A remarkable 7 first time NHRA national event winners grace victory lane at NHRA Maple Grove….
Top Fuel’s Shawn Reed won for the first time in his NHRA career Maple Grove Raceway, capping off an emotional comeback by defeating points leader Doug Kalitta in the final round of the sell-out 40th annual NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish.
Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 15th of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It is also the first of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Reed went 3.844-seconds at 326.63 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Reed Trucking & Excavating dragster to pick up the victory over Kalitta, capping off an incredible moment just two months after a crash during qualifying in Seattle that resulted in the amputation of his left index finger.
After replacement driver Jordan Vandergriff drove for Reed in Brainerd and Indianapolis, this weekend’s race marked his NHRA return and Reed was on point. After qualifying fourth, he defeated Kyle Satenstein, Shawn Langdon and No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican to reach the final round on a wild day in Top Fuel and then powered past Kalitta, moving to fifth in points to complete a day he won’t soon forget.
After suffering a serious racing setback at NHRA Seattle – Pacific Northwest-based racer Shawn Reed collected his first NHRA National event title.
“Honestly, you couldn’t even write it any better — just a storybook weekend,” Reed said. “For what happened to me in Seattle, what happened to our team there, and then Jordan Vandergriff stepping in to keep our crew going, this car’s been good. I’ve been telling everybody for a long time that we were going to surprise a lot of people. We just had to get our Sunday morning thing figured out, and today, we finally broke through.
Kalitta took over the points lead and reached the finals for the fourth time this season thanks to round wins against reigning world champion Antron Brown, Tony Stewart and Steve Torrence.
In the second round against Stewart, Kalitta’s dragster crossed the center line past the finish line and collided with Stewart’s dragster. Stewart’s dragster went on its side, came back down on its wheels and struck the left guard wall before coming to a stop, while Kalitta’s dragster went back over the center line before coming to a stop.
Doug Kalitta and Tony Stewart produced the event’s wildest moment — making contact at high speed in round #2 – a result of a front wheel failure on Kalitta’s Dragster.
Both Stewart and Kalitta were alert and exited their cars under their own power. Kalitta’s points lead is 18 over Stewart and 33 over teammate Shawn Langdon.
In Funny Car, Cruz Pedregon snapped a 55-race winless streak in another emotional moment on Sunday, beating Blake Alexander in the final round with a run of 3.969 at 330.63 in his Snap-On Tools-presented Dodge Hellcat en route to his first win since 2022 and the 40th in his career.
Cruz Pedregon ended a very long winless drought – winning his 40th career NHRA national event title in FC.
Pedregon reached the finals for the first time this season by defeating Bob Tasca III, points leader Austin Prock and Paul Lee, holding off Alexander at the finish line to win for the first time since the season-finale in 2022. It’s been an arduous process for Pedregon to get back to this point, but he’s trusted the process and the payoff was on Sunday when he won at Maple Grove Raceway for the third time in his stellar career.
The two-time world champion also moved all the way to sixth in points, delivering a classic performance he hopes to replicate again during the Countdown to the Championship.
“This is very special, very special,” Pedregon said. “You know, you start to doubt yourself — as an owner, as a driver — and I’ve done that a lot the last couple of years. I thought, ‘Maybe this is it.’ But we took the hard road. I hired young guys who weren’t already on other teams. It was like a draft.
“We went through the growing pains, but now I’ve got a good group. They’re still learning, but they’re hungry and now here we are. This morning, I told the guys there are six races left, including this one. I’ve won this race before and sat in the winner’s circle wondering how we did it. We can do that again — just be mistake-free, be aggressive and stay the course.”
Alexander reached the final round for the first time this season with wins against Matt Hagan, No. 1 qualifier Spencer Hyde and Ron Capps. Prock leaves Reading with a 25-point lead over Jack Beckman and a 29-point advantage over Capps.
Funny Car class racing at Reading was an explosive affair — example > Matt Hagan.
Canada’s Spencer Hyde collected his first career #1 qualifier in FC — his 3.868 secs was low ET of the event – but he lost out in round #2.
Dallas Glenn wrapped up a nearly flawless weekend on Sunday, rolling past rookie Cody Coughlin in the championship round with a standout run of 6.557 at 209.23 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro. Entering the playoffs as the points leader, Glenn cemented his status as the man to beat in Pro Stock in 2025, picking up his fifth victory of the season – in his 10th visit to the final round – and 18th in his career.
Glenn qualified No. 1 and then dispatched Shane Tucker, Deric Kramer and KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson in a wild semifinal round when the reigning world champion was disqualified. Anderson faltered on the first burnout attempt, crossing the starting line beams, and on his second attempt, crossed the beams again, leading to the disqualification.
Dallas Glenn continued his remarkable season — winning for the 5th time in 2025 in Pro Stock.
In the championship round against first-time finalist Coughlin, Glenn was first off the starting line and drove away to win for the first time at Maple Grove Raceway. This was precisely the start Glenn wanted, opening up a 62-point advantage over Anderson.
“My car is so good, I just need to make sure I don’t beat myself,” Glenn said. “I definitely have the car to beat right now. I just need to continue what I’m doing, keep riding the wave, and see how far we can go with it.”
