Notes from around the paddock at the 34th and final NHRA appearance in the Kansas capital of Topeka. The stop for the NHRA featured lengthy rain delays on Sunday.
The historic dragstrip closes at the end of this season:
Ashley, Tasca, Enders Win in Topeka Finale
Top Fuel dragster points leader Justin Ashley, Funny Car veteran Bob Tasca and five-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders won at the Menards NHRA Nationals late Sunday.
In the final round, Ashley edged Brittany Force in Top Fuel, while Tasca beat Matt Hagan in Funny Car, and Enders topped Greg Anderson in a classic Pro Stock finale.
Ashley’s victory with his sixth win in 13 starts this year. He was solid behind the wheel with reaction times in the .030 range in the last two rounds against past champions Antron Brown and Brittany Force.
With the win, Ashley expands his points lead to 83 points over Steve Torrence.
Editors note: Check back for complete results. Will post when they become available!
Revitalized Torrence: Bonus Points Key To Fifth Top Fuel Title
Justin Ashley retained the points lead he and Steve Torrence have been trading all season long, as Torrence lost in the quarterfinals Sunday.
But after Torrence beat Ashley during Saturday qualifying to claim his third straight Top Fuel victory in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, he said those small bonus points might just be pivotal in the upcoming championship chase.
Torrence declared that “the big thing is picking up bonus points throughout the (qualifying) rounds. That’s key. That’s crucial. We need to pick up those points, and we need to keep getting those tortilla challenge points.”
The Capco Contractors Toyota Dragster driver said that in winning five of the first six Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenges, “Justin had built a bit of a lead, but we’re cutting that down. Those Mission points are going to be crucial. I won a championship by just three points (in 2019). It’ll be a big deal at the end.”
Saturday’s No. 1 qualifying position was the first for the resurgent four-time champion Torrence since last Oct. 2 at St. Louis.
“Admittedly, we’ve not been the Capco Boys of the past. We’re doing the best we can to get back to that,” he said. “I think that at some point, we might have given these guys a false sense of hope that we aren’t the team we used to be. Maybe we’re not there yet, but we’re coming back.”
With the way the car has been performing lately, he said, it “gives me a lot of confidence and makes me feel excited about the rest of the year. we’re getting’ closer. Consistency wins championships and that, along with being quick, is what we pride ourselves in. We’re going to do the best we can to keep this up. We’re building the steam, building the momentum, at the right time. And that Capco train is coming.”
Ron Capps was back in his comfort zone at Topeka this weekend following his wild Thursday night racing in the SRX series.
Ron Capps Gets High Praise from Tony Stewart After SRX Show
Reigning Funny Car champion Ron Capps received a huge compliment from Tony Stewart following Thursday night’s SRX event at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway before he raced in the NHRA’s Menards Nationals at Topeka.
The NAPA Toyota Supra drag racer led in the first SRX heat race before finishing fourth, was sixth in the second heat, and came in 10th in the main event. And he said of the experience, “Oh my god, so much fun.
“I just watched the replay of Smoke, holding him off for six laps. But I knew he was back there, and I think he was toying with me a little bit. And then he pulled the slide job. I actually hung with him pretty good after that,” Capps said.
“But the biggest compliment I got was Smoke saying, ‘I was following you, and I stopped driving my car. I was impressed with what you were doing in your car in front of me.’ And hearing that from the best dirt-track racer probably of all time, that’s a huge compliment,” he said.
Capps, an NHRA team owner like Eldora track owner and race winner Stewart, was the first drag racer in the SRX’s three-year history to be invited to compete. He exited in the second round of Sunday’s Menards Nationals.
Scott Kalitta was one of the most successful drivers in the history of the track in Topeka.
Performance Milestones To Be Buried When Topeka Dragstrip Closes This Fall
Heartland Motorsports Park, nickna med the “House of Speed,” has been the site of some of the sport’s milestones and memorable occasions.
• Jim Epler became the first Funny Car driver to break the 300-mph barrier here 30 years ago (at 300.40), and in that 1993 Sears Craftsman Nationals, fellow Funny Car driver Chuck Etchells was the first in the class to clock a sub-five-second elapsed time.
• In 1990, reigning Top Fuel champion Gary Ormsby was the first in NHRA history to eclipse the 4.9-second and 295 mph marks (with his 4.881-second, 296.06-mph) at Heartland Park.
•Scott Kalitta won six Top Fuel trophies at Topeka, including at both 1995 races. They were part of his streak of five straight from 1993-97.
• Dave Grubnic, currently Brittany Force’s tuner, earned the distinction of being the first non-North American to win a Top Fuel race in the U.S., when in 2005 he claimed the first of two trophies at Topeka. His other came in 2012.
• In 2021, Brittany Force and John Force each scored wins at Topeka—a track where Brittany’s retired-driver older sister Ashley first drove a Funny Car.
• John Force’s track-record ninth Funny Car victory here in 2008 was his first following a vicious crash the year before at Dallas. The 16-time champion and 155-time winner said it reassured him that he still had the skills to compete.
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