MADISON, Ill. – Austin Prock set a new track record for Funny Car elapsed time at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 29 in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Midwest Nationals with his e.t. of 3.814.
Prock took the stage first in Funny Car eliminations where he beat the previous track record of an e.t. of 3.830 set by Robert Hight in 2017.
Chad Green and Dale Creasy Jr. faced off next, with Green coming out on top after Creasy Jr lost a cylinder midway down the track, which resulted in his car catching fire.
Green qualified in the No.2 spot and beat Creasy Jr.’s 14.127, 70.4 with an e.t. 3.933 at 305.49 mph.
No. 3 qualifier Ron Capps and No.14 Buddy Hull went head to head with Capps extending his winning record against Hull once again. Capps finished with a 3.873, 329.18 and Hull with a 12.672, 75.09.
Continuing with the top-five qualifiers, Jack Beckman’s 3.878, 329.42 beat the 3.926, 326.63 of JR Todd, and Daniel Wilkerson put in a 3.901, 327.51 to beat Alexis DeJoria’s 3.940, 325.22.
Funny Car finished elimination one with Bobby Bode, Blake Alexander and Bob Tasca III making it to the second round of eliminations.
Dave Richards, Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan were eliminated in the first round.
TOP FUEL
Top Fuel ended with each of the top-three qualifiers beating their challengers in round one of eliminations.
TJ Zizzo continued his St. Louis domination beating Billy Torrence’s run of 3.812, 310.84 with a run of an e.t. of 3.718 at 330.88 mph.
Tony Schumacher was second to Zizzo in qualifying and continued to push towards the finals after putting in a 4.359, 303.09 to beat Julie Nataas’ 5.050, 191.16.
Finishing out the top-three qualifiers was Brittany Force, who put in a 3.702, 324.98 to propel her into the next round of eliminations due to her win against Josh Hart, who finished his weekend with a 3.745, 324.05.
Last years Midwest Nationals Top Fuel champion, Clay Millican, put in a 3.712, 330.96, but this was not enough to make it into the next round as Justin Ashley finished with a 3.733, 325.53 and a reaction time of .034 which beat Millican’s r.t. of .056.
To close out the top-five qualifiers, was Shawn Langdon who beat 2023 Top Fuel ChampionDoug Kalitta’s 5.399, 157.25 with a 3.727, 323.89.
The Top Fuel drivers who made it to the second round of eliminations were Shawn Reed, Antron Brown and Steve Torrence.
Ida Zetterstrom, Jasmine Salinas and Tony Stewart did not make it to round two of eliminations.
PRO STOCK
Erica Enders continued her success in St. Louis by beating Chris McGaha’s 6.645, 206.83 with a 6.552, 208.39 which sent her to round two of eliminations.
Pro Stock leader Dallas Glenn went No. 2 in qualifying and put up a 6.570, 207.50 to beat Camrie Caruso’s 6.587, 206.35.
The No.3 qualifying spot went to the previous St. Louis champion, Greg Anderson, who had a 6.567, 208.39. This sent him to the next round as his competitor, Cory Reed, had a 6.600, 206.35.
Aaron Stanfield took the fourth qualifying spot and advanced into the second round as he placed a 6.574, 207.66 compared to the pass of his challenger, David Cuadra, who had a 6.606, 207.05.
To close out the top-five qualifiers was Matt Hartford who’s 6.586, 208.49 in elimination one, was enough to beat Cristian Cuadra’s 18.665, 42.32.
Jeg Coughlin Jr., Mason McGaha and Eric Latino continued, and Jerry Tucker, Troy Coughlin Jr. and Fernando Cuadra Jr. were eliminated.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
2023 Midwest Nationals Pro Stock Motorcycle winner Gaige Herrera made his way further into the 2024 race at World Wide Technology Raceway with a 6.808, 198.09.
Herrera has found success at WWTR in the past, and he continued to the next rounds.
Series leader Matt Smith took No. 2 in qualifying and took the win against Wesley Wells in the first round of eliminations. Matt Smith put in a run of 6.815, 198.64 and Wells had a 7.454, 178.73.
Richard Gadson holds the third place in the standings and third place in qualifying at WWTR. Gadson put in a run of 6.834, 196.04 to beat his competitor Lance Bonham who ran a 7.289, 182.65.
Angie Smith made her way to round two with a 6.834, 198.32 to advance over Ryan Oehler’s 7.054, 187.76. Hector Arana Jr. followed Angie Smith in qualifyings and had a 7.884, 157.80 which put him through to round two with his opponent, Steve Johnson, who had a 12.282, 61.14.
Chase Van Sant, Geno Scali and John Hall made it to round two while Marc Ingwersen, Jianna Evaristo and Chris Bostick got eliminated.
Round 2 eliminations
Zizzo’s run at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway came to an end in the second round of eliminations as he lost to Steve Torrence’s 3.766, 315.49.
Zizzo had a 10.915, 73.35 as he had smoke at the beginning of the race, resulting in the loss.
Zizzo was not the only one who had a loss due to an unforeseen circumstance. Brown had his parachutes deployed towards the end of his run, which resulted in a 3.759, 295.92.
Schumacher made his way to the semifinals with his 3.746, 322.34 as his competitor, Brown, had a parachute issue.
Ashley and Langdon went head to head with Ashley ultimately taking the win with a 3.721, 327.43. Langdon produced a run of 3.731, 320.81, however, that was not enough to get him to the semifinals.
The only female to make it out of the first rounds of eliminations was Force, but she had an issue at the start which resulted in a 10.819, 61.19. Her competitor, Reed, had more success as he found an e.t. of 3.732 at 318.02 mph, which sent him into the semifinals.
The semifinal bracket is as follows: Steve Torrence vs Ashley and Schumacher vs Reed.
FUNNY CAR
New track record holder for elapsed time in Funny Car at World Wide Technology Raceway, Prock, made it to the semifinals after defeating Tasca III who had a 3.908, 409.58.
Prock’s pass of 3.884, 316.67 was not as record breaking as his first run of the day, but it was enough to take him to the semifinals where he will face Beckman for a spot in the finals at the NHRA Midwest Nationals.
Beckman beat Wilkerson’s run of 8.392, 84.04 with a run of his own of 3.887, 326.00.
Alexander took victory over Green who did not make it past the burn outs. Alexander will face Capps in the semis as Capps’ 3.884, 322.58 was better than Bode’s 4.688, 178.54.
PRO STOCK
Enders beat Latino’s 6.619, 205.98 as she continued her success at WWTR with a 6.555, 208.39 to push her into the finals against Stanfield.
Stanfield put out a 6.605, 207.15 which put him into the finals over Hartford’s 6.648, 206.86.
The remaining two finalists are Glenn and Anderson make up the remaining spots in the top-four standings with Enders and Stanfield.
Glenn had a 6.578, 207.82 which was better than Mason McGaha’s 6.597, 207.50. Anderson put up a 6.564, 208.46 to knock out Coughlin Jr. who had a 6.582, 207.56.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
Past-winner Herrera made it to the finals again in St. Louis as he beat Hall’s 6.925, 193.71 with a 6.797, 198.88.
Arana Jr. wll face off against Herrera as he placed a 6.870, 195.65, which was enough to put him over Angie Smith for the finals.
The second battle in the finals is between Scali and Van Sant. Scali knocked out standings leader Matt Smith with a run of 6.998, 193.10.
Finals continue at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 29.
