Big Wins For Championship Front-Runners at NHRA New England Nationals
Images via Ned Leone
Three of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ top drivers took home Wallys in Sunday’s sold-out New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. Top Fuel driver Mike Salinas took second in class points after a thrilling duel with Justin Ashley, while Matt Hagan and Erica Enders took the Funny Car and Pro Stock wins over Robert Hight and Aaron Stanfield, respectively.
Overcast, cool weather on Friday and Saturday set the tone for track records to fall throughout the weekend. Four-time defending Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence drew first blood in his first qualifying pass, going head-to-head with 2017 champion and current points leader Brittany Force in a thrilling run that saw Torrence knock the track record down at 3.664 seconds and 329.50 mph. But even in Sunday’s warmer first round, Force set a track speed record, taking a victory over Clay Millican with a 3.702 and 334.90.
But favored as they were for a showdown between them, neither would make the final round. Torrence lost traction in his first-round matchup with 16th seed Scott Ashley, robbing the Capco Contractors team of a shot at its fourth consecutive New England Nationals victory. Force posted a nearly identical 3.704 and 334.82 in the second round, but fell to her John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock on the holeshot.
Hagan took full advantage of the 14-car Funny Car field by beating Dale Creasy Jr. handily in the first round and running a 3.948 by himself in the second, before besting JR Todd in a close battle for the right to run the final. Hight’s path came against local favorite Cory Lee in the New Englander, Alexis DeJoria, and defending Funny Car champion Ron Capps, but even with a 2-0 record against Hagan in finals so far this year, he couldn’t deny the Tony Stewart Racing driver his fourth New England victory in the past five years.
Enders’ third consecutive victory allowed her to extend her Pro Stock points lead to 92 over Stanfield, who won in Epping last year. She got there from third on the bracket, surviving the second round against Greg Anderson with a holeshot win. Top qualifier Dallas Glenn fell in the second round to Fernando Cuadra Jr., who had just beaten his father in the first round in their first-ever elimination race—winning both bragging rights and a new truck from his dad in the process. Cuadra would then fall to Stanfield in the semifinals.
After an off week, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season continues one of its busiest stretches of the year with back-to-back events at Bristol Dragway on June 17-19 and Summit Motorsports Park on June 23-26. The series then takes two weekends off before its west coast swing, with three consecutive weeks of action in Colorado, California, and Washington, respectively. After airing on FS1 for the first eight rounds of the season, each of the next five NHRA events will air on network Fox instead.