In an all-John Force Racing final round in Funny Car, points leader Austin Prock powered past Jack Beckman on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway, picking up his sixth victory of the season at the 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 15th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It is the first of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Prock, who also qualified No. 1 for the 11th time in 15 races, went 3.896s at 332.51mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to get past Beckman’s 3.951s at 330.88mph. It extends the points lead for Prock, who won his second straight race and also earned his 10th career victory.
He defeated Mike Smith, Chad Green and Bob Tasca III to reach the finals, and then delivered another consistent run in the final round, becoming one of only a handful of drivers to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car and Maple Grove Raceway. Prock’s lead now stands at 86 points over Tasca heading into the final five races.
“It feels great to rack up some points and get a little bit of a gap over second again. It definitely feels good,” Prock said. “This is the best way you can start out the Countdown – No. 1 qualifier, we got points almost every round and the car was flying today, and we ended up holding another Wally. Kudos to this Cornwell Tools team for allowing me to do this.
“We saw the ladder last night and said we have two cars capable of meeting in the final round and that was the goal today and we executed perfectly. Jack drove his tail off today, and I’m really proud of him. He’s getting comfortable and becoming lethal in that car. He was mowing the tree down and that thing runs as good as any of these cars out here. It’s great to see him and the team having success right off the bat like they are.”
Beckman, who is driving for John Force, reached his first final since returning in Brainerd after defeating Joe Morrison, J.R. Todd and then Alexis DeJoria on a wild and memorable pedalfest.
The Top Fuel final round was a thriller, too, as Antron Brown picked up his fourth win of 2024 and the 78th in his career in his Matco Tools/Toyota dragster thanks to a run of 3.798s at 327.27mph in the championship round against Shawn Langdon. It made a tight field in the loaded category even tighter, as Brown pulled to within one point of leader Justin Ashley. With his final-round appearance, Langdon is just six points behind Ashley as well.
But Sunday ultimately belonged to Brown, who again came to life during eliminations. He went a Sunday-best 3.723s in the opening round to defeat Jasmine Salinas and then knocked off Tony Schumacher and Dan Mercier to reach the final round. Facing off with Langdon, Brown delivered a stellar 0.043s reaction time and then held off Langdon in a terrific side-by-side race to win for the third time at Maple Grove Raceway as he aims to try and win his fourth world championship.
“Going into race day, we knew we were going to have something, but the track got a little bit trickier than we thought it was. It was medieval out there. A lot of people were spinning the tires, but we made it far enough down the track,” Brown said. “Brian Corradi, Mark (Oswald), all of our Matco boys gave me a car that went the distance. We were just better than everybody that we raced at that time. When we got to the final, we knew it was going to be a monster matchup.
“I knew Shawn was going to run about the same E.T. and it was going to be who can leave the starting line. Lo and behold, I was able to keep my head down and we got a little bit of an advantage right there and the car outran him. It was one of those deals, we got the win and the car was smooth down the racetrack. It felt really good when that win light came on, we needed a start like that if we wanted to be in this race to win this championship.”
Langdon advanced to the final round for the seventh time this season and the 45th time in his career after defeating Ida Zetterstrom, Tony Stewart and Ashley. Doug Kalitta, who was the points leader entering the Countdown, dropped to fourth after a first-round loss.
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In Pro Stock, there seems to be no stopping red-hot Aaron Stanfield, as he won for the fifth time this season, going 6.569s at 209.26mph in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Janac Brothers car to defeat Elite Motorsports teammate and defending world champion Erica Enders on a holeshot in the final round. It’s also Stanfield’s second straight win and he moves into the points lead for the first time this season after picking up his 13th career win.
To reach the final round, Stanfield defeated Troy Coughlin Jr., Chris McGaha and Dallas Glenn to reach the final round and set up the teammate versus teammate matchup. Stanfield went an impressive 0.017s on the starting line – on a day where he was also 0.012s and 0.014s in eliminations – and held off Enders at the finish to continue his recent roll. Stanfield has now won five of the last seven races.
“It feels great. Momentum is real,” Stanfield said. “Things have been rolling our way and we’ve been getting those round wins when we need them to go our way. We did our job today, Erica and I and all our guys. We put both of our JHG/Melling cars in the final round there, and that was the goal.
“When you start out No. 2, you know you’ve got a shot. I know the equipment I’m in, and I know how hungry my guys are to win. We definitely have a shot here, we just need to keep this momentum that we’ve got rolling.”
Enders went to the final round for the fourth time in 2024 and the 82nd time overall after defeating Mason McGaha, Matt Hartford and longtime rival Greg Anderson. Stanfield’s lead now stands at nine points over Dallas Glenn, with Enders 35 points back.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Hector Arana Jr. enjoyed a spectacular Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway, finishing it off with a 6.839s at 198.38mph on his GETTRX Buell to defeat Richard Gadson in the final round. It is Arana’s first victory of the season and 19th in his career, and he had to go through some standouts to get it.
Arana knocked off Jianna Evaristo and Angie Smith to reach the semifinals, and then got past points leader and defending world champion Gaige Herrera when Herrera went red. That set up a final-round duel with Gadson and Arana quickly tracked him down, winning at his home track for the third time in his career. The victory also pushed Arana into fourth in points, setting up the potential for a memorable late-season run for the veteran.
“We have a great team and we have a great motorcycle that everybody works hard,” Arana Jr. “We tried a bunch of things this year leading up to the Countdown and now it’s time to turn it on. We collected everything, got it together, and here we are in the winner’s circle holding up a Wally. I couldn’t imagine a better day.
“Fortunately for us, we were able to stay green and here we are in the winner’s circle. But we have some more power to make to fight with them. I came in here with confidence. We had a great bike and I said it all weekend, you have to have a good consistent bike in order to win the race, and that’s what we did.”
Gadson advanced to the final round for the second time in his rookie season, defeating Geno Scali, Chase Van Sant and defending event winner Matt Smith. Herrera remains in the points lead, holding an 17-point advantage over M. Smith. Gadson is 19 points behind in third.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Sept. 20-22 with the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.