In qualifying rounds, Brittany Force and Ron Capps were the number one qualifier in their respective Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions at the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series in Sonoma, CA. Nitro classes were entering the ninth race of season and the second of the famed NHRA three-race Western Swing. Driving the 11,000-horsepower Flav-R-Pac dragster for John Force Racing, Brittany posted an impressive run with a 3.694 ET at 329.42 mph on Friday. She also qualified atop the field at the last event the Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Raceway. Force has been fast all season with four top qualifiers and posted a 3.716 ET at 330.31 mph, which was the fastest run recorded in qualifying at the Sonoma Nationals. Capps’s run of 3.897-seconds at 328.78 mph was his third number one qualifier of the 2021 season.
Torrence Maintains Points Lead Over Brown
Steve Torrence claimed his third straight Top Fuel victory on Sunday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals by defeating a Leah Pruett in the final round with 3.757-second run at 327.98 mph. Pruett leaped from eighth place in the points to fifth in the season standings as the Camping World Drag Racing Series tour heads downstate to Pomona, for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. Her Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Antron Brown, remains second in the points but is 349 points behind Torrence. The defending champ defeated Brown in the semifinals at Sonoma. Pruett eliminated Justin Ashley and number one qualifier Brittany Force before losing to Torrence with a 3.768 ET at 323.04 mph. Torrence sailed by his opening round foe Cameron Ferre before eliminating Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown enroute to the finale. At the end of the day, Leah Pruett had Low ET for the Sonoma Nationals at 3.726 seconds and Steve Torrence claimed top speed at 331.77 mph.
Hight’s Quicker ET Eliminates the Defending Champ
Robert Hight’s dominance at Sonoma Raceway continued on Sunday, as he won for a third straight time at historic facility with a final run 3.971 ET at 322.50 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS. to beat defending world champ Matt Hagan in the final round. The win extended Hight’s incredible run at Sonoma and ended Hagan’s chances to sweep the NHRA’s Western Swing. It was Hight’s 53rd career Wally. Hight slipped by the number one qualifier Ron Capps in the semifinal run. Capps is still looking for his first win of the 2021 season in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. In the last Funny Car run of the day, Hagan was quicker off the starting line with a .036 reaction time, but Hight chased down the “world’s fastest farmer” at the finish line to claim the win. Hagan reached his second straight final and the 68th of his career thanks to round wins against Jeff Diehl, Blake Alexander, and Alexis DeJoria.
Drivers have four more national events to qualify for the seven-race NHRA Camping World Series Countdown to the Championship, that begins Sept. 9 at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil in Reading, PA, and concludes in mid-November at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, CA. With his successful qualifying effort at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, three-time and reigning Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence became the first driver in 2021 to officially clinch a berth for the Championship.
NEXT UP:
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series closes out its three-race Western Swing with next weekend’s Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
