NORWALK, Ohio — Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown slipped past points leader Doug Kalitta in the final round of the 18th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, racing to his 76th career win on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park.
Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 10th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Brown denied Kalitta, the reigning world champ, his second straight win, going 3.736 seconds at 330.55 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster to get past Kalitta’s 3.747 at 334.65 in a fantastic side-by-side duel. It is Brown’s second win this season – and the 60th Top Fuel win in his spectacular career – and he reached the final round after defeating Dan Mercier, Clay Millican and Justin Ashley. Brown then led wire-to-wire against the No. 1 qualifier, moving to fourth in points with the thrilling victory.
“This is the best one right now, but your best one is always your next one,” Brown said. “We’re going to celebrate like rock stars tonight because this class is unbelievably tough. You can be on the outside looking in really quick. Coming here, we really felt we had a package that compete and run with anybody.
“The fans here live, eat and breathe drag racing and you could tell the way the fans showed out. To be part of that and go rounds, come out the victor – my hat is off to my team. I’m in awe of how we got this done. It’s truly a blessing to be part of this team and get this win and John Force, this win is for you.”
Kalitta reached his fourth straight final of the year and the 117th in his career with round wins against Kyle Wurtzel, Billy Torrence and Steve Torrence. His points lead now stands at 134 over Justin Ashley.
In Funny Car, Tasca made the most of his second straight trip to the final round in his 11,000-horsepower Ford Performance Dark Horse Mustang, taking down Ron Capps with a standout run of 3.908 at 330.47. It gives Tasca his second win this season and the 17th in his career and the veteran also obliterated the track speed record, going 336.82.
That came in the first round of eliminations against Dave Richards and Tasca then proceeded to knock off Paul Lee and No. 1 qualifier and points leader Austin Prock. That semifinal must-see matchup didn’t disappoint, as Tasca won on a holeshot, going 3.929 at 334.73 to hold off Prock’s 3.927 thanks to a .046 reaction time. Tasca then cruised to the victory in the final round, winning for the second time in Norwalk and also moving to second in points.
“Hats off to Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks. Leaving Bristol, we were pretty disappointed,” Tasca said. “They’re about as aggressive of guys as I’ve ever seen, and I’m an aggressive guy. But we have to go down the racetrack. I think we’re like 14 out of 15 runs since Bristol going down the racetrack, and that’s what it takes to win. They just did an incredible job this weekend. Friday, Saturday were some of the most challenging conditions that we’ve ever seen and the car runs .88, .89, like a bracket car. This is a really special group.
“This morning when I woke up and I heard the positive news about John Force, it was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders. This place is special to John and I dedicate this win to John Force. He will be back and he’s the toughest guy I know.”
Capps broke a season-long slump, advancing to his first final of the year and the 148th in his career after taking down Daniel Wilkerson, J.R. Todd and reigning world champion Matt Hagan. Prock’s points lead is now 178 points over Tasca.
Pro Stock’s Stanfield stayed red-hot, winning his second straight race by taking down points leader Dallas Glenn in the final round with a run of 6.539 at 208.91 in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports car. It was the quickest run of the weekend in the category and also marks the 10th career victory for the young standout, who also won last weekend in Richmond.
Stanfield advanced to the championship round by defeating Chris McGaha, Deric Kramer and Cristian Cuadra. Glenn ran into tire shake almost immediately, and Stanfield cruised to the victory, moving up to fourth in points in the process.
“This place is awesome and it’s been on my bucket list to get it done,” Stanfield said. “My hot rod was flying this weekend and I’m glad I’m the one that’s behind the wheel. It feels great to get back-to-back wins and get this ice cream scoop here.
“Racing Dallas, we both come from the same background. He’s a tough competitor and it feels good to turn the win light on. We’re both hardworking people, and we’ve really grinded to get in the position we are. It’s cool to get to race against him and he’s bad to the bone, so I know I’ve got to be on my best to beat him. It’s just a cool moment.”
Glenn reached the finals for the fifth time this season and the 22nd time in his career, picking up round wins against Jeg Coughlin Jr., Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Mason McGaha. He also extended his points lead to 89 over Greg Anderson, who fell in the first round. Reigning world champ Erica Enders also lost in the opening round.
Herrera again raised his performance on Sunday in Pro Stock Motorcycle, extending his NHRA record with an 11th straight win, defeating Matt Smith in the final round on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki with an impressive run of 6.704 at 200.77. The dominant points leader and defending world champion remained undefeated since last September and for all of 2024, winning his sixth straight race this year and first at Summit Motorsports Park.
Herrera qualified third heading into eliminations, but was incredible on Sunday, going a track-record 6.698 at 200.95 to open the day. He added round wins against Chase Van Sant and John Hall to reach the final round before the marquee matchup with Smith. But Herrera left the starting line first and rolled to the victory.
“I have an awesome team behind me, and they deserve more of the credit than I do. I get the spotlight but all in all, it’s them. It shows their hard work. It’s just been a lot accomplished in a short time and it’s really hard to take it all in, but I’m enjoying it. It’s unbelievable but it makes me feel like all my hard work is paying off. I’ve always wanted to be here since I was a little kid.
“I actually grew up one city over from John Force. You grow up watching John, hearing about him, to have my name in that same area – it’s still John Force, you can never compare yourself to anyone like that, but to have my name mentioned in the history books like that, it’s incredible. I never would have dreamed anything of it as a kid and I still don’t believe it.”
Smith earned his second trip to the finals this year and the 77th in his career thanks to round wins against Wesley Wells and Richard Gadson.