NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship rolls closer to conclusion with an exciting date in Texas……
Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley extended his points lead by rolling to an impressive win at the Texas Motorplex for the second straight year at the 37th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.
Ron Capps (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the 20th event in the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
After struggling in qualifying, Ashley more than made up for it on Sunday, going 3.688-seconds at 329.24 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Phillips Connect Toyota dragster to defeat Austin Prock in the championship round. It gives the points leader his third victory this season – as well as his second straight in Dallas – and fifth overall, extending his lead to 82 points over Brittany Force in the process. He knocked off Doug Kalitta, Kebin Kinsley, and Shawn Langdon to reach the final round, running a weekend-best 3.677 at 331.76 in the semifinals. Ashley, who qualified 10th, was impressive on the starting line in the finals, picking up a critical victory in the Countdown to the Championship.
“This really was a great win and if you can win in Dallas, that puts you in position to go for a championship,” Ashley said. “To run that fast and consistent, it’s really amazing. Everyone on this team, we all make each other better. We’ve won from the bottom half before, so I wasn’t worried. These guys on this team, they’ve won so many races and championships, so I’ve always got confidence in them. Everyone has done a great job, but we’ve got two more races left and we can’t let up. We know it’s going to come down to the wire in Pomona.”
Prock, who qualified No. 1, reached his second final round in the Countdown to the Championship thanks to wins against Alex Laughlin, Leah Pruett, and Antron Brown, moving to seventh in points.
In Funny Car, Capps also won for the second straight year in Dallas, also inching closer to the points lead after defeating Matt Hagan in the final round with his run of 3.911 at 327.18 in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra. It gives the defending world champion his fifth victory this season and 73rd in his fantastic career, also bringing him to within 10 points of leader Robert Hight with two races remaining. After knocking off Jeff Diehl and longtime rival John Force, Capps got past Hight in a critical semifinal matchup, also getting some redemption after falling to the points leader in the final round in St. Louis.
That set up another marquee matchup with Hagan, where Capps delivered an excellent .035 reaction time and held on for the victory.
“We never left the (championship) conversation,” Capps said. “If we can leave Vegas in the position we’re in right now, or even gain a little bit, that’d be huge. It’s shaping up to be another year like last year.”
Hagan, who was the No. 1 qualifier, collected his seventh final round this season and 78th in his career after wins against Terry Haddock, Tim Wilkerson, and Bob Tasca III. He also remained third in the championship hunt and trails Hight by 78 points heading to Vegas.
In a season of dominant performances, Enders had one of her finest showings this weekend in Dallas, capping it off with a victory on the strength of a 6.537 at 209.63 in the finals in her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. It gave her the win over rival Greg Anderson, extending an already huge points lead and putting her in position to clinch her fifth world title in Las Vegas.
Enders made the quickest run in every round of qualifying and eliminations, knocking off Fernando Cuadra Jr., Matt Hartford, and Troy Coughlin Jr. to reach the final round on Sunday. That led to her ninth win of the season, matching her career-best for a single season, and the 42nd victory in her career. She also swept both races in her home state in 2022 and will take a 166-point lead to Vegas.

