NHRA Countdown: Points After Texas Fall Nationals

The fourth race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship saw movement throughout the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series standings following the Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) hoisted Wallys. 

Here’s the standings as the series takes a two-week break before the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

Funny Car

A rare throttle linkage failure on Austin Prock’s John Force Racing Funny Car kept the team from advancing out of the semifinals on Sunday.

“I honestly don’t know what to say,” Prock said.  “This isn’t the end we had planned for our weekend with the AAA Camaro. My foot went all the way to the floor, so (I knew) there was a good chance it broke the throttle cable or that the throttle link had disconnected. 

“It was a quick disconnect, activated by air. I stopped and noticed that the throttle arm was moving but there was no change in RPM. So, I got on the radio (and) told them what was going on. We tried reconnecting it, but we weren’t able to.”

The issue allowed Ron Capps to advance into the finals, where the three-time champion lost to Matt Hagan.

Prior to Sunday’s action, Jack Beckman, subbing for John Force, was unable to compete after waking up with vertigo-like symptoms. 

With Prock enduring issues and Beckman sidelined, Hagan benefited the most on Sunday as he vaulted to third in the standings, jumping from 205 behind to only 168 markers. 

Top Fuel

Perhaps the most intense title battle across NHRA’s four professional classes is Top Fuel. Antron Brown, who entered the Stampede of Speed 34 points ahead of Justin Ashley, lost to the SCAG Racing driver in the first round.

Ashley defeated U.S. Nationals winner Clay Millican in the finals. He regained the points lead and enters the final two races with 44-point advantage over Brown.

Shawn Langdon (-76), Steve Torrence (-88) and Tony Schumacher (-105) lurk in the distance.

Notably, defending champion Doug Kalitta dropped out of the top five following a first-round loss to Millican. Kalitta fell to seventh in the Countdown standings, 133 out of the lead. 

Pro Stock

With Jeg Coughlin Jr. playing spoiler on the Pro Stock field, it allowed the Elite Motorsports driver to cut 36 points off his deficit to leader Dallas Glenn in the standings.

However, Coughlin is still 196 markers out of the lead in fifth.

Glenn, who lost in the semifinals to runner-up Greg Anderson, still increased his advantage over second-place Aaron Stanfield from 31 points to 53 after Stanfield lost to Glenn in the second round.

Anderson was able to cut into Glenn’s gap from 119 markers to 90. 

Pro Stock Motorcycle 

The Gaige Herrera show continued on Sunday as Herrera wheeled his Vance & Hines Suzuki to a second straight win in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition, once again at the demise of title rival Matt Smith.

It was Herrera’s second win in a row at the Texas Motorplex, allowing the defending champion to lead Smith by 62 points. Smith entered the event 34 markers behind.

Herrera’s teammate, Richard Gadson, dropped from 65 markers out of the lead to 161 due to a loss against Chase Van Sant in the first round.