Gordon Reaches New Personal Best Elapsed Time at the NHRA Northwest Nationals

KENT, Wash. (July 26, 2026) – Maddi Gordon, the driver of the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, is leaving Pacific Raceways with a new personal best elapsed time, made in the opening round of competition today at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals as Gordon endeavored to turn on the win light against racing legend Tony Stewart. Stewart managed to outpace the up-and-comer, but the early exit has done nothing to stifle Gordon’s signature positivity.

Gordon had an incredibly consistent hot rod all weekend long after one bout with tire smoke in the first qualifying session on Friday. From that point forward, crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching expertly tuned the Carlyle Tools dragster to a series of successful passes. When they returned for Q2, Gordon laid down a respectable run of 3.839 seconds at 318.99 mph to make her way into the top half of the field.

On Saturday, qualifying continued carrying Gordon on a path of positive momentum. The talented rookie recorded a 3.731 at 337.92 in the first heat of the day, backing it up with another stout lap of 3.735 at 334.57, demonstrating the kind of consistency that teams need in this stretch of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Gordon kicked off race day from the eighth spot on the Top Fuel ladder and faced Stewart in the opening round. This was the fifth time this season that the two have faced off against each other in eliminations. Despite Gordon getting the starting line advantage, Stewart outpaced her early on to take the lead. It was an entertaining side-by-side drag race but ultimately, Stewart turned on the win light with a 3.707 at 334.73 to defeat Gordon’s 3.727 at 333.49, the best elapsed time of her burgeoning career.

“Saturday kind of uplifted all of our confidence in the race car,” said Gordon. “Just getting down the race track, making two fast passes. I think we all felt confident going into today, racing Tony Stewart. This was the fifth time we’ve raced him all year. We’ve seen him a lot. This was a tough loss. It was a good race. I had a good light and the car ran well. It just wasn’t good enough. Like Chuck (Grospitch, car chief) says, ‘Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield.’ This time we were the bug. We were tied in points, so I’m pretty bummed. We’ve got a lot of awesome people in our hospitality today and I feel bad for everyone who came out to watch. But, there’s a positive in everything. And that was our fastest E.T. yet, so we’re making strides in the right direction. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The data is showing a lot of progress. It takes time to build those runs. But we’ve got Night Under Fire coming up, so we’ve got good things. And we’ll just keep moving forward.”

Before Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team head to the next stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule, they will head to Norwalk, Ohio for Summit Motorsports Park’s Night Under Fire, featuring some of the best nitro cars and drivers in the world.

Qualified: No. 8 (3.731 E.T. at 337.92 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.727 E.T. at 333.49 MPH defeated by Tony Stewart 3.707 E.T. at 334.73 MPH

Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals

Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals

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Gordon Reaches New Personal Best Elapsed Time at the NHRA Northwest Nationals

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