With her win in Pro Stock Erica Enders has moved to the verge of a 5th NHRA World Championship title.
“Coming in on Friday, we had high hopes for the weekend,” Enders said. “Winning two of the Countdown races of the three entering Dallas, we just wanted to come here and have a successful weekend. It was awesome.”
Defending event winner and world champion Anderson reached the finals for the fourth time this season and 171st time in his career thanks to wins against Mason McGaha, Cristian Cuadra and Aaron Stanfield to set up another huge matchup with Enders.
Arana Jr., who made just his fifth appearance this season in Dallas, provided a thrilling underdog winner in Pro Stock Motorcycle, grabbing his first victory since 2019 with a run of 6.822 at 196.35 on his Team Arana Buell to beat Jerry Savoie in the final round. It also gives Arana his 16th career victory and first at Dallas and the veteran took out some heavy hitters to get there. He defeated Chip Ellis, Angie Smith, and points leader Matt Smith to reach the finals, playing the spoiler role perfectly. Arana then tracked down Savoie to pick up a meaningful victory at Dallas.
“This is so awesome. You’ve got to make the best of it,” Arana Jr. “We just have such a passion for it. It’s been so long, and we love being out here with all the fans and to bring home a Wally, is the icing on the cake.”
Savoie reached the final round in Dallas for the seventh time in the past eight years by defeating Marc Ingwersen, Ryan Oehler and Steve Johnson. It’s also his third final this season. With two races remaining, Matt Smith now holds a 51-point lead over Joey Gladstone.
Title Clinching Weekend!
After clinching the world championship in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon on Saturday, Kris Thorne closed out his impressive season with a victory on Sunday as part of the 37th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.
The event, which was powered by JBS Equipment, was the last of 10 races during the 2022 season in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon. Thorne rolled to another outstanding performance at the finale, defeating Stan Shelton in the championship round with a run of 5.720-seconds at 250.24 mph in his ProCharger-powered Camaro.
It was the quickest round of the weekend in the class as Thorne finished off a dream season with his fourth victory of the year. He knocked off Rickey Fischer and J.R. Gray on Saturday, clinching his first world championship in the class in the process, and advancing to his fifth final round of the year.
Thorne finished it off with another stellar performance in the final round in what turned into an incredible weekend for the NHRA Pro Mod standout.
“I would have never dreamed this,” Thorne said. “But I’ve got the best guys in the world. They bailed me out so many times and every time we rolled up to the beams, I tried to give it everything I had. I have to thank everyone who has supported me for everything. I couldn’t have done this without them.”
Shelton reached his second final round this season with victories against Lyle Barnett, Stevie “Fast” Jackson and Justin Bond.
Constant Aviation Conclusion!
Aaron Stanfield and the Stanfield Racing Engines Chevrolet COPO Camaro battled his first win of the season.
Stanfield, also the No. 1 qualifier of the event, would have a solo in what was his third finals round of the season. The 2021 champion would have a solid clean pass at 7.764-seconds and 165.00 mph to take the win light.
“Well, we didn’t defend the championship, but we ended the season strong,” Stanfield said. “We had some struggles this year and to be able to push through adversity and end it on a high is definitely a good feeling. Hats off to all the guys that work at Stanfield Racing Engines. It’s been a lot of blood sweat and tears. We fought hard, and we had a good weekend this weekend. We have some mojo back and we’re hoping to come out swinging next year.”

Aaron Stanfield qualified the quickest and then won the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown event title.
In the semifinals, Stanfield took on Conner Statler and the Janac Brother’s Racing Dodge Drag Pak. Stanfield would have a solid 7.733-second pass at 178.34 mph to defeat Statler’s 7.793 at 176.06 despite his 0.010 second reaction time.
Stanfield should have run Bill Skillman and the Ray Skillman Auto Ford Cobra Jet in the final round, but Skillman was unable to make the call. Second in points, Skillman had a bye run into the semifinals where he would take the win on the starting line. Stephen Bell had the Stanfield Racing Engines Chevy go red by 0.028-seconds while Skillman would go 8.055 at 137.61 after hurting the engine mid-track resulting in his inability to make the final round.

David Barton clinched the 2022 World Championship for the Factory Stock Showdown after qualifying was completed on Saturday.
“Definitely was a weird feeling running a solo in the finals. As racers we never want to see that. Its’ unfortunate with the quick turnaround today, its hard to change the engines in these cars,” Stanfield said. “I hate it for Mr. Skillman, but we had a fast hot rod that was going to be tough to beat.”
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action on Oct. 27-30 with the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sportsman Class Racing – Final Round Results Summary
Top Alcohol Dragster — Jasmine Salinas, 5.252, 280.88 def. Madison Payne, 5.262, 278.62.
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Sean Bellemeur, Chevy Camaro, 5.458, 266.60 def. Kyle Smith, Ford Mustang, 5.497, 258.41.
Competition Eliminator — Adam Hickey, Spitzer, 7.780, 123.12 def. Scott Cashio, Chevy Cobalt, Foul – Red Light.
Super Stock — Brandon Bakies, Chevy Camaro, 9.381, 127.03 def. Aydan Patterson, Camaro, 9.515, 137.20.
Stock Eliminator — John Brimer, Ford Mustang, 8.881, 155.27 def. Randi Lyn Shipp, Pontiac Firebird, 10.710, 122.71.
Super Comp — Austin Williams, Dragster, 8.919, 171.40 def. Kyle Secrest, Dragster, 8.926, 175.66.
Super Gas — Phil Unruh, Chevy Camaro, 9.963, 172.08 def. Heidi Robison, Chevy Corvette, 9.889, 174.32.
Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers — Wayne Johnson, Dragster, 6.269, 213.95 def. Robert Cool, Dragster, 6.920, 192.08.
Top Sportsman presented by Vortech Superchargers — Jimmy Lewis, Pontiac GXP, 7.011, 143.88 def. David Cuadra, Pontiac GTO, Foul – Red Light.
Top Fuel Harley — Randal Andras, Harley, 6.348, 211.42 def. William Jackson, Harley, Broke – No Show.
Posted with files by NHRA Communications & Elon Werner
Photos Courtesy of NHRA and Auto Imagery