Sun, 01 Nov 2026, 19:01 PM Legacy Nitro Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Results of round 1 eliminations in Legacy Nitro Funny Car at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 26th annual MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1133 Walter Zalak                         7051 James Kelso                  
E1                   0.143  4.990 189.98     ****WINNER****  0.126  4.701 243.50
 Qualified:             #9  4.957 227.54                        #3  4.724 241.20

2:22 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 61 degrees, relative humidity 66 percent, barometer 29.67 inches, adjusted altitude 3,233 feet, track temperature 85 degrees.

Kelso gets the holeshot and starts pulling away. Zalak gets out of the groove, drifts towards the wall, but he is able to stay on the throttle all the way through the run. Kelso hangs on and takes the win with his quickest pass of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 750E Eily Stafford                           2 Nathan Sitko                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.131  4.830 237.59                     0.173  4.919 234.82
 Qualified:             #8  4.805 235.64                        #1  4.680 239.74

Stafford gets the advantage off of the line and goes down the roove with a good run. Sitko was moving around late in the run and made his slowest pass of the weekend in the loss.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  202 Todd Plate                            666 Tim Boychuk                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.078  4.696 236.34                     0.111  5.155 175.57
 Qualified:             #7  4.785 240.42                        #2  4.681 240.47

3:50 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 60 degrees, relative humidity 63 percent, barometer 29.72 inches, adjusted altitude 3,017 feet, track temperature 79 degrees.

Plate gets out of the gate first and starts pulling away. Boychuk gets about 700 feet out and smoke starts pouring from his engine. Plate goes through the lights with the win but was also trailing smoke.

Plate will have lane choice over Kelso in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  708 Derrick Moreira                      744W Shane Westerfield            
E1   ****WINNER****  0.088  4.718 241.80                     0.091  4.749 234.41
 Qualified:             #5  4.732 240.38                        #4  4.726 240.81

A good side-by-side, both down the groove with good runs. Moreira gets the holeshot but Westerfield pulls even at the 330 foot mark. Moreira starts to gain ground again and holds on to take the win.

Derrick Moreira's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.009), 330 ft(0.000), 660ft(0.009). MOV: 0.0347 seconds (approximately 12 feet).

Moreira will have lane choice over Stafford in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink