NHRA Sonoma Results, Updated Points: Brittany Force Survives a Crazy Day in California

• The three-race slog through wildly different conditions will not produce a new master this year.

• Funny Car winner Bob Tasca III robbed John Force of a father-daughter double-nitro celebration with Top Fuel winner Brittany Force.

• Pro Stock’s Erica Enders denied longtime rival Greg Anderson his 100th victory.

• Tearful Joey Gladstone earns his first Pro Stock Motorcycle trophy.

No one will sweep the NHRA’s Western Swing through Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle.

Greg Anderson will have to wait another race day to earn his 100th victory.

And Brittany Force missed the chance to share the winners podium for her first triumph at Sonoma and fourth of the season with dad John Force.

Denver winners Leah Pruett (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) lost long before the finals Sunday at the Denso Sonoma Nationals in Northern California Wine Country.

This 12th race on the Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule belonged to Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Joey Gladstone (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Brittany Force regains Top Fuel points lead

The Flav-R-Pac Dragster driver had her 15th career Top Fuel trophy and traditional wine-goblet statue from Sonoma Raceway in hand Sunday afternoon, but she also had something more significant: the points lead.

Force defeated Mike Salinas in Sunday’s final round to wrest the lead in the standings from him as the tour heads north to Seattle for her sponsor’s title event at Pacific Raceways.

“I’ve been coming to this racetrack since I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to win here, and we finally pulled it off,” she said.

Force already owned nine of the class’ top 10 fastest speeds of all time, and she still does. But she rewrote that list to include four new entries from Sunday’s eliminations: 337.75 mph, 336.49, 336.07, and 335.48.

Bob Tasca III Tops John Force In Funny Car Showdown

Family patriarch (the late) Bob Tasca Sr. was a drag racer nicknamed “The Big Bopper,” and he used to say, “I didn’t come out here to get a sunburn.” That’s just the way his grandson, Sunday Funny Car winner Bob Tasca III, sees it.

“The only reason we’re here is to win championships,” Tasca said after claiming his first victory of the season and 10th in all in his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Ford Mustang.

He apologized to Ford fans because “it took way too long” to get to the winners circle this season. It’s not because he didn’t try – this was Tasca’s third straight final round.

Erica Enders Denies Greg Anderson No. 100

Greg Anderson said many years ago that he didn’t want to be in the opposite lane when Erica Enders recorded her first victory. But he was. And she didn’t want to be the one he beat to earn his milestone 100th victory. And she wasn’t.

Enders ruined Anderson’s latest chance to reach that lofty plateau, beating him by about a half-car-length in the final Pro Stock round Sunday. The Melling Chevy Camaro driver got her 40th victory, even though her engine let go about 150 feet short of the finish line.

“For 12 years, this victory [at Sonoma Raceway] has evaded us. So this means a lot to me,” she said. She dedicated the accomplishment to Royce Freeman Sr. – “Grandpa Freeman,” she called him – father of team owner Richard Freeman who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.

“My car’s running on mean,” she said. “It’s definitely a pinch-me season. We’ve just got to make it last.” As for Anderson, she said, “It’s been an honor to race against him . . . to be able to go toe-to-toe with him. The rivalry continues, and I know he enjoys it as much as we do.”

First Victory Puts ‘Glad’ in Joey Gladstone

Joey Gladstone, making his third consecutive final-round appearance, finally recorded his long-awaited career-first victory.

“I’ve been waiting for this day since I was 12 years old, when I decided I wanted to race Pro Stock Motorcycle. I spent my whole life trying to get here. This means everything to me, and it makes it all worth it,” he said.

Even teammate Cory Reed, Gladstone’s right-hand man as he recovers from a serious leg injury from last fall, said, “It’s hard not to cry now. I can’t lie.”