Funny Car
After securing his 161st No. 1 qualifier Saturday night at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals, John Force gained his first NHRA victory in over two years, his first since the 2019 US Nationals at Indianapolis. Force rocketed his Peak/BlueDEF Chevrolet to the win after defeating Cruz Pedregon, Alexis DeJoria, and JR Todd for his first victory of the 2021 season.
“I pulled it off,” said Force, who dedicated the victory to track owner Bruton Smith. “I ran my big mouth, said I can do this, I’m going to win this. I love this guy and everything he’s done for the sport. I don’t have much time left, but when you have a crew chief like Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi and all these guys who take this old man and give him strength, what a run.”
Force advanced by winning in Round 1 over Dale Creasy and Dave Richards. In the semi-final, Force defeated McIntire and Terry Haddock to secure his final round spot. The other three advancing were JR Todd, Alexis DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon. Pedregon was runner-up in the semi-final while DeJoria got the victory. Todd was runner-up in the semi-round with Force, to advance. In the end, the victory went to Force who gained his 152nd career victory. Todd gained his 18th runner-up finish and finished second in the Funny Car class.
“It is early in the season but you want to be at the top of the points or within striking distance,” Todd said about the runner-up finish. “This DHL Funny Car team has been awesome to start the season and we need to keep the pressure on the rest of the teams.”
Funny Car Results
- John Force
- J.R. Todd
- Cruz Pedregon
- Alexis DeJoria
- Mike McIntire
- Matt Hagan
- Bob Tasca III
- Terry Haddock
- Ron Capps
- Dave Richards
- Jim Campbell
- Robert Hight
- Cory Lee
- Tim Wilkerson
- Blake Alexander
- Dale Creasy Jr
- Bob Tasca, 360 points
- J.R. Todd, -17
- John Force, -31
- Matt Hagan, -101
- Ron Capps, -125
- Alexis DeJoria, -132
- Tim Wilkerson, -142
- Cruz Pedregon, -144
- Robert Hight, -145
- Blake Alexander, -210
Top Fuel
After John Force extended his win count in the Funny Car class, he turned his attention to the Top Fuel final where his teammate Brittany Force was looking for her first win of the season. Brittany got off on the right foot Saturday night when she earned her 22nd No. 1 qualifier by posting an ET of 3.662 seconds and 330.08 mph. In Round 1, she was up against Justin Ashley, Joe Morrison, and Clay Millican.
Brittany won in round 1 and was runner-up in the semi-final to advance to the final round. In the final round, she was joined by Steve Torrence, Josh Hart, and Antron Brown. The four drivers squared off and it was the 2020 Top Fuel champion Torrence who fended off Force for the victory. This victory marked Torrence’s second of the season and his 42nd career victory.
“At first, admittedly, I was not a fan of the four-wide but Bruton Smith and Marcus, thank you guys, I love it,” said Torrence. “I mean, we do really well I don’t know why but I like to keep doing it. It’s the only thing that I’ve got a winning record, and so I’m proud of that. It makes us as a driver step up more, I think that it takes you out of your body, your wheelhouse of thinking makes you concentrate and focus a lot more.”
Meanwhile, Brittany would have to wait another race to get her first victory of the season. She had to settle with her second runner-up of the year and 24th of her career.
“Great weekend for this team. We came out Friday Q1, set track record at 3.66 and stole that No. 1 spot. Then, going into Saturday, we struggled. We didn’t get down the racetrack and that was tough for this team. We had a run that was in the cold and the best track conditions and now we needed to reset for race day. So, this team found that. David Grubnic and Max Savage set up this race car and it ran killer runs all day. Consistent all day long.
“We ended up runner-up. We made it to a final; that’s huge for this team. I’m so proud of all my Flav-R-Pac guys and proud to be teamed up with David Grubnic. I struggled on the second run and just messed up on the Christmas Tree and was so in my head about it, and Grubnic pulled me aside and told me to stop messing with it, I’m overthinking it and go out and drive the car because I know how to do it and rip their throats out. And that’s what we went out there doing. We brought everything to the line the best we could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day, but this will carry us into next weekend.”
