Yahoo Autos Prock, S. Torrence, Enders, Herrera lead into Northwest Nationals finals
Funny Car points leader Austin Prock stayed red-hot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at Pacific Raceways, winning his fourth straight specialty race and fifth this season for John Force Racing on Saturday as part of the NHRA Northwest Nationals.
Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Prock, Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Herrera all qualified No. 1.
Prock went 3.993 seconds at 320.13 mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to defeat veteran Ron Capps in the finals of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, continuing his domination in the bonus race. He’s now won the challenge five times this year, advanced to six finals and earned 17 bonus championship points in the process.
Prock also made the quickest run in every qualifying session this weekend in Seattle, putting down impressive laps in a variety of weather conditions. At the site of his first professional victory, Prock will aim to pick up his fourth win in what’s already been an incredible 2024 season.
“This team has been very, very consistent. It’s definitely been a fun race car to drive,” Prock said. “We were low in all four qualifying sessions this weekend, and then ended up winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as well, so another great start for the weekend.
“The biggest deal about the Challenge is those points that stay with you when the points reset, and they are huge. You see so many people win or lose a championship by one or five points and other people are accumulating them than them as well, but we’ve definitely been doing a good job of getting them.”
Capps qualified second with a 3.886 at 331.53 and Paul Lee is third after going 3.917 at 327.03.
In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley claimed his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win of the season on Saturday in Seattle, taking down defending world champion Doug Kalitta in the final round with a run of 3.890 at 315.49 in his Scag Power Equipment/Toyota dragster. The third specialty race victory paces the Top Fuel field, a year after he dominated the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and puts Ashley in another strong position for Sunday eliminations. He defeated Antron Brown earlier in the day and then got past the points leader for the Saturday win.
“This is really meaningful, especially this time of the year because we’re getting closer and closer to the Countdown,” Ashley said. “The way the points are, they get added after the [Countdown points] reset, so these points and qualifying bonus points are super important. Any time we can get a win in competition, whether it’s on race day, or the Mission Foods Challenge, I think it’s really beneficial for us.
“I think we had a really good start to the year but then there was a stretch recently over the last four or five races where we’ve been struggling. We had a good bounce back in Norwalk, then we ended up qualifying No. 2 here. We’re working on some things, testing out some things, just adjusting the tune up, so I’m pretty happy with where we’re at, and a win like this is good for the team.”
Defending event winner Steve Torrence easily held on to the No. 1 spot for the second time this season and 39th in his career thanks to Friday’s 3.688 at a track-record 335.32. Torrence made a solid run to close out qualifying as well, as the four-time world champ has his sights set on his first victory of the 2024 campaign.
“I feel confident; that last run was a good, clean run down through there that we needed,” Torrence said. “We probably could have run quicker but we needed to get good information to go A to B and set up for tomorrow because we’ll have some of these conditions that are very similar. We put ourselves in a good position as No. 1.”
Ashley also qualified second with a 3.694 at 331.04, while Brittany Force took third with a 3.701 at 333.08.
Pro Stock’s Aaron Stanfield, who has won back-to-back national events, now has a Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory to his credit, going 6.557 at 208.10 in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Janac Brothers car to beat a red-lighting Mason McGaha in the final round. It was a strong turnaround on Saturday for Stanfield, who struggled on Friday but rebounded over the final two qualifying sessions in a big way. He took down Deric Kramer in the opening round and then earned the victory when McGaha went red on the starting line.
“I really enjoy the #2fast2Tasty Challenge. We won the championship (for the bonus race) last year and to just now get our first one, it’s taken us a minute but it’s a blast and it’s good to have some continued success,” Stanfield said. “We’ve had a really good race car and I’ve been driving decent, so hopefully we can continue to build on race day.”
His teammate, reigning world champion Erica Enders, stayed atop the loaded category thanks to Friday’s impressive 6.500 at 209.98 in her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Scag Power Equipment car. It hands the six-time world champion her fifth No. 1 spot this season and 39th in her career, and Enders, who opens eliminations against Val Smeland, will look for a big Sunday as she seeks her 50th national event win. Eric Latino took the second spot with Friday’s run of 6.518 at 209.82, while McGaha’s 6.520 at 209.85 gave him the third spot.
“We knew we weren’t going to improve on our run from last night, so we were definitely working on a few other things with the race car, just preparing for the Countdown [to the Championship], just trying to get things in order,” Enders said. “That’s at the forefront of our minds, but the weather conditions were obviously not as conducive for great runs today as they were last night.
“We’ve had some really great success here in the past, so I’m hopeful that that trend continues and we can finally get that 50th [win] off our back. It’s a huge milestone for me and for women but I just want to get back in the winner’s circle. That’s my main goal.”
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera enjoyed another terrific day at Pacific Raceways, holding on to the No. 1 qualifier position and also picking up the win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge over rival Matt Smith, going 6.745 at 200.32 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. Smith went red in the final round matchup of the specialty race, handing the victory to Herrera, who claimed his third victory this season in the bonus race, but also his first in two months.
He again made four strong runs in qualifying, also taking the No. 1 spot for the fourth time this season on the strength of Friday’s 6.734 at 201.22. It’s also the 18th in his career as Herrera looks to win his 12th consecutive race and seventh straight this season.
“It was a little hot today for sure, so we were battling the track a little bit, but we made a few changes to the transmission to accommodate the heat, and it paid off in the in the final against Matt Smith,” Herrera said. “Unfortunately, he went red or it probably would have been a really good race.
“Tomorrow I think we’ll have to go at least another [6.]70 and it might even dip in the [6.]60s. It just depends on what the weather’s going to do. It’s an early start, so tomorrow is going to be good.”
Chase Van Sant took second after going 6.742 at 199.44 and Smith is third with a run of 6.755 at 201.43.
Eliminations for the NHRA Northwest Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. PT on Sunday at Pacific Raceways.
