NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Maddi Gordon continued her steady progression in Top Fuel competition Sunday at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway, advancing to the semifinal quad in the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster for Ron Capps Motorsports. Though it was Gordon’s four-wide debut in the pro ranks, she brought experience as a past four-wide winner in Top Alcohol Funny Car, using that edge to cut her career-best race day reaction time at the fourth of 20 races on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour.
Before on-track action began on Friday, Gordon, team owner and teammate Ron Capps, and the RCM team helped the NAPA Apprenticeship Program recognize its 2025 graduates in a trackside presentation. The program seeks to address the shortage of technicians around the nation by removing barriers and offering students alternative pathways into the industry. Participants have the opportunity to earn a living while earning up to four ASE Certifications through academic and hands-on instruction at participating NAPA Auto Care Centers.
Gordon, who won the 2025 NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals in Top Alcohol Funny Car just days after being announced as the driver of the new Ron Capps Motorsports Top Fuel dragster, made incremental improvements in each qualifying session. She opened qualifying with a 3.862-second pass at 325.22 mph in the heat of the day, good for the provisional No. 7 spot. She followed with a 3.828 E.T. at 326.32 mph in Q2 to end Friday in the No. 13 position. Saturday qualifying kicked off with a 3.885 E.T. before crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching tuned Gordon to her best effort in the final session with a 3.825 E.T. at 324.67 mph.
On race day, Gordon improved yet again in the opening quad, posting a 3.777 at 332.51 mph to defeat Clay Millican and Antron Brown and advance to the next round. In a loaded semifinal quad featuring two-time and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta, 2023 championship contender Leah Pruett, and past world champion Shawn Langdon, Gordon ran a competitive 3.767 at 333.16 mph, but fell just short of advancing as Kalitta (3.707) and Pruett (3.749) moved on.
“We improved every pass going down the track,” Gordon said. “I improved in my reaction times to my best light yet, a .060. Doug Kalitta was .059, so I didn’t get to beat him on the tree, but we were close. We’re making forward progress. Every week, we’re just going to try to improve and I think that’s what we’ve been doing. We’re just going to keep chipping away at it. That was nothing to hang our heads at. That was a monster, monster matchup. We were only two hundredths away from advancing, and at 330 mph, two hundredths isn’t that much. I’m really happy after this weekend, so I’m just going to take the positive energy that we have here from this weekend and bring it to Valdosta.”
Gordon won’t have a chance to slow down, as she has a busy week of activities planned leading into the NHRA Southern Nationals, May 1-3, at South Georgia Motorsports Park. She’ll join Capps on a visit to NAPA Auto Parts headquarters in Atlanta and she’ll throw out the first pitch at Wednesday night’s Atlanta Braves game.
Qualified: No. 14 (3.825 E.T. at 324.67 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.777 E.T. at 332.51 MPH defeated Clay Millican 3.911 E.T. at 266.69 MPH, Antron Brown 4.267 E.T. at 193.02 MPH
E2: 3.767 E.T. at 333.16 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.707 E.T. at 339.02 MPH, Leah Pruett 3.749 E.T. at 333.66 MPH
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Before on-track action began on Friday, Gordon, team owner and teammate Ron Capps, and the RCM team helped the NAPA Apprenticeship Program recognize its 2025 graduates in a trackside presentation. The program seeks to address the shortage of technicians around the nation by removing barriers and offering students alternative pathways into the industry. Participants have the opportunity to earn a living while earning up to four ASE Certifications through academic and hands-on instruction at participating NAPA Auto Care Centers.
Gordon, who won the 2025 NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals in Top Alcohol Funny Car just days after being announced as the driver of the new Ron Capps Motorsports Top Fuel dragster, made incremental improvements in each qualifying session. She opened qualifying with a 3.862-second pass at 325.22 mph in the heat of the day, good for the provisional No. 7 spot. She followed with a 3.828 E.T. at 326.32 mph in Q2 to end Friday in the No. 13 position. Saturday qualifying kicked off with a 3.885 E.T. before crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching tuned Gordon to her best effort in the final session with a 3.825 E.T. at 324.67 mph.
On race day, Gordon improved yet again in the opening quad, posting a 3.777 at 332.51 mph to defeat Clay Millican and Antron Brown and advance to the next round. In a loaded semifinal quad featuring two-time and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta, 2023 championship contender Leah Pruett, and past world champion Shawn Langdon, Gordon ran a competitive 3.767 at 333.16 mph, but fell just short of advancing as Kalitta (3.707) and Pruett (3.749) moved on.
“We improved every pass going down the track,” Gordon said. “I improved in my reaction times to my best light yet, a .060. Doug Kalitta was .059, so I didn’t get to beat him on the tree, but we were close. We’re making forward progress. Every week, we’re just going to try to improve and I think that’s what we’ve been doing. We’re just going to keep chipping away at it. That was nothing to hang our heads at. That was a monster, monster matchup. We were only two hundredths away from advancing, and at 330 mph, two hundredths isn’t that much. I’m really happy after this weekend, so I’m just going to take the positive energy that we have here from this weekend and bring it to Valdosta.”
Gordon won’t have a chance to slow down, as she has a busy week of activities planned leading into the NHRA Southern Nationals, May 1-3, at South Georgia Motorsports Park. She’ll join Capps on a visit to NAPA Auto Parts headquarters in Atlanta and she’ll throw out the first pitch at Wednesday night’s Atlanta Braves game.
Qualified: No. 14 (3.825 E.T. at 324.67 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.777 E.T. at 332.51 MPH defeated Clay Millican 3.911 E.T. at 266.69 MPH, Antron Brown 4.267 E.T. at 193.02 MPH
E2: 3.767 E.T. at 333.16 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.707 E.T. at 339.02 MPH, Leah Pruett 3.749 E.T. at 333.66 MPH
Continue reading...
