

NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Friday preview

After three traditional races to kick off the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, we’re into the first of three four-wide events this season with this weekend’s kickoff at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This will be the seventh four-wide event held in Las Vegas after eight previous seasons where it was held only at zMAX Dragway in North Carolina, which will host the next four-wide event in two weeks and later this season the first four-wide event in the Countdown to the Championship.
This weekend’s event, which features Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock, kicks off with two qualifying sessions Friday and two more on Saturday to set the field for Sunday’s final eliminations. Hot weather is predicted for much of the weekend, so it’s unlikely that track records will be threatened.
The event will also include the third Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge of the season, which will pit the quarterfinalists from the previous event, the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, in two four-car quads in the opening round, leading to a four-car finale. These rounds are run concurrently with Saturday qualifying.
There is no more successful driver in NHRA four-wide racing than four-time Top Fuel world champ Steve Torrence, who has six wins in the 20 iterations of this format, including two here in Las Vegas, in 2018 and 2021. In Top Fuel, Antron Brown only has half as many four-wide wins, including his most recent, in Las Vegas in 2023. Brown has won this event four times, three of them in the former two-wide format at the event before the 2017 switchover to four-wide competition.
No other driver in these three classes has more than three four-wide wins, with currently inactive John Force and Robert Hight sharing the Funny Car lead with Matt Hagan at three wins and six-time Pro Stock world champs Greg Anderson and Erica Enders also holding a three-pack of wins.
2024 EVENT WINNERS
Doug Kalitta, Top Fuel; Bob Tasca III, Funny Car; Jeg Coughlin Jr., Pro Stock
MOST EVENT VICTORIES
Tony Schumacher, 4, TF; Antron Brown, 4 TF; Larry Dixon, 4 TF, Robert Hight, 3, FC; Ron Capps, 2, FC; Cruz Pedregon, 3, FC; J.R. Todd, 2, FC; Alxis DeJoria, 2, FC; Bob Tasca II, 2, FC; Erica Enders, 4, PS, Jeg Coughlin, 4, PS.
TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.652 sec. by Brittany Force, Nov. ’19; 338.17 mph by B. Force, Nov. ’19.
Funny Car - 3.816 sec. by Robert Hight, Oct. ’23; 336.99 mph by Bob Tasca III, Oct. ’23
Pro Stock - 6.552 seconds by Kyle Koretsky, Oct. '23; 210.28 mph by Enders, Oct. '15.
NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading; 338.94 mph by Brittany Force, Nov. ‘22, Pomona
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona
Pro Stock - 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March ’25, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14, Englishtown
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, April 11
NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series qualifying and time trials at 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Top Alcohol qualifying at 1:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.
NHRA MIssion Foods Drag Racing Series Pro Stock qualifying at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Mission Foods Series Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 12
Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m. and 3:35 p.m.
Top Alcohol qualifying at 11:15 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.
Mission Foods Series Pro Stock qualifying at 12:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Mission Foods Series Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 13
Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 9:30 a.m
Top Alcohol elimination at 10:15 a.m.
Pre-race ceremonies, 11:00 a.m.
Mission Foods Series eliminations begin at 12:00 p.m.
TELEVISION
FRIDAY, April 11, FS1 will televise one and half hours of qualifying highlights at 9:30 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, April 13, FS1 will televise one hour of qualifying highlights at 11:00 a.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, April 13, FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 6:30 p.m. (ET)
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