After a two-hour rain delay earlier in the afternoon and another toward the early evening hours, the Norwalk Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio is finally complete and the delay proved well worth the wait.
Steve Torrence kept the CAPCO Boys’ momentum going in 2021 by winning the Top Fuel final over Brittany Force, while Cruz Pedregon snapped a three-year winless streak since Charlotte 2018. Four-time Pro Stock Champion Erica Enders stopped Greg Anderson from making history and Matt Smith won in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category.
Top Fuel
The weekend started off strong for Steve Torrence who won the No. 1 qualifier Saturday afternoon with help from his run on Friday night. He was paired in a first-round match with Shawn Langdon. Torrence advanced to the quarter round by posting an ET of 3.915 seconds and 305.98 mph after Langdon went up in smoke.
The quarter-final is where it got interesting for Torrence and his competitor Leah Pruett. Both drivers did their initial burnout sequence when it started to rain but the two teams went back to the pits to change their clutch packs. If both drivers were unable to make it back in time after the delay, both Torrence and Pruett would have been eliminated. However, Torrence won over Pruett to advance to the semis. He met Austin Prock who was subbing in for Clay Millican after Millican had a middle ear infection throughout the weekend.
In the finals, the Texas native squared off against John Force Racing driver Brittany Force after Force had victories over Mike Bucher in Round 1, Justin Ashley in Round 2 and Antron Brown in the semis.
Unfortunately for Force, she will have to wait another day to get a victory, as Steve Torrence powered to his fourth win of the season and the 44th of his career after a time of 3.730 seconds and 326.24 mph.
“It takes a toll on you, mentally,” Torrence said of Sunday’s three rain delays, one just before the final round. “You think you’re going to go and then you don’t. Up and down, up and down. Fortunately, experience helps you overcome that. This ain’t our
first rodeo.
“Brittany’s got a fast race car and she got everyone’s attention with that 3.69 in the semis,” Torrence said, “but our ol’ hot rod ain’t bad either. I knew these Capco boys would give me a car good enough to win if I could just do my job at the starting line.”
Force earned her second runner-up finish of the season and the 15th of her career.
“Very frustrating to get beat in the final the way we did. A holeshot loss is not easy, but I’m going to use that to step it up at the next one in Denver,” said Force, who is fourth in points. “Incredible job to my Flav-R-Pac, Monster Energy team. Consistent runs down the track all weekend long and a track record of 3.696 in the semis. Today’s laps weren’t easy, with tough competitors and changing track conditions we really had to work for it. Runner-up finish isn’t bad, and we’ll be ready for the next one.”
Top Fuel standings:
1 Steve Torrence, 733
2 Antron Brown, 518
3 Billy Torrence, 448
4 Brittany Force, 442
5 Shawn Langdon, 385
6 Justin Ashley, 337
7 Doug Kalitta, 332
8 Leah Pruett, 320
9 Mike Salinas, 318
10 Josh Hart, 310
Funny Car
Cruz Pedregon started his day off right with a round 1 victory over Tim Wilkerson. Pedregon cruised to a 3.973 seconds and 326.48 mph victory to meet John Force’s Robert Hight in round 2. He defeated Hight after posting a time of 3.959 seconds and 326.24 mph to help him advance to the semis. The Snap-On driver had a close race with Alexis DeJoria as Pedregon won a holeshot with a reaction time of .091 over DeJoria’s .115.
He met current Funny Car points leader Bob Tasca in the finals after Tasca was victorious over Blake Alexander, John Force and No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps.
Pedregon edged out Tasca in another close drag race and scored his 37th career victory by going 3.958 seconds and 324.75 mph.
“We have been prepping for a winning season, putting in so many hours and there’s nothing quite as rewarding as coming out on top and holding up that trophy at the end of a race weekend,” Pedregon said. “What a great job John (Collins), Rip (Reynolds), and the team did to get us ready for this race. What a real triumph for us all, especially after the 2020 season. We really appreciate our sponsors and great fans for sticking with us and giving us the additional boost of confidence we needed. That support is what makes it all possible.”
The second place finish was Bob Tasca’s first of the season.
Funny Car Points Standings:
1 Bob Tasca III, 590
2 John Force, 537
3 J.R. Todd, 502
4 Robert Hight, 485
5 Ron Capps, 453
6 Matt Hagan, 434
7 Cruz Pedregon, 417
8 Alexis DeJoria, 399
9 Tim Wilkerson, 397
10 Terry Haddock, 252
Pro Stock
The four-time Pro Stock Champion Erica Enders had to earn her victory today by squaring up against No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson. Enders defeated Cristian Cuadra, Bruno Massel and Kyle Koretsky to meet Anderson in the finals. Meanwhile, Anderson was looking to tie Warren Johnson on the all-time list with 97 career victories.
