands and the big screen is going into its protective shell as lightning in the area prompts the cautionary moves. Racing also is on hold.

4:30 p.m. ET: And now it's raining, and not just a little bit. If Virginia had gulleys (and maybe it does), this would be a gulley-washer level of rain.

5:20 p.m. ET: The rain has stopped, the sun is trying to break through, and track drying is underway.

6 p.m. ET: The projected��restart time is 6:30 p.m., beginning with Top Fuel semifinals

***

TOP FUEL SEMIFINALS

During the downtime, which has been about 90 minutes, I had the chance to run some points scenarios in Top Fuel. Here's what we know:

• No matter what happens, Doug Kalitta will leave here as the points leader
• if Kalitta loses in the semi's and Shawn Langdon wins the event, he will be just four points behind Kalitta
• An event win would carry Antron Brown to third place; he's currently fifth
• if Tony Stewart reaches the final, win or lose, he'll move up to seventh place; otherwise, he stays ninth.

***

The track temp, which was in the 130s earlier, is down to 117 following the rain, more in line with typical conditions but also now throws a wrench into those hot-track tune-ups perfected over the past day and a half. The air is also more humid than before.

How good is the Simpson Safety Safari? Shawn Langdon goes 3.81 for the win over Antron Brown's low e.t., and Langdon's run is low e.t. of the day.

Langdon's teammate, Doug Kalitta, is in the left lane behind him, so it's no surprise that the Brian Husen/Alan Johnson "great minds" theory persists, and Kalitta makes it an all-team Kalitta final with a 3.82 after Tony Stewart smokes the final. Langdon will have lane choice.

"I doubt we'll be exchanging info between rounds this time," quipped Johnson.

FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS

Here are the Funny Car points scenarios

• Austin Prock will leave here as the points leader no matter what happens
• If Matt Hagan wins the event, he will pass John Force for second place
• B0b taca III can't positionally improve from fifth regardless of what he does today
• Blake Alexander has jumped from 12th 60 10th today and could get ninth win an event win

***

Aaron Brooks and Todd Okuhara show they still know how to get down a cooler track, Bob Tasca III posting a 3.98 to beat Blake Alexander, who was right there with a 3.99. Those are the first two three-second runs on Funny Car this weekend.

Austin Prock steals lane choice with a 3.96 to beat Matt Hagan's 4.03 and crew chief Jimmy Prock is still admitting he missed the tune-up a bit.

***

PRO STOCK SEMIFINALS

Pro Stock points scenarios:

• If he reaches the final, Dallas Glenn will either be the outright leader still or, if he loses the final to Greg Anderson, they'd be tied.
• Aaron Stanfield cannot improve positionally from his current fifth place, but can significantly close the points gap.
• Bo Butner started the weekend 24th and it probably doesn't matter the points for him as he's not running a full season.

***

Dallas Glenn continues to pad his points lead, taking down Bo Butner in the first half of the semifinals, 6.63 to 6.65. Will it be an all-KB/Titan final against Greg Anderson or KB versus Elite with Aaron Stanfield? Anderson had about four-hundredths on Stanfield in the heat, but what about now?

Stanfield goes .003 on the Tree and beats Anderson on a holeshot as they both run 6.627. After being .00 in the Mission Challenge final yesterday, Anderson was .042 here.

***

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SEMIFINALS

Pro Stock Motorcycle points scenarios:

• No surprise here, but Gaige Herrera will leave Virginia as the points leader
• If he makes the final, Richard Gadson will pass Matt Smith for second place
• If Gadson doesn't make the final, John Hall can pass him for third by reaching the final. If Hall wins the event, he'll be in second place.
• An event win would carry Hector Arana Jr. from eighth place to fifth.

Hector Jr. goes -.064 red and puts Gadson in the final round, Gadson was in the final of the four-wide event in Charlotte earlier this year, where he finished third. gadson runs 6.813 for the W.

John Hall takes his best shot at Gaige Herrera but his gatejob is not enough and it will be an all-RevZilla/Vance & Hines final as Herrera pounds out a workmanlike 6.760. Needless to say, he's the heavy favorite in the final where he could win a record-breaking 10th straight event.

***

PINGEL TOP FUEL MOTORCYCLE FINAL

Larry "Spiderman" McBride, perhaps the most celebrated Top Fuel Motorcycle rider in history, takes on Mitch Brown in the final round of the second Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle Series race of the season, and it's McBride, covering the eighth-mile distance in 5.00 to beat Brown's 5.18.

***

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE FINAL

Gaige Herrera wins his record-setting 10th straight NHRA national event win, going 6.75 to beat teammate Richard Gadson's 6.78. In just a season and a half, Herrera has won 16 of the 17 final rounds in which he has appeared.

***

PRO STOCK FINAL

Aaron Stanfield is .007 on the Tree and wins the race over Dallas Glenn 6.614 to 6.617 for his ninth Pro Stock win and 25th overall. The win pulls him to within one point of Jeg Coughlin Jr. for fourth place in the standings.

***

FUNNY CAR FINAL

Both Austin Prock and Bob Tasca III have deep emotional ties to class legend John Force and would like to win the race for their injured hero, probably Prock more so than Tasca as it's his boss and mentor.

It's Prock all the way with low e.t. of 3.921 as Tasca's car goes up in smoke early. It's Prock's third Funny Car win of the season and seventh overall.

"This Wally is going straight to the hospital to Force," proclaims Prock.

***

TOP FUEL FINAL

The all-team Kalitta final round will earn either Doug Kalitta or Shawn Langdon a third 2024 season victory as No. 1 and 2 in points go at it.

Langdon's car loses traction early and Kalitta steams to his 55th career win with a 3.75. His lead over Langdon is now 47 points.

***

JOHNSON'S HORSEPOWERED GARAGE MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK FINAL

John Pluchino takes the final-round victory over Elijah Morton on a 6.335 to 6.312 holeshot. It's his first win and the first time that Bo Butner hasn't won in the three races of the series this season.

***

LUCAS OIL SeRIES FINALS

Comp
Joe Carnasciale def. Michele Costa���� ��

Super Stock
Jeff Adkinson def. Jim ��Fouts

Stock
Cody Phillips def. Cliff Hynson

Super Comp
Anthony Bertozzi def.Amanda Boicesco

Super Gas
Keith Mayers def. Don Knoblick���� ��

Top Sportsman
Sandy Wilkins def. Jeff Brooks���� ��