NHRA’s mid-summer season California stop includes all time MPH mark!…..

Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta won for the first time this season in front of a massive crowd at Sonoma Raceway, defeating reigning world champion Antron Brown in the final round of the 37th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge.

Austin Prock (Funny Car), Greg Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 12th of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

With a huge crowd on hand, Kalitta went 3.752-seconds at 334.57 mph in his 12,000-horsepower dragster to power past Brown’s run of 4.067, rolling to his 56th career victory. Kalitta has been spectacular during qualifying with six No. 1 qualifiers but had struggled to put four consistent rounds together on raceday until Sunday.

He knocked off Ron August Jr. and Josh Hart to reach the final round, and then stormed past Brown in the finals. It hands the former world champion his sixth career victory at Sonoma Raceway, which is now the most in Top Fuel history at the facility. Remarkably, it’s his first victory in Sonoma since 2005 and one Kalitta will certainly treasure.

“We’ve been trying to get a win for quite a while. Obviously, we’re qualifying well and for me, it’s definitely a confidence builder,” Kalitta said. “Back in the day, when I first started, this was the first place I won, so it definitely has a lot of cool history for me and it’s always nice to come out here.

Doug Kalitta found victory lane for Top Fuel for the first time in 2025.

Brown advanced to the finals for the third time this year after knocking off Ida Zetterstrom, Justin Ashley and points leader Shawn Langdon, who now holds a 48-point advantage against Tony Stewart after 12 races.

Although Top Fuel class racing at Sonoma did only have 10 drivers on it’s entry list – it still did make world-wide motorsports headlines.

On Friday evening Brittany Force clocked the fastest terminal speed ever seen in drag racing – hitting an all time fast 343.16 mph national record. That speed was paired with a 3.645 secs ET — which stood up for both the #1 qualifier and also low ET of the event.

Brittney Force rocketed to the fastest speed ever for drag racing — a 343.16 mph national record! She also qualified #1 and won a #2Fast2Tasty Challenge event at NHRA Sonoma.

“When fans think about Sonoma and wine country everyone is chill — it’s surreal to think that pairs with going 343 mph,” she said. “When I write it on an autograph – somehow it just doesn’t look right!”

In Funny Car, points leader and reigning world champion Prock picked up his fifth victory in 2025 for John Force Racing, defeating Canadian rookie Spencer Hyde in his Chevrolet SS with a pass of 3.904 at 333.82 in the championship round. It gives the standout his first career victory at Sonoma as well, as Prock continued his dominant reign in the Funny Car ranks.

On Sunday, that included a 340-mph run – the first of the year in Funny Car – as the world record-holder went 3.833 at 340.90 in his opening-round win against Cruz Pedregon. He followed with wins against Paul Lee and Seattle winner Matt Hagan, setting up the matchup with Hyde.

Points leader and defending World Champion Austin Prock won in FC.

Prock left first and never trailed in an impressive wire-to-wire win, strengthening his hold in the loaded Funny Car ranks. His points lead is now 201 over Hagan, continuing his incredible run in the last season and a half.

“This is huge with the crowd here all weekend long. It was outstanding, and I never realized how many fans I had here in Sonoma County,” Prock said. “We struggled in qualifying and struggled in Seattle last weekend, so we had a lot of work to do. We went to work and we had four different setups that we were trying throughout the weekend, and we came across something that showed a little potential.”

Hyde reached his second final round in what has been a standout rookie campaign, defeating Alexis DeJoria, Ron Capps and Jack Beckman.

Canadian rookie driver Spencer Hyde went to his 2nd final round of the season

Returning to Pro Stock this season, Greg Stanfield got to enjoy a remarkable moment, defeating his son, Aaron, in the final round with a run of 6.552 at 211.49 in his Janac Brothers/Rod Shop Pro Stock car. It’s the first-ever Pro Stock matchup for the father-son standouts and gives Stanfield his first victory in the class since 2011.

The all-Elite Motorsports final round also gave the powerhouse team its first win of 2025, stopping the string of dominance from KB Titan Racing. It’s the sixth career professional win for Stanfield, who reached the final round on a wild day, pedaling to wins against Matt Latino and reigning world champion Greg Anderson.

Veteran driver Greg Stanfield was a surprise winning for Pro Stock — it was his first win since 2011.

It set up a thrilling father-son duel in the final round and Stanfield had enough to chase down his son, who had a strong .016 reaction time but slowed to a 6.568 at 209.39. G. Stanfield had shown strong improvements all season, but this will be a moment that will be hard to top en route to his first career victory at Sonoma Raceway.