The 96-time race winner had victories over Fernando Cuadra, Val Smeland, and Matt Hartford that helped him get to the finals with Enders.
As in most recent categories, Enders won on a holeshot with a .005 reaction time over Anderson’s .030 to score her 31st career victory and the second win of the 2021 season.
“This is huge mojo,” Enders said. “My team, they always step up to the plate. After the semifinals, we knew we had to tune it up and we came back and made a bunch of changes. I’m just thrilled and I’m really proud of this team. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Anderson received his 66th runner-up finish as a result.
“I’m going to get it done,” Anderson said about the runner-up. “These last few races I’ve been a little snakebitten. I’m so proud of this team and the job everyone has done, and I’m even proud of the job I did driving. She had a killer light in the final and she’s a great driver, and she came up with it when she needed it. It was just a great drag race, and I’ll move onto the next one. My future still looks bright.”
Pro Stock Standings:
- Greg Anderson, 648 points
- Erica Enders, 506
- Aaron Stanfield, 479
- Matt Hartford, 450
- Mason McGaha, 433
- Deric Kramer, 423
- Dallas Glenn, 399
- Kyle Koretsky, 384
- Troy Coughlin Jr, 356
- Chris McGaha, 273
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith gained his 28th career victory Sunday by winning over Steve Johnson. Smith earned victories over Jianna Salinas, Ryan Oehler and Joey Gladstone to reach the finals.
He met Charlotte winner, Steve Johnson after Johnson won by eliminating James Underdahl, Andrew Hines and Joey Gladstone to face Smith in the finals.
As the final Camping World Series class of the day left the starting line, Matt Smith was .001 quicker on the reaction time and won over Johnson by going 6.782 seconds and 200.56 mph to pick up his second win of the season. The reaction time Smith had was .022 while Johnson’s time was .023.
The runner-up finish was Johnson’s first of the season.
Pro Stock Motorcycle Standings:
- Matt Smith, 499 points
- Steve Johnson, 406
- Scotty Pollacheck, 348
- Ryan Oehler, 345
- Angelle Sampey, 264
- Joey Gladstone, 255
- Angie Smith, 233
- Karen Stoffer, 226
- Cory Reed, 218
- Eddie Krawiec, 206
Official Results following the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
TOP FUEL:
- Steve Torrence; 2. Brittany Force; 3. Antron Brown; 4. Austin Prock; 5. Leah Pruett; 6. Billy Torrence; 7. Mike Salinas; 8. Justin Ashley; 9. Josh Hart; 10. Doug Kalitta; 11. Mike Bucher; 12. Doug Foley; 13. Kyle Wurtzel; 14. Joe Morrison; 15. Shawn Langdon; 16. Krista Baldwin.
FUNNY CAR:
- Cruz Pedregon; 2. Bob Tasca III; 3. Alexis DeJoria; 4. Ron Capps; 5. Robert Hight; 6. John Force; 7. Matt Hagan; 8. J.R. Todd; 9. Bobby Bode; 10. Paul Lee; 11. Jim Campbell; 12. Dale Creasy Jr.; 13. Blake Alexander; 14. Tim Wilkerson; 15. Terry Haddock; 16. Mike McIntire.
PRO STOCK:
- Erica Enders; 2. Greg Anderson; 3. Matt Hartford; 4. Kyle Koretsky; 5. Dallas Glenn; 6. Val Smeland; 7. Bruno Massel; 8. Fernando Cuadra Jr.; 9. Kenny Delco; 10. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 11. Mason McGaha; 12. Cristian Cuadra; 13. Fernando Cuadra; 14. Aaron Stanfield; 15. Chris McGaha; 16. Deric Kramer.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
- Matt Smith; 2. Steve Johnson; 3. Eddie Krawiec; 4. Joey Gladstone; 5. Andrew Hines; 6. John Hall; 7. Angie Smith; 8. Ryan Oehler; 9. Cory Reed; 10. Jerry Savoie; 11. Angelle Sampey; 12. Scotty Pollacheck; 13. Marc Ingwersen; 14. Jim Underdahl; 15. Jianna Salinas; 16. Karen Stoffer.
Up Next: The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will take a few weeks off before heading out west for the Dodge/SRT Mile High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway on July 16-18.
