MADDI GORDON
Driver of the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel Dragster​


Countdown to the Championship Ranking: 8th (-143 points)

Last Event (Michigan):
Qualified No. 13; First round exit (defeated by Shawn Langdon in E1)

2026/Career Statistics:

  • 15 races: one win, one runner-up finish
  • Career-best E.T.: 3.695 seconds (Brainerd 2026)
  • Career-best speed: 340.22 mph (Valdosta 2026)

Noteworthy:

  • The Rookie of the Year contender will begin the second event of the 2026 Countdown to the Championship from the eighth position on the Top Fuel leaderboard. She is within two competition rounds of the Top 5.

Fan Events:

  • Thursday, 6:30 – 7:15 p.m., NHRA NitroFest driver autograph session, Harrington Square, downtown Rockingham
  • Friday, 12:00 – 12:30 p.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer
  • Saturday, 10:00 – 10:30 a.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer

Quotable:
“After a weekend like Martin where we didn’t qualify as well as we had wanted and went out first round, I’m so glad we’re able to quickly put that race behind us and go straight into Rockingham this weekend. Hopefully, two days from now, it’ll be like Martin never even happened and we can start with a clean slate. I’ve been in Indy since we left Michigan, spending time at the shop and signing our new diecast cars, which I’m really excited about.

“I actually got to go to Rockingham earlier this year for a media tour, and let me tell you, on Saturday, when the dragsters run first, I’ll be hustling to the grandstands right after because they have the coolest stands right next to the race track. I will be there to watch race cars go down the race track, I can promise you that!

“We’re going to take the data from last weekend – the ‘dos and the do-not dos,’ and transfer it to this weekend, and hopefully, we’ll be further ahead. I go into every race with confidence feeling like we have a shot to win because our Carlyle Tools team truly is amazing, we just missed it last weekend. We’re going to go out there this weekend and do what we’ve been doing, which is to put our heads down and go to work.”

Continue reading...