September 14, 2024 | By NHRA

Ashley, Prock top NHRA nitro qualifying at Reading

MOHNTON, Pa. — Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley clinched his first No. 1 qualifier of the season on Saturday at Maple Grove Raceway, taking the top spot in front of a sellout crowd at the 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.

Austin Prock (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the 15th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It is the first of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Ashley’s run of 3.713-seconds at 333.49 mph from Friday in his 11,000-horsepower Scag Power Equipment/Toyota dragster stayed atop the field, giving the former NHRA Rookie of the Year his sixth career No. 1 qualifier and second straight at Maple Grove Raceway. Currently second in points, Ashley also made the quickest run to close out qualifying on Saturday and will open eliminations against Smax Smith, looking for his first career win at his home track.

“For the most part, today's focus was going to be on getting ready for raceday and collecting those bonus points. What we saw today was probably similar conditions to what we'll see tomorrow,” Ashley said. “I think the team learned a lot, they did a great job to be able to collect a total of five bonus points today was critical for us. Tomorrow is a brand new day. It's really important to qualify No. 1, but at the same time the competition is just so good right now, anything can happen.

“Those bonus points are very important. It's not everything, but it does add up. You collect a point here and there and together, they could mean a lot.”

Tony Schumacher qualified second with a 3.733 at 328.70 and points leader Doug Kalitta finished in the third spot after going 3.733 at 328.70.

In Funny Car, points leader Austin Prock continued his incredible qualifying run, securing his 11th No. 1 qualifier in 15 races thanks to Friday’s spectacular pass of 3.849 at 338.43 in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. He’s now only two No. 1 qualifiers away from tying John Force and Tony Schumacher for the most No. 1 qualifiers in the nitro categories in NHRA history. He also added a strong run in front of the capacity crowd to close out qualifying and Prock, who won at Maple Grove Raceway in 2022 in Top Fuel, opens eliminations against Mike Smith, looking for his sixth victory of the season.

"These guys are giving me an outstanding car," Prock said. "All I can do is screw up qualifying and I've been doing an okay job of not doing that. My dad, Thomas, Nate, this whole Cornwell Tools team are pretty incredible this season.

 "We just have to do what we've been doing all year long. We have to execute exactly how we did all season long, change nothing and see how the cards fall. We're racing lights out right now and I feel like we're making the best runs we're capable of making consistently. If we all do our best, that should be good enough to win."

Alexis DeJoria qualified second with a 3.867 at 336.40, while Prock’s JFR teammate, Jack Beckman, took third after his pass of 3.869 at 330.80.

Pro Stock points leader Dallas Glenn impressed the sellout crowd on Saturday in Reading, making a huge run of 6.530 at 209.43 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro, picking up the No. 1 spot for the second time this season and the sixth time in his career. Glenn made the biggest jump of the day, giving him plenty of momentum heading into eliminations, where he’ll open raceday against Kenny Delco. After struggling in the Countdown to the Championship last year, Glenn is eager to try and have some early playoff success.

Yesterday, I didn't feel like we made that great of runs even though we were near the top and got bonus points. They were decent runs, the engine was running good and everything, but we were struggling in 60-feet. I knew if we figured out that out, we would be good,” Glenn said. “Today, when the track is a little worse and the air is just a touch worse, you go up there and as long as it 60-foots, we should be able to be really close to it. We went up there and made a really nice run.

“I feel like everybody counts all the little points, especially when you reset them with six races to go and you have this mad rush to try to go rounds and get wins. It really matters when you're in the playoffs. It's really important here at the end of the season that we do well, so I'm going to try to stay extra focused, try to just kick it up and grab that little bit of extra gear that I feel like we have, focus a little bit harder, and see if we can squeeze a couple wins here in the last six races.”

Defending world champion Erica Enders finished in the second spot with a run of 6.535 at 210.34 and Greg Anderson took third with a pass of 6.537 at 209.23.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Gaige Herrera put on an impressive show to open qualifying on Saturday, delivering a stellar run of 6.743 at 200.20 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki, racing his way to the No. 1 position. It’s the sixth top qualifier of the season for the defending world champ and points leader and the 20th in his career, and Herrera was thrilled with adjustments his team made heading into Saturday. It paid off in a big way as only one of two riders to dip into the 6.70s, positioning Herrera well for eliminations. He’ll start raceday against Kelly Clontz, looking to win at Maple Grove Raceway for the first time. It’s also the only track on the PSM circuit where Herrera hasn’t won.

