Drivers took to the course at Sonoma Raceway in California’s wine country for the latest round of NHRA races, July 25 through 27.
The biggest story of the event involved Brittany Force; the “Queen of Speed”.
Coming into the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals, it could be readily seen that the weather conditions were going to be optimal for racing performances, with a marine layer and mild temperatures. In Seattle at the Northwest Nationals the week prior, the weather was also very good, resulting in track records in elapse time and speed. Brittany Force ran over 340 mph again (340.47). Then she did it again in the third elimination round win over Doug Kalitta (who also went 341.34 mph in qualifying), with a 3.659 at 341.85 mph performance. But the Sonoma event topped that. The “Queen of Speed” turned in a jaw dropping 3.645 at 343.16 mph performance that had the large crowd offering its thundering approval. If that was not enough, this run also featured an unbelievable 304.94 mph halftrack (660 foot) speed. Kenny Bernstein, the “King of Speed”, broke the 300-mph barrier back in 1992, with a 301.70 mph performance, that rocked the drag racing world at the time. That was done in a quarter mile distance, the official distance run until 2007, when it was reduced to 1000 feet for safety. Force did her runs in just 1000 feet and exceeded the Bernstein run by over three mph in just 660 feet (one-eighth mile). She has now gone 340 plus mph five times, more than any other driver in any class. She also holds nine of the 10 fastest speeds in the sport and also holds the quickest elapse time of 3.623 seconds, achieved in 2019. That makes her the fastest and quickest driver in drag racing history.
In Top Fuel, the story was Brittany Force, but, unlike Seattle, where she reached the final round, she was taken out by Shawn Langdon in the opening round. Langdon beat her in the final round a week earlier, as her car lost traction. In Sonoma, the two left together and she started to pull away until the engine shut off. This led to a 3.688 at 336.65 mph to 3.721 at 289.77 mph win for Langdon. Ironically, that was the only complete run Langdon would make the entire weekend, as he would lose traction in a second-round single bye run and again in the semifinal, where he would lose to Antron Brown. Doug Kalitta, who quailed second, behind Force, marched to a final round match up with number four qualifier, Brown. Kalitta, the only Top Fuel driver other than Force to exceed 340 mph (341.34 mph in Seattle), got around a tire smoking Brown, to take a 3.752 at 334.57 mph to 4.067 at 229.74 mph win, his first of the season.
In Funny Car, it was the “Prock Rocket” Chevy Camaro, driven by Austin Prock, that would take charge. Driving the car tuned by his father Jimmy Prock with assistance of co-crew chief, his brother Tom Prock, Austin Prock ran the only 340 mph run (341.90 mph) in the category in the opening round win over Cruz Pedregon. Prock drives the only Funny Car to officially run over 340 mph. Prock, who quailed fifth, marched through the field over Pedregon, Paul Lee and Matt Hagan to square off against rookie Spenser Hyde. Prock would leave first (0.070 to 0.096) and drove away to a 3.904 at 333.82 mph to 3.956 at 323.35 mph win. This was Prock’s 13th career win in Funny Car in 19 final round appearances.
In Pro Stock, the father-son team of Greg and Aaron Stanfield advanced to the final round, where dad Greg would drive around son Aaron for the to 6.552 at 21.49 mph to 6.568 at 209.39 mph win. Aaron had taken a 0.016 to 0.030 starting line advantage, but could not hold off his father. Having just returned to the class, it was Greg Stanfield’s first Pro Stock win since his 2014 victory at the 2024 NHRA finals. He returned to Pro Stock at the request of his son, so they could enjoy racing each other in the class.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, the seemingly unstoppable Gaige Herrera was stopped by John Hall in the second round. In an extremely rare event, Herrera had an abnormal reaction time of 0.164 seconds. This led to a John Hall (0.037 reaction time) 6.739 at 200.50 mph to (early shut-off) 6.813 at 198.52 mph win. Hall would continue to march on to the final round, taking out Matt Smith along the way. On the other side, it was number one qualifier, Richard Gadson, with a unique trip to the final round. His first-round opponent fouled out, his second-round opponent’s motorcycle would not start and, due to the short 12 of 16 class field, he had a competition bye-run in the semifinal round. Thus, in the technical sense, he raced no one to advance to the final round. In the final, he defeated Hall for a 6.756 at 199.97 to 6.807 at 196.04 mph win. The win was Gadson’s second in four final round appearances.
