Indianapolis, Indiana was the site of the final race of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag racing regular season. The 70th annual Toyota US Nationals took place over Labor Day Weekend. Teams were all trying to secure their spot in the countdown for the championship.
In Top Fuel, Brittany Force was sitting in the 10th position in points having missed one race after her father, 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, was injured in a high-speed incident. The rules for the playoffs are simple and they are run every race of the regular season or finish in the top 10 in points. Force was able to secure her spot after having advanced into the semifinal round where she would be defeated by the eventual race winner Clay Millican. Force will start the playoffs in the ninth position in points.
Clay Millican scored his first US Nationals event win and seventh career win. Millican, who qualified in the 13th spot, took on the defending event winner and three-time Top Fuel champion Antron Brown. Brown lost traction near 300 feet and could only watch as Millican ran low elapse time and top speed of race day with a 3.695 et @ 333.74 mph. In round two Josh Hart would fall to Millican when his RL Carriers dragster lost traction. Millican put a solid 3.753 et @ 332.18 mph on the board to advance him to the semifinal round. Brittany Force was his opponent and her Chevy dragster lost traction almost as soon as she put her foot on the throttle, Millican cruised to another 3.75 @ 332.18 mph run. His final round match up would be the four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence. Much like Millican’s previous opponents, Torrence would also lose traction. Millican put up his slowest run of race day with a 3.792 @ 327.82 mph but still was able to score the event win.
In Funny Car, John Force remains sidelined with his injuries following his accident in Virginia back in June. His car, though, is back on track with a substitute driver. Jack Beckman is filling in for the remainder of the season. The NHRA Rules allow a team to substitute a driver for up to eight events and retain the points position for that driver. Force was second in points when the incident occurred and fell to sixth by the time the team was allowed by the rules to put the car back on track.
Austin Prock driving for John Force Racing dominated the event. He qualified on the pole and in round one made quick work of part time racer Chris King with his 3.85 et @ 334.15 mph. In round two Prock used his reaction skills to get around Alexis Dejoria. Though Dejoria ran a quicker 3.876et @ 327 mph to Prock’s 3.879 et @ 331.61 mph, the race was decided on the starting line with Prock’s .057 reaction time to DeJoria’s .084. In the semifinal round Prock faced off against the most recent winner on tour, Blake Alexander. Both drivers left nearly together but Alexander lost traction and could only watch as Prock put a 3.887 et @ 332.34 mph on the scoreboard. In the final round Prock would pair up against the defending event winner Ron Capps. Prock would prove to be too much for Capps, posting a 3.885 et @ 327.98 mph to Capps’s 3.935et @ 331.45 mph. This was Prock’s fifth career win in a Funny Car and ninth overall including four in Top Fuel.
In Pro Stock, Aaron Stanfield picked up his fourth win of the season and 12th of his career. Stanfield qualified fourth and marched his way through the field defeating Matt Hartford in round one, and Pro Stock rookie Cory Reed in round two. In the semifinal he would defeat five-time champion Greg Anderson who as soon as he let the clutch out his engine quit right on the starting line. In the final round Stanfield would have to face another five-time Pro Stock champion and teammate, Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Both drivers ran nearly identical elapse time and speeds, Stanfield with a 6.561 et @ 209.36 and Coughlin with his 6.562 et @ 209.59 mph but the race was won on the starting line with Stanfield’s .017rt to Coughlin’s .044.
