Mon, 07 Sep 2026, 10:27 AM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations |
By Rick Green |
INDIANAPOLIS - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
3 Justin Ashley 8 Shawn Reed
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.031 3.750 329.58 0.035 4.358 258.37
Qualified: #8 3.781 331.12 #9 3.784 331.28
Weather conditions: air temperature 67 degrees, relative humidity 78 percent, barometer 30.11
inches, adjusted altitude 1,914 feet, track temperature 89 degrees.Justin Ashley wins 76% of his Rd. 1 races when he has lane choice. The #9 TF qualifier is 6 - 4 in Rd. 1 here in the last 10 years.
Ashley is 3 - 0 against Reed in prior events.
A couple great lights, but Reed shook hard
right at the hit and clicked it off.
Ashley is straight down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend for the win.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 616 Jasmine Salinas 144 Tripp Tatum E1 0.138 4.086 203.12 ****WINNER**** 0.074 3.731 332.02 Qualified: #6 3.776 329.91 #11 3.805 308.43Jasmine Salinas's 332.75 in qualifying is her fastest run ever at this event. Tripp Tatum is 9 - 11 in Rd. 1.
This is the first time Salinas and Tatum have faced each other in eliminations.
Tatum with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. He makes his quickest pass
of the weekend for the win.
Salinas overpowers the track around half tack and clicks it off.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 14 Tony Stewart 317 T.J. Zizzo E1 ****WINNER**** 0.044 3.717 334.40 0.076 3.768 333.41 Qualified: #2 3.744 328.22 #15 3.836 328.62Tony Stewart is 4 - 0 in Rd. 1 when qualified #2. The #15 TF qualifier has won twice in Rd. 1 in the last 3 years here.
Zizzo is 1 - 0 against Stewart in prior events.
Stewart with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. He makes the quickest pas of the event for the win.
Zizzo was straight down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend in the losing
effort.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Shawn Langdon 51 Clay Millican
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.059 3.709 340.22 0.072 8.012 83.38
Qualified: #1 3.727 334.98 #16 3.844 327.11
Shawn Langdon's 404 round wins in TF are the 9th most in class history. Clay Millican's 343
round wins are 10th most in TF. The last time the #16 TF qualifier won a round here was
2017.Langdon is 19 - 16 against Millican in prior events.
Langdon with the starting line advantage and makes the quickest and fastest pass of the event for the win. Shawn Langdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.842 sec., 330ft-2.126, 660ft-2.995/294.18 mph. He will have lane choice over Ashley in the next round.
Millican is up in smoke right at the hit
and clicked it off.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
1 Doug Kalitta 200 Will Smith
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.047 3.681 341.68 0.041 3.812 331.20
Qualified: #3 3.746 335.82 #14 3.828 325.45
Doug Kalitta is 55 - 17 in Rd. 1 when qualified #3. The #14 TF qualifier has upset the #3
qualifier in each of the last 2 years. Kalitta is 3 - 0 against Smith in prior events.
Smith
with the starting line advantage, but Kalitta was right there with and had the lead by the time they
go by the Christmas tree. He runs the quickest and fastest pass of the event for the win. He will
have lane choice over Tatum in the next round.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 474 Billy Torrence 100 Maddi Gordon E1 0.080 3.774 334.98 ****WINNER**** 0.035 3.763 336.99 Qualified: #4 3.767 329.34 #13 3.818 324.67Billy Torrence has been in the top half of the field at 11 of his 14 races this year. Maddi Gordon beat Torrence is Rd. 1 at Bristol.
Gordon is 1 - 0 against Torrence in prior events.
Gordon with a great light and never trailed for the win. She makes her quickest and fastest pass this weekend for the win.
Torrence with a good clean pass in the losing effort.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 777 Leah Pruett 77 Josh Hart E1 ****WINNER**** 0.070 3.713 333.66 0.058 3.869 282.84 Qualified: #5 3.772 326.24 #12 3.812 323.50Leah Pruett set Top Speed in Brainerd, just the 6th time in her career she has done that. Josh Hart is 4 - 2 against Pruett in Rd. 1 races (0 - 1 this year).
Hart is 5 - 4 against Pruett in prior events.
Hart with the starting line advantage, but is dropping cylinders early, but stays with it.
Pruett kept it hooked up an hitting on all eight for the win and her quickest and fastest
pass. She will have lane choice over Gordon in the next round.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 13 Ida Zetterstrom 123 Antron Brown E1 0.118 4.760 154.92 ****WINNER**** 0.065 3.737 333.74 Qualified: #7 3.778 330.88 #10 3.797 330.07Ida Zetterstrom is #7 & the #7 TF qualifier has never won this race. The only other TF qualifier to never win this race is #16. Antron Brown is 14 - 8 in Rd. 1 when #10 (2 - 0 this year).
Zetterstrom is 2 - 1 against Brown in prior events.
Brown with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. He makes his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend for the win. He will give up lane choice to stewart in the next round.
Zetterstrom started to lose
traction and drop cylinders before she clicked it off.
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035