Canadian drag racing’s legendary Paton Racing family kicked off their 60th anniversary of drag racing with an appearance at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals race. Brothers Todd and Tony entered their PDS/Fast Eddie Speedwear Top Fuel car and clocked a very rewarding 3.871 secs to qualify #14 in the field.  Todd Paton (making his first NHRA nationals level driving appearance since Phoenix 2022) ran a 4.020 secs in his round #1 quad – but that wasn’t enough to advance.  (Editors Note: DragRaceCanada will post more details on the Paton Racing 60th Anniversary season tour plans – coming soon.)

McKenna Bold (from Red Deer Alberta) continued her impressive early career rise within the NHRA TAD class category at the Concord NC event. Driving the highly potent Bold Racing injected nitro car owned by class legend Randy Meyer – McKenna qualified very deep in the field (#4 @ 5.242 secs).  She was then the quickest winning car in round #1 (5.231 secs) and also advanced to the final round championship “quad” group.  But unfortunately it was there that the car overpowered the track – forcing her to shut off.  Her event finish was the equivalent of a semi final round placing.

The father and son duo of Eric & Matt Latino (from Ontario) continued to make waves within NHRA Pro Stock at zMax! Matt Latino (above) qualified #8 with a 6.554 secs and he was also a participant within the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge final quad held Saturday.  Eric Latino, qualified #5 for the event at 6.531 secs and then superbly advanced all the way to the 4-Wide Nationals championship quad on Sunday afternoon.   But that then proved to be an opportunity lost because of a foul start.

Canada’s highly rated duo of Justin Bond and Jordan Lazic gave the Four-Wide format Congruity Pro Mod Series a go at zMax Dragway. Both of the Alanabi Racing team member cars qualified solidly:  Justin @5.718 secs (#5) and Jordan @5.730 secs (#8). But rather surprisingly — this time both BC-based drivers lost out in round one experiencing similar tire shake issues.

London Ontario’s Jory Elliott made his competition debut at the event with the all new for 2025 Fletch Racing Mustang Cobra Jet.  Jory qualified the FSS/A classed car with a 8.449 secs which is -.351 his index.  Elliott also got his first winlight in the car in round one but then broke out in the second round of competition to John Coughlin.

Canada’s Spencer Hyde continued his very dynamic rise within NHRA’s fuel FC class. Spencer clocked a career best 3.863 secs at 329.83 mph – to qualify 4th. Spencer also participated again in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty FC class challenge on Saturday – losing that final by a heart-wrenching margin when both he and winner Austin Prock ran identical 3.949 secs elapsed times!  Spencer lost out in round #1 on Sunday when the Jim Head Racing Mustang went up in tire smoke at the hit.  (More details on Spencer’s zMax event experience can be viewed : HERE).