NHRA races to Phoenix, Salinas, Hight and Stanfield take home wins

by KyraSage 27 February, 2022, 6:44 pm 92 Views

Good afternoon race fans!

This weekend the NHRA headed to Phoenix, Arizona for the NHRA Arizona Nationals and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Starting in the Top Fuel ranks, I want to first congratulate Rob Passey on getting his first career round win, that’s always exciting and his was against No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta, which makes it even more so. On the left side of the ladder No. 13 qualified Clay Millican started his day by taking on No. 4 Tripp Tatum. Tatum ran his career E.T. to qualify 4th and it looked like this was going to be a good race, but his parachutes deployed at the hit. He eventually coasted to a 5.28 while Clay went a to b with a 3.76. In the second round Clay faced the always tough Tony Schumacher. These two usually have great races, but Tony ran into some problems, going up in smoke and coasting to a 4.99 while Clay ran a solid 3.75. His semifinal matchup was against Josh Hart. This was a very good and very close race, but with a 3.69 to a 3.73, Clay and the Parts Plus/Summit Racing Equipment team were into the finals. On the other side of the ladder, No. 2 qualified Mike Salinas started his day by taking on No. 15 Jim Maroney. This is the first time Salinas and Maroney have faced one another in competition. Mike had the starting line advantage, (.064) to (.086) and never looked back, running a 3.67 to Jim’s 3.97, putting himself into the second round. In the second round he faced the always tough Shawn Langdon. This was a great race and they were close from the get go, but with a 3.69 to a 3.72, Mike was into the semifinals. His semifinal matchup was against Steve Torrence. Steve had the advantage off the starting line, (.049) to (.079) but ran into some problems, eventually running a 5.98 while Mike went a to b with a 3.69, putting himself and the Scrappers Racing team into the finals. This was the kind of Top Fuel final you love to see, close the entire time. Clay had the slight advantage off the line, (.057) to (.063) but Mike was with him and matching his incremental numbers the whole time. In the end it was Mike Salinas and his 3.75 to Clay’s 3.76 that grabbed the win and took home the Wally.

Next up we have Funny Car, on the left side of the ladder No. 1 qualified Matt Hagan started his day by taking on No. 16 Terry Haddock. It was a decent race, with Hagan having a large advantage off the line, (.084) to (.170) and Haddock maybe clicking it off a little early, culminating in a 3.85 to a 4.06. In the second round Matt faced the tough Alexis DeJoria. This was a good race and with a 3.86 to a 3.94, Matt was into the semifinals. His semifinal matchup was against the always tough Tim Wilkerson and man oh man was this a close and super good race. Tim had better incremental times, but Hagan had the advantage (.073) to (.094) and with a 3.87 to a 3.85, Matt and the Dodge Power Brokers team were into the finals. On the other side of the ladder, No. 2 qualified Robert Hight started his day by taking on No. 15 Paul Lee. Paul had tire smoke almost immediately, while Robert went a to b, so with a 3.86 to a 9.48, Robert moved on. In the second round he faced Bob Tasca III. This was a close race, but with a 3.85 to a 3.92, Robert was into the semifinals. His semifinal matchup was against his boss, John Force. These two usually have close races, but this time it was all Robert. John had tire smoke almost immediately, eventually running 7.23 while Robert went a to b with a 3.84, can you say consistent, putting him and the AAA team into the finals. It was a close off the line, but Hagan ran into some problems, eventually running 4.04, while Hight cruised to victory and the Wally with a 3.83. Jimmy Prock had that car so consistent all day, Robert want a 3.80 of some sort every round.

And finally we have Pro Stock. I first want to congratulate Camrie Caruso on her first Pro Stock round win, that’s exciting! On the left side of the ladder No. 4 qualified Troy Coughlin Jr started his day by taking on No. 13 Matt Hartford. It was a decent race, but with a 6.52 to a 6.56, Troy was moving on. In the second round he faced Deric Kramer. This race was super close the whole way, and with a 6.558 to a 6.557 (thank you starting line advantage (.033) to (.068)), Troy was into the semifinals. His semifinal matchup was against Kyle Koretsky and man was it a close one. Troy was (.048) off the line while Kyle was (.083) and that was enough for his 6.57 to best Kyle’s 6.56, putting him and the Jegs team into the finals. On the other side of the ladder No. 2 qualified Aaron Stanfield started his day by taking on No. 15 Alan Prusiensky. Alan went red (-.047) giving Aaron the win immediately, and Aaron ran a 6.503 which is the quickest Pro Stock run since 2020. In the second round he faced Greg Anderson, who in the first round had the slowest Pro Stock round win in who knows how long, 33.78. This race though, was incredibly close. There was some back and forth on the track and that culminated in Aaron’s 6.534 besting Greg’s 6.537, sending him into the semifinals. His semifinal matchup was against Mason McGaha. Mason almost cut a perfect light (.001) but ran into problems, eventually running 10.27 while Aaron went a to b with a 6.53, putting him and the Janac Brothers Racing team into the finals. This was a great final, neck and neck from the very beginning, but with a 6.52 to a 6.53, Aaron grabbed the win and took home the Wally.