Coughlin reached the finals for the first time thanks to round wins against Troy Coughlin Jr., Indy winner and six-time champ Erica Enders and Eric Latino.
John Hall threw his name into the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship conversation with a fantastic Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway, defeating teammate Matt Smith in the final round with a run of 6.802 at 199.70 on his American Rebel Light/Matt Smith Racing Buell. It is Hall’s second victory this season and first-ever at Maple Grove Raceway, vaulting him to a tie for second in points in the process.
After defeating Kelly Clontz in the opening round, Hall sent a strong message in the quarterfinals, defeating back-to-back world champ Gaige Herrera with a 6.806, keeping Herrera winless in Reading in his career. He followed with a victory against rookie Brayden Davis, setting up the matchup with Smith. It was the first MSR-versus-MSR matchup in the final round since Sonoma last season and Hall prevailed this time, leaving first and pulling away as Smith ran into trouble, as Hall earned his fourth career victory.
John Hall’s 2nd half season surge has moved him into strong championship contention for PSM.
Smith moved into the points lead, advancing to his fourth final this year and 85th in his career thanks to round wins against Brandon Litten, Jianna Evaristo and Richard Gadson. He leads Herrera and Hall by just six points, with Gadson just nine points back in fourth.
The Reading PA-area event did include the most recent round for the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock series chase — race #6 of 8 scheduled for this year.
That final round went to defending series Champion Johnny Pluchino — who won for the first time is season driving his Ford Mustang. Pluchino (from NY state) clocked a winning 6.331 secs 221.89 mph to defeat Brad Waddle’s Mustang which succumbed to tire shake. Waddle had been the event’s performance leader — setting both low ET and Top Speed (6.248 secs 225.60 mph) while qualifying #1.
Johnny Pluchino was the event’s Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage MMPS title winner.
Racing at Maple Grove also featured the season penultimate round for the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown series. For the second time in two weeks second-generation racer Taylor Dietsch won a national event. In front of a packed house at Maple Grove Raceway Dietsch won the NHRA Reading Nationals outrunning David Davies II, Lenny Lottig, Raymond Nash and ultimately last year’s Reading Nationals winner Scott Libersher.
As the No. 1 qualifier Dietsch captured all the accolades throughout the weekend and will head to the final race of the season looking to close out the year with three wins in a row. His success at Reading moved him into the No. 2 spot in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown point standings.
Taylor Dietsch (far lane) defeated Scott Libersher in the FlexJet Factory Car Showdown championship round.
Sportsman Racing Final Round Results Summary
*1st time NHRA National Event Win
Top Alcohol Dragster — *Jamie Noonan, 5.259, 277.66 def. Anthony Troyer, 5.278, 266.85.
Jamie Noonan became a first time winner for TAD.
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Brian Hough, Chevy Camaro, 5.613, 253.52 def. Jim Whiteley, Camaro, 6.631, 134.39.
NHRA Northwest Divison “hitter” Brian Hough prevailed in TAFC.
Competition Eliminator — *Mark Hopkins, Chevy Beretta, 7.656, 176.05 def. Paul Ricci, Dodge Avenger, 8.159, 144.53
Competition eliminator winner – Mark Hopkins
Super Stock — *Louis Gill, Chevy Cavalier, 9.536, 135.73 def. Anthony Bongiovanni, Ford Mustang, 8.793, 148.80.
Canada’s Louis Gill (from Quebec) won his first NHRA Nationals in Super Stock.
Stock Eliminator — Michael Iacono, Chevy Camrao, 11.237, 113.21 def. Dave Casey, Chevy Corvette, 10.476, 126.71.
Super Comp — *Dave Long, Dragster, 8.898, 174.91 def. Amanda Boicesco, Dragster, 8.892, 170.75.
Super Gas — *Michael Reynolds, Chevy Vega, 9.931, 134.63 def. Charlie Kenopic, Chevy Corvette, 9.936, 159.74.
Canadian Mike Reynolds (from Ontario) prevailed in S/G with his Vega.
Top Sportsman — *Vincent Fourcade, Chevy Camaro, 7.395, 153.28 def. George Forster, Chevy Monte Carlo, 7.331, 191.81.
Factory X — Lenny Lottig, Chevy Camaro, 6.963, 196.47 def. Jesse Alexandra, Camaro, Broke – No Show.
Lenny Lottig won the F/X class with his Bill Jenkin’s “Grumpy’s Toy” tribute Camaro.
Junior Dragster Shootout — Daniel Spotts, Halfscale, 7.890, 82.04 def. Charlotte Ecks, Halfscale, Foul – Red Light.
End of Era — Pennsylvania’s Mike Kosky revealed at Maple Grove that the 2025 Nationals would be his last entry as a driver. A great guy and awesome for the sport — this highly respected racer campaigned in every year that TAD has been in existence — beginning with the end of Pro Comp class back in 1981. Mike’s name is iconic within NHRA’s Northeast Division One — where he had multiple points titles as well as event wins at both National and Divisional level races.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action next weekend — Sept. 19-21 with the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte NC.
Posted with files by NHRA Communications – Elon Werner – Bruce Biegler
Photos by Dave DeAngelis
Link to the LMLC Media event photo gallery from Maple Grove : HERE