“We were very pleased with that. We're happy with that going into tomorrow,” Herrera said. “Conditions will be pretty much the same, maybe a little cooler. I'm glad to get No. 1 qualifying spot. We're trying to get as many points as we can because now it's going to be a lot tighter.

“Last night we stayed and looked at data for a good bit and came up with a game plan for today and it paid off. We kind of threw the kitchen sink at it, and it worked. That doesn't always work, so that gave me confidence in the machine. It's going to be good for racing tomorrow, and hopefully I have a very fast and consistent motorcycle all day.”

Defending event winner Matt Smith finished second, going 6.795 at 200.50 to close out qualifying, while Richard Gadson’s 6.806 at 198.35 puts him third.

Eliminations for the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway.


SUNDAY ELIMINATION PAIRINGS

READING, Pa. -- Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the 15th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.


Top Fuel -- 1. Justin Ashley, 3.713 seconds, 333.49 mph vs. 16. Smax Smith, 3.897, 268.71; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.733, 328.70 vs. 15. Doug Foley, 3.823, 324.83; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.736, 335.73 vs. 14. Dan Mercier, 3.799, 321.65; 4. Tony Stewart, 3.741, 328.94 vs. 13. Billy Torrence, 3.779, 329.91; 5. Shawn Langdon, 3.741, 324.59 vs. 12. Ida Zetterstrom, 3.771, 329.10; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.754, 332.18 vs. 11. Brittany Force, 3.770, 329.75; 7. Antron Brown, 3.755, 328.62 vs. 10. Jasmine Salinas, 3.768, 330.15; 8. Clay Millican, 3.762, 331.36 vs. 9. Josh Hart, 3.763, 328.78.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Shawn Reed, 3.929, 277.77; 18. Scott Farley, 4.234, 218.69; 19. Rit Pustari, broke.


Funny Car -- 1. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.849, 338.43 vs. 16. Mike Smith, Ford Mustang, 11.571, 84.29; 2. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota GR Supra, 3.867, 336.40 vs. 15. Jim Campbell, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.768, 119.55; 3. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.869, 330.80 vs. 14. Joe Morrison, Dodge Charger, 4.257, 230.96; 4. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.873, 333.49 vs. 13. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.038, 301.27; 5. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 3.890, 336.65 vs. 12. Buddy Hull, Charger, 4.033, 303.16; 6. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.897, 331.36 vs. 11. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.973, 325.61; 7. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.906, 324.83 vs. 10. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.955, 326.48; 8. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.910, 325.69 vs. 9. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.934, 326.56.


Pro Stock -- 1. Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.530, 209.43 vs. 16. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.585, 209.30; 2. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.535, 210.57 vs. 15. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.580, 208.97; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.537, 210.08 vs. 14. Cory Reed, Camaro, 6.576, 208.97; 4. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.541, 210.21 vs. 13. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.572, 210.37; 5. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.547, 209.85 vs. 12. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.570, 209.69; 6. Jerry Tucker, Camaro, 6.554, 210.14 vs. 11. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 6.568, 208.94; 7. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.555, 208.91 vs. 10. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.563, 209.23; 8. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.560, 208.84 vs. 9. Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.562, 210.01.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Derrick Reese, 6.586, 209.10; 18. Brandon Miller, 6.638, 208.14; 19. Alan Prusiensky, 6.784, 204.42.


Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.743, 200.20 vs. 14. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.674, 137.25; 2. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.795, 200.50 vs. 13. Ron Tornow, Victory, 6.985, 194.55; 3. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.806, 198.35 vs. 12. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.934, 195.70; 4. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.820, 198.85 vs. 11. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.894, 198.12; 5. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.840, 200.08 vs. 10. John Hall, Beull, 6.892, 195.73; 6. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.846, 196.53 vs. 9. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.886, 195.96; 7. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.859, 196.99 vs. 8. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.879, 195.19.