CONCORD, N.C. — A trio of emotional wins concluded the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway on Sunday afternoon.
Antron Brown scored his third Top Fuel triumph in the last five races with his Matco Tools dragster, Ron Capps earned the Wally in the Funny Car class and Aaron Stanfield clawed his way through a stacked Pro Stock field to emerge victorious.
As the Pro Stock teams crowded in the staging lanes for the final, the anticipation for the matchup between Stanfield and Matt Hartford was surging through the crowd. The eyes were on Stanfield as he was quickest off the starting line, triggering the win light at the end of the drag strip with a 6.567-second elapsed time.
His victory brought Elite Motorsports to the winner’s circle after points leader Erica Enders shook the tires on her Chevrolet Camaro and lost in the semifinals.
While the result was still setting in for Stanfield, he admitted the past few weeks — and even the season as a whole — have been a struggle for him as a driver.
He doesn’t believe his challenges are in the past quite yet either. “We just did well this race,” Stanfield said. “It’s a hard game, it’s all about perfection.” This was the first win that his wife, Joleigh, was present for, so sharing the moment with her was another reward for overcoming the Concord drag strip.
In Funny Car, Capps’ inspiration to win the Carolina Nationals was delivered with a troubling phone call on Friday night.
“Friday night, we lost a kid,” Capps said.
Balin Hewson was his name. Hewson was a young man with a debilitating disease, and his intense love for drag racing led him to develop a relationship with his favorite Funny Car driver, Capps, in recent years.
“He was always the first to text me, win or lose. Just a great kid,” Capps added.
Hewson was about to celebrate his 21st birthday, but died on Friday night.
“You would love to win for somebody like that, but it just doesn’t happen that easy, let alone win, period,” Capps said. “Every win today was huge — it was championship, Pomona final round huge.”
His heavy heart pushed him through eliminations as he fought through Blake Alexander, Bob Tasca III and John Force to reach the final round against Alexis DeJoria.
Points leader Robert Hight fell out of the running in the second round of eliminations, with DeJoria besting the three-time champion. Despite the fact DeJoria was enjoying one of her career-best days, Capps interrupted her growing momentum and claimed the win with a 3.967-second ET.
The triumph marked his fourth victory of the season and the 72nd of his career, but more importantly, he’ll be giving the Wally to the Hewson family as they grieve their loss.
Next up was the final elimination for Top Fuel, with Justin Ashley’s Phillips Connect dragster in the left lane and Brown’s Matco Tools dragster in the other. The two friendly souls might share a hospitality tent in the pits, but once their wheels hit the track, the rookie and series veteran want nothing more than to win.
Ashley bested Alex Laughlin, Steve Torrence and Doug Kalitta on his way to the final, while Brown took out Austin Prock, Brittany Force and Clay Millican in the initial elimination rounds.
To simply reach the last round was something to be proud of, according to Brown, in light of the elite level of Top Fuel competition. Facing Ashley is a position that Brown claims nobody in the pits wants to be in.
“That kid had it from day one. And that kid is dangerous. When you look at it, he’s only getting better,” Brown said, throwing credit Ashley’s way for his consistent performances. “He’s the toughest competitor out there, period.”
However, Brown and his team had their own reasons to go all-out for the win.
And when the light turned green and the dragsters tore down the straightaway, it was Brown who emerged the victor with a 3.672-second ET. Ashley’s 0.55-second reaction time was uncharacteristically slower than Brown’s 0.35, which ultimately made the difference between the two.
“When I saw that little hint of yellow, brother, my foot has no hesitation,” Brown said. “I saw the light blinking at the end of the finish line on the side of the guardrail, and I thought ‘we got it!’ I was going crazy in the car.”
As the NHRA television cameras panned to Brian Corradi, one of Brown’s crew chiefs at AB Motorsports, Corradi was visibly emotional — the win was much more than just another number for Brown’s record.
The victory was mentally significant for Corradi as he remembered his mother who passed away a few years ago. Once Brown arrived at the podium, he dedicated the win to his grandmother, who he recently lost in January of this year.
“That’s why what we have is more than just a team, it’s a family,” Brown said. “You saw the man let it out right there, and going forward, this family is going to be together for a long time.”
Brown’s result at the Carolina Nationals was his first playoff win in six years and the third victory for AB Motorsports in its debut year.
The NHRA Countdown to the Championship now heads to St. Louis, Ill., for the Midwest Nationals on Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.