Speciality race result summaries from within NHRA’s drag racing’s annual “Big Go”….
Legendary Ronnie Sox & Buddy Martin
Friday Night Specials! — Friday’s race schedule for U.S. Nationals prestige included both the Sox & Martin HEMI Challenge and also the Rooftech Comp Clash events for Sportsman drag racers.
There were 23 cars (Plymouth Barracudas & Dodge Darts) entered for the S&M Hemi Challenge and for the 4th year in a row it was New York’s Steve Comella standing tall after the conclusion. Racing his 1968 Barracuda, Comella recorded both low ET and top speed of the feature event in the final round (8.396 secs / 159.82 mph) to defeat Bucky Hess’s 8.411 secs 157.48 mph – also in a ’68 Cuda.
Comella had qualified #1 for the pack (8.424 secs) and outran opponents JR Balm, Charlie Westcott and Jim Pancake in earlier rounds.
Steve Comella continued his domination for SS/AA class cars at Indy.
The Rooftech Comp Clash event featured arguably the best and most creative Competition eliminator class cars in the world head-to-head for a large annual cash prize.
That feature went to Colorado’s Cali Neff who raced a 4-cylinder J/DA past Kayla Mozeris’s K/AA in the final round. Prior to that Cali had defeated Chase Williams, Scott Linder and Rick Brown.
Colorado’s Cali Neff won the Sportsman prestigious RoofTech Comp Clash event held at Indy.
Blue Oval Score! — It was Ford Mustang racer Kevin Skinner taking full advantage of drag racing’s biggest stage to win his first Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series win during the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals. The No. 6 qualifier won five rounds of racing to secure the win in his sixth career final round appearance.”
It’s a lot for the U.S. Nationals to be the first win,” said Skinner. “It’s big deal because we’ve been doing this since 2014. To get the first win at the U.S. Nationals is big for us. It’s big to get a Mustang in the winner’s circle. We have the Fords headed in the right direction. I know Chris Holbrook from Holbrook Engines has really been working hard. To get Ford charging back towards the front is always good for us.”
In the third round Skinner took out the No. 1 qualifier Jason Dietsch. Both Fords took off at the same time, but Dietsch’s Mustang made a move to the wall and Skinner was right down the middle of his lane. Skinner’s winning elapsed time of 7.851 seconds was enough to defeat Dietsch’s 8.947 second pass. The semifinals included Skinner winning the closest race of his event. — getting to the finish line first against Scott Libersher’s Camaro. Skinner left first .043 to .045 and held off Libersher winning 7.927 seconds to 7.977 seconds. The win handed Skinner the Flexjet $1,000 bounty as well as a trip to the final round.
Kevin Skinner’s first FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown win came at drag racing’s ultimate annual event.
In the final Skinner pulled up beside Raymond Nash. Both drivers were looking for their first U.S. Nationals victory. Nash’s Factory Stock race car broke before the burnout, handing Skinner a bye for the win. Skinner took the tree and made a full pass and as he closed in on the finish line his engine expired, but he secured the win with a winning time of 10.309 seconds. Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series point leader Stephen Bell raced to the second round before losing. With two races remaining Bell is still in the driver’s seat for his first Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series world championship. The Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series will be back in action at the 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, Reading, Pa. September 13-15 at Maple Grove Raceway, in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Tasty Finales — Justin Ashley picked up his 4th victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge series during Saturday’s schedule at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. He defeating Ida Zetterstrom in the Top Fuel final of the bonus race as part of this weekend’s 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals.
J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the 14th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Justin Ashley’s 4th victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Series assured him that season points title.
In the final round against Zetterstrom, Ashley went 4.085-seconds at 260.01 mph in his Scag Power Equipment/Toyota dragster, also clinching the overall season title in the bonus race for a second straight year. Ashley has enjoyed a stellar 10 wins in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge over the past two seasons, earning 13 bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs this year.
Funny Car’s J.R. Todd got his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win of the year after defeating Chad Green in the final round with a run of 3.953 at 325.22 in his DHL Toyota GR Supra.
Prock was the dominant overall champion of the bonus series in 2024 — thanks to an incredible seven victories this year. In the two-year existence of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, it’s the most wins anyone has picked up in a single season, giving Prock a whopping 23 bonus points for the playoffs.
In Pro Stock, Dallas Glenn claimed his second Mission #2Fast2Tasty victory of the year, going 6.621 at 206.83 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro, defeating a red-lighting Mason McGaha in the final round of the bonus race. Glenn has enjoyed a strong season in the bonus race and the points leader in the category will also take 12 bonus points into the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Dallas Glenn won his 2nd Mission #2Fast2Tasty event of the season for Pro Stock.
Erica Enders won the overall Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge championship in the category on the strength of three wins and two runner-up finishes this season and she will take 13 bonus points into the Countdown to the Championship.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s John Hall earned his first-ever win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, getting the victory when teammate Matt Smith went red in the final round of the bonus race. Hall, a former U.S. Nationals winner, has come on strong at the right time on his Denso Auto Parts Buell, making a pair of impressive runs on Saturday.
Gaige Herrera claimed the overall title in the category, slipping past Matt Smith on a tiebreaker. Both standouts finished with 12 bonus points for the playoffs, but Herrera won the tiebreaker by virtue of his three overall Challenge wins to Smith’s two.
FC “Pep Talk” — Funny Car driver Paul Lee won a specialty race for the first time in his NHRA career at Indy — defeating Bob Tasca in the final round of the Pep Boys Funny Car All-Star Callout, held on the Sunday as part of the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals.
Lee, who was seeded eighth in the eight-car field and appeared in a specialty race for the first time, went 4.243-seconds at 328.38 mph in his McLeod Racing/FTI Performance Dodge Charger to slip past Tasca’s 4.255. Both cars drove into smoke near the finish line, but Lee had enough to coast to the victory, which nets the veteran the $80,000 prize. Lee beat Ron Capps and defending world champion Matt Hagan earlier on Sunday to reach the final round of the specialty race.
Paul Lee picked up a cool $80G with a win in the annual Pep Boys All-Star Callout.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my whole team,” said Lee. “They really worked their butts off today, changed engines between first and second round and did a flawless job.” Lee said.
Posted with files by NHRA Communications, Elon Werner & Bruce Biegler
Photos by Dave DeAngelis – Steve Embling & Auto Imagery
To view more photos from the NHRA Toyota US Nationals – link to our LMLCMedia event photo gallery: HERE
