If you have been a lifelong fan of drag racing, you probably know that grudge racing is where the sport got its start. For the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, Mission Foods partnered with National Hot Rod Association to bring side-by-side racing to Saturday’s final round of qualifying for nitro and pro stock classes. And what better track to highlight redemption racing than Brainerd International Raceway.
The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge is only a part of the company’s overall motorsports initiative to help racers and racing teams in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorsports. The first of twelve events took place at the Arizona Nationals and the specialty event will conclude at the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis next weekend. So, Saturday qualifying at Brainerd provided much more than just the thrill of qualifying.
With a stake in the half million dollar year-end purse and valuable Countdown bonus points on the line, the semifinalists from the most recent NHRA national had a little more at stake than the rest of their competitors with intense side-by-side racing Saturday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway. To add a little tension, Friday’s late rounds of qualifying were postponed due to Blake Alexander’s Head Mustang Funny Car covered the left lane with 70-weight oil.
Antron Brown on Top of Top Fuel at Minnesota
After Top Fuel qualifying was delayed after one lane got covered with oil on Friday afternoon, teams competing in the latest round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge were ready to get back to action on Saturday, especially Antron Brown. Having lost in Topeka to Justin Ashley on a holeshot win, Brown had redemption on his mind. Although Ashley was 4-0 up on Brown for the season matchups, Brown ran a quicker 3.711 ET at 325.92 mph to advance to the final.
The second semifinal matchup featured two Top Fuel drivers who making their fourth appearance of the year in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Brittany Force held a 14-12 advantage in wins over Clay Millican. A week ago, Force had nipped Millican but that was then. The Parts Plus machine of Millican was making it race when it dropped a cylinder and a huge fireball blew the supercharger off the top of his motor in a spectacular fashion. Force easily advanced to the Mission final with 3.872 ET.
With Brown wanting to add his name to the Mission #2Fast2Tasty trophy, he bumped into the tree ready to take down the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster of Brittany Force. Brown held a 26-14 all-time advantage and is 2-0 against Force in 2023. The driver of the Matco Tools dragster was off the tree first with .056-seconds reaction time compared to Force’s .086 RT and never looked back. Brown posted a modest 3.840 ET after Force was out of the gas early. It was Brown’s first win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge.
First Mission Challenge Win for Robert Hight
As one of the winningest Funny Car drivers Robert Hight. Hight has 63 career national wins and was ready to add his name to the Mission Foods trophy in a semifinal match with last weekend’s winner of the Menards Nationals at Heartland Bob Tasca III. Hight has a 33-15 win ratio in career matchups but Tasca leads 2-1 for 2023. With identical elapsed times at 3.982-seconds, Hight advanced with a holeshot .048-seconds reaction time.
Up next in Funny Car for the Mission Challenge semifinal round was Matt Hagan who had already posted wins at Mile-High and Topeka against the DHL Toyota driver J.R. Todd who was appearing in his fifth consecutive #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Hagan entered the event with a 15-6 win ratio in career matchups but only a 3 to 2 advantage in head-to-head wins for 2023. Todd got the holeshot but lost power early allowing Hagan to advance to final against Robert Hight.
With track temperatures still in the 90s, the Funny Car Final took to the Brainerd track with Robert Hight holding a slight 24-22 win ratio over the driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Hellcat Charger. However, Hagan has been red-hot lately and is one and one against the Jimmy Prock-tuned Cornwell Quality Tools Camaro of Hight in 2023. Hagan was off the tree first with .050 RT, but when raw fuel came out of Hagan’s engine, Hight powered by to claim his first Mission Challenge win.
Enders Grabs Holeshot Win at Brainerd Challenge
Eric Enders entered the semifinal round of the Mission Foods Challenge having not won the specialty race but having posted Pro Stock national wins at Bristol and a week ago Topeka. Her opponent for the grudge match was Dallas Glenn who has been hot winning three Wallys in six final round appearances. A rematch of the Topeka Mission Final, the pair were 1-1 for the season. Hearing footsteps, Glenn left early and Enders advanced to the final with a redlight win.
Greg Anderson driving the HendricksCars.com Camaro and runner-up at the previous two Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenges against Deric Kramer in the Get BioFuel Chevy Funny Car. Anderson holds a 14-3 advantage in career matchups and is 1-0 against Kramer for the 2023 season. Kramer was off the tree first, which was the saving grace for a holeshot win over the quicker 6.642 elapsed time of winningest Pro Stock driver in history by inches.
Driving the Melling Performance Johnson Horsepowered Garage Camaro, Enders was looking to add her name to Mission #2Fast2Tasty trophy after turning around the slow start to her 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Deric Kramer was looking to even the 0-1 head-to-head wins this season. Enders was off first with .026-seconds RT and barely held off a hard charging Kramer who posted a quicker 6.696 elapsed time and a faster 205.07 mph run. Great racing for a game of inches.
Artwork courtesy of NHRA
UP COMING:
The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals
Since 1961, the U.S. Nationals have hosted the National Hot Rod Association’s premier event in a way that showcases the sport of drag racing for race fans, teams, drivers and sponsors. This year the final round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge will bring redemption racing to Saturday’s final round of qualifying on September 3rd. Both nitro and stock classes will compete head-to-head for valuable bonus points before the Countdown to the Championship.
