Kalitta, Lee, Glenn & Herrera Roll To No. 1 Spots For NHRA 4-Wide Nationals At zMAX Dragway

Story By: NHRA – CHARLOTTE, NC – Doug Kalitta secured the No. 1 qualifier spot at the 15th annual American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Saturday at zMAX Dragway.

Paul Lee (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the fifth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

It’s the 1,000th Top Fuel race in NHRA history and Kalitta qualified No. 1 for the third time this year on the strength of Friday’s track-record run of 3.646 at 333.74.

There’s a special trophy on the line and Kalitta, who won the 500th Top Fuel race in 2002, has the opportunity for something historic on Sunday. His opening-round quad includes Las Vegas winner Tony Stewart, Steve Torrence and Lex Joon.

“About half-track the thing obviously decided it wasn’t going to make it without smoking the tires, so it just kind of ran in half throttle the rest of the way, and it worked out,” Kalitta said. “When it gets later in the day, you kind of expect maybe something like that’s going to happen. We’ve got a lot of guys out there that can pedal very well, so you got to just kind of do what you can to get it to the finish without blowing the thing up.

“I’m very fortunate with this opportunity with this group of guys. It’s a heck of an opportunity so I’m just trying to make the best of it, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings. We want to win that special trophy.”

Langdon qualified second with a 3.665 at 333.33, and Brittany Force’s 3.667 at a record 341.58 from Friday has her third.

Paul Lee easily grabbed his second straight No. 1 qualifier thanks to Friday’s run of 3.829 at 328.54 in his 12,000-horsepower SRI Performance/Daido Metal Dodge Charger SRT. His opening quad includes Matt Hagan, Bobby Bode and Dave Richards, as the Funny Car points leader seeks out his second win of the 2025 campaign. Prock took second after his 3.844 at 336.49 and Daniel Wilkerson’s career-best 3.855 at 330.07 gave him the third spot.

“The Funny Car class is tough. We’ve got 14 cars quicker than 3.93. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that close,” Lee said. “It’s most competitive that I’ve ever seen. I’m here for the competition. Everybody has a different reason why they race. Some enjoy just to come out here and make laps down the track. If I can’t be competitive, I’ll go do something else. I race for competition. I love to beat them.”

At the site of his first career Pro Stock win, Dallas Glenn secured his first top qualifier of the year thanks to Friday’s strong run of 6.502 at 211.10 in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro. Glenn also gets the $2,000 prize for winning the GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award. Glenn and Anderson have split the first four races this year and Glenn is in a good position for a third win in 2025, taking on an opening-round quad that includes Matt Latino, Mason McGaha and Erica Enders. Anderson is second with a 6.502 at 210.93 and Hartford took third with his 6.510 at 209.43.

“Greg had been hogging them all. He has a super fast car, but we got the No. 1 qualifier and we’re excited to get that GESi No. 1 Qualifier Award,” Glenn said. “We’ve got a good hot rod for tomorrow and we’ll try to go get them.”

Gaige Herrera easily grabbed his 25th career No. 1 qualifier thanks to Friday’s outstanding run of 6.680 at 201.64. Richard Gadson took second with a 6.759 at 200.77 and Matt Smith’s 6.773 at 201.34 gave him third.

“Today was reflection of us not wanting us to turn the bike down from last night. My bike spun the tire in the first 60-feet. I had a 1.09 60-foot time and that’s because Andrew [Hines, crew chief] didn’t take enough power out for these conditions. We were shooting for a 6.74 or 6.75 but we did get some good data for tomorrow so we’ll be just fine.”

Eliminations for the American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals begin at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.

***

CONCORD, N.C. — First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 15th annual American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, the fifth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.646 seconds, 333.74 mph vs. 16. Lex Joon, 5.946, 120.81 vs. 8. Tony Stewart, 3.711, 324.05 vs. 9. Steve Torrence, 3.715, 333.58; 2. Shawn Langdon, 3.665, 333.33 vs. 15. Scott Farley, 4.553, 168.47 vs. 7. Josh Hart, 3.709, 323.12 vs. 10. Ida Zetterstrom, 3.744, 329.67; 3. Brittany Force, 3.667, 341.59 vs. 14. Todd Paton, 3.871, 317.05 vs. 6. Justin Ashley, 3.708, 336.23 vs. 11. Spencer Massey, 3.759, 304.94; 4. Shawn Reed, 3.703, 334.40 vs. 13. Clay Millican, 3.769, 328.70 vs. 5. Antron Brown, 3.703, 328.62 vs. 12. Doug Foley, 3.764, 325.53.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Cameron Ferre, 8.127, 84.82.

Funny Car — 1. Paul Lee, Dodge Charger, 3.829, 328.54 vs. 16. Dave Richards, Ford Mustang, 4.060, 313.88 vs. 8. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.873, 330.39 vs. 9. Bobby Bode, Toyota GR Supra, 3.904, 306.33; 2. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.844, 336.49 vs. 15. Buddy Hull, Charger, 4.010, 320.97 vs. 7. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 3.867, 327.35 vs. 10. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.916, 331.36; 3. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.855, 330.07 vs. 14. Hunter Green, Charger, 3.931, 321.12 vs. 6. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.867, 336.65 vs. 11. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.924, 325.37; 4. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.863, 329.83 vs. 13. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.926, 326.00 vs. 5. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.865, 331.61 vs. 12.

Alexis DeJoria, Charger, 3.925, 324.51.

Did Not Qualify: 17. John Smith, 4.064, 306.05; 18. Dale Creasy Jr., 10.349, 80.18.

Pro Stock — 1. Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.502, 211.10 vs. 16. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.574, 209.30 vs. 8. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.554, 210.28 vs. 9. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.557, 209.52; 2. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.502, 210.93 vs. 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.571, 208.42 vs. 7. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.545, 210.73 vs. 10. Brandon Foster, Camaro, 6.558, 209.26; 3. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.510, 210.34 vs. 14. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.561, 209.56 vs. 6. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.544, 209.88 vs. 11. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.558, 209.17; 4. Cory Reed, Camaro, 6.526, 210.83 vs. 13. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.559, 210.08 vs. 5. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.531, 209.85 vs. 12. Cody Coughlin, Camaro, 6.559, 209.62.

Did Not Qualify: 17. David Cuadra, 6.576, 207.40; 18. Fernando Cuadra Jr., 6.579, 208.81; 19. Cristian Cuadra, 6.591, 208.49; 20. Stephen Bell, 6.592, 209.07; 21. Aaron Stanfield, 6.602, 209.56; 22. Jerry Tucker, 6.614, 208.75; 23. Brandon Miller, 6.622, 206.92.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.680, 201.64 vs. Bye vs. vs. 8. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.824, 200.00 vs. 9. John Hall, Beull, 6.833, 198.58; 2. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.759, 200.98 vs. 15. Brandon Litten, Suzuki, broke vs. 7. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.817, 199.05 vs. 10. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.854, 197.74; 3. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.773, 201.55 vs. 14. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.921, 197.71 vs. 6. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.811, 200.53 vs. 11. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.895, 199.02; 4. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.799, 197.80 vs. 13. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.909, 196.56 vs. 5. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.805, 196.79 vs. 12. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.902, 195.00.

Did Not Qualify: 15. Brandon Litten, broke.