“We both obviously dream about this, so to be able to do it’s incredible,” Stanfield said. “I’m just blessed to be able to have this opportunity to race Aaron. I can’t describe it. Who won doesn’t matter. Our deal was who left first and Aaron got me, so he actually won. The win light came on my side, but he actually won.”

A. Stanfield, the defending event winner in Pro Stock, reached the finals for the first time this season and 26th time in his career on the strength of round wins against Cory Reed, Cody Coughlin and No. 1 qualifier and points leader Dallas Glenn. Glenn’s lead is now 37 points over Anderson through 10 Pro Stock races.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Richard Gadson bounced back from Saturday’s disappointment in the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout in the best – and quickest – way possible, defeating John Hall in the final round on Sunday in Sonoma with a run of 6.756 at 199.97 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

Richard Gadson won in Pro Stock Motorcycle – his 2nd career NHRA title.

Gadson, who qualified No. 1 for the first time in his career, went red by .001 in the final round of Saturday’s bonus race to Matt Smith, but shrugged off that frustration with a spectacular raceday. He defeated B Hawkes and Angie Smith to reach the final round and then chased down Hall, who went 6.807 at 196.04. It hands Gadson his second career victory, with both coming in the last five races.

Saturday’s red light was the chief motivator on Sunday, but Gadson was thrilled to earn a second win so quickly after picking up his first career Pro Stock Motorcycle victory last month in Bristol.

“This is all about getting right back after it following that red light and I probably couldn’t think of a better way to do it than how this day turned out,” Gadson said.

Hall reached the final round for the second time in three races, defeating Chris Bostick, points leader Gaige Herrera and Smith, who won the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout on Saturday. Herrera leaves Sonoma with a 70-point lead over Gadson.

Saturday’s race schedule at Sonoma did include a couple of feature events. In addition to the annual GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout it contained the most recent round for the Mission-presented #2Fast2Tasty Challenge series.

It was 6X Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Matt Smith who continued to enjoy success at Sonoma Raceway in specialty races, winning the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout for a second straight year.

Smith picked up the victory when Richard Gadson went red in the final round, claiming the $25,000 prize and winning the Callout in back-to-back years. He’s won a bonus race in Sonoma four times on his Denso/Matt Smith Racing Buell and continued to have the magic touch at the facility on Saturday.

For the 4X in his career – Matt Smith  – won the annual GETTRX PSM All-Star Callout event.

Smith went 6.783-seconds at 199.76 mph against Gadson, who went red by .001, as the multi-time champion enjoyed another magical Saturday in Sonoma. Smith opened the Callout with a victory against Chase Van Sant and then beat teammate John Hall in the semifinals, setting up the marquee matchup with Gadson in the championship round.

A day after making the fastest run in NHRA history, Top Fuel star Brittany Force won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the first time in 2025, defeating Justin Ashley in the final round of that bonus race. Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) also both won Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge events.

Brittany Force clocked in at 3.869 secs 324.75 mph while besting Justin Ashley, and Ron Capps’ 3.904 secs 324.20 defeated Matt Hagan in the FC final. Pro Stock’s hottest racer — Dallas Glenn – guided his RAD Torque Systems presented Camaro to another win running 6.471 secs 211.79 while topping Cody Coughlin, Camaro.

Ron Capps won Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for FC racers.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 14-17 with the 43rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals from Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, MN.

Sportsman Racing (Final Round Results Summary)

Super Stock — Trey Vetter, Chevy Camaro, 9.621, 133.49 def. Kevin Motter, Camaro, 10.136, 128.76.

Stock Eliminator — Justin Lamb, Chevy Camaro, 9.586, 121.91 def. Chad Loge, Plymouth Sport Fury, Foul – Red Light.

Super Comp — Dale Green, Dragster, 9.054, 151.39 def. Trey Vetter, Dragster, 9.756, 155.38.

Super Gas — Val Torres, Chevy Corvette, 9.887, 161.19 def. Larry Scarth, Corvette, 9.880, 157.89.

Top Sportsman — Aaron Steinkey, Chevy Camaro, 14.089, 88.40 was unopposed.

Western Canadian Aaron Steinkey won his 2nd NHRA nationals event of 2025 – winning in Top Sportsman.

Posted with files by NHRA Communications & Bruce Biegler
Photos courtesy of NHRA – DragRaceCanada file photo by Phil Hutchison