Top Fuel Finishing Results
- Steve Torrence
- Brittany Force
- Antron Brown
- Josh Hart
- Doug Foley
- Doug Kalitta
- Krista Baldwin
- Clay Millican
- Billy Torrence
- Mike Salinas
- Shawn Langdon
- Joe Morrison
- Justin Ashley
- Arthur Allen
- Kyle Wurtzel
- Leah Pruett
- Steve Torrence, 408 points
- Antron Brown, -76
- Brittany Force, -134
- Shawn Langdon, -160
- Josh Hart, -163
- Billy Torrence, -193
- Doug Kalitta, -211
- Justin Ashley, -214
- Leah Pruett, -232
- Clay Millican, -244
Pro Stock
Dallas Glenn got his first career victory in just his fourth Pro Stock start for KB Racing. Glenn qualified his machine in the No. 10 spot after Saturday’s qualifying. In the first round, he was paired with Aaron Stanfield, Matt Hartford, and Fernando Cuadra. Glenn was victorious in the first round after he set an ET of 6.535 and 210.64 mph. In the semi-final, Glenn continued to win as he won over Strong and Stanfield to help him advance to the final round. There, he would face Mason McGaha, Troy Coughlin Jr, and Fernando Cuadra Jr. Glenn won in a close race and posted a time of 6.540 seconds and 209.88 mph.
“To be honest, I don’t even think it’s hit me yet,” Glenn said. “I’m just trying to enjoy everything I can. I’ve never experienced it on this side. It’s super emotional. This is a whole new perspective for me and these cars are so much fun, but they’re hard to drive. The results just came a little sooner than we were expecting.”
Pro Stock Results
- Dallas Glenn
- Mason McGaha
- Troy Coughlin Jr
- Fernando Cuadra Jr
- Greg Anderson
- Aaron Strong
- Aaron Stanfield
- Chris McGaha
- Kyle Koretsky
- Erica Enders
- Deric Kramer
- Matt Hartford
- Val Smeland
- Kenny Delco
- Fernando Cuadra
- Cristian Cuadra
Pro Stock Standings
- Greg Anderson, 377 points
- Erica Enders, -106
- Mason McGaha, -107
- Deric Kramer, -115
- Aaron Stanfield, -131
- Troy Coughlin Jr, -143
- Dallas Glenn, -149
- Kyle Koretsky, -174
- Matt Hartford, -193
- Chris McGaha, -200
Pro Stock Motorcycle
In a continuation of firsts, Steve Johnson ended up getting his first victory in over seven years. In fact, you would have to look at Gainesville 2014 when Johnson got his last victory.
Johnson qualified second in his Suzuki Saturday night when he posted a speed of 6.738 seconds and 197.62 mph. Johnson got victories in the first round over Chip Ellis and Kelly Clontz. However, in the second round, Johnson had to get into the final round by being a runner-up in the semi-final. When it came to the final round, Johnson hit on all cylinders and defeated Matt Smith, Karen Stoffer and Joey Gladstone.
“When you have a career path and you reach a goal, it can be euphoric,” Johnson said. “We are committed to this sport and I’m so excited about the emotion of our sport. I feel like our sport is really doing well. This trophy is so cool and this is the most special (win).”
Matt Smith was the event’s runner-up winning the 33rd runner-up finish of his career.
Pro Stock Motorcycle Results
- Steve Johnson
- Matt Smith
- Karen Stoffer
- Joey Gladstone
- Hector Arana Jr
- Eddie Krawiec
- Jim Underdahl
- Andrew Hines
- Angelle Sampey
- Cory Reed
- Chip Ellis
- Scotty Pollacheck
- Ryan Oehler
- Jerry Savoie
- Kelly Clontz
- Angie Smith
Pro Stock Motorcycle Standings
- Matt Smith, 377 points
- Scotty Pollacheck, -61
- Steve Johnson, -74
- Ryan Oehler, -84
- Angelle Sampey, -147
- Karen Stoffer, -183
- Cory Reed, -190
- Joey Gladstone, -197
- Angie Smith, -197
- Kelly Clontz, -250
- Eddie Krawiec, -250
Up Next: NHRA will head to Houston Raceway Park May 21-23 for the annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals.
