The latest update as of October 11, 2024

39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals

It's day SEVEN of the Stampede of Speed, but only the third day of qualifying for the FallNationals. Yesterday saw the first of three qualifying sessions for the Top Alcohol cars, and there were some very quick - and some not nearly so quick - runs made. The bump spot for the dragsters was a decent 5.497, with the top nine qualifiers bunched between 5.243 and 5.285. With two sessions remaining, the quickest field ever at the Texas Motorplex, in 2022, were all in at 5.339 or better. And the quickest field ever at an NHRA national event was the 2023 In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, with the bump spot at 5.331. Both marks are in serious danger of being broken later today.

The Funny Cars weren't quite as quick but the top nine came in at 5.584 or better, with the top dog, Mick Steele, showing the potential of his injected nitro entry, as he led the field with a very strong 5.461 pass. In a bit of a surprise, a total of 17 cars filled the entry list, with only Bob McCosh sitting out the session.

NOON UPDATE: As expected, the second qualifying session for the Top Alcohol cars showed just how strong both fields were. The Funny Cars came out first and as could be expected, Sean Bellemeur rocketed to the top of the list with an excellent 5.459 - 269.04 in the Killer B's "Pirate Ship". When the tire smoke and clutch dust had cleared, the first 15 cars on the ladder were qualified at 5.596 or better, with the top five in the 5.40 zone. Sitting on the bump at 5.640 was Christine Foster, and just a few ticks behind her in the first alternate spot sat Alaska's Ray Martin at 5.678. Both racers have run in the 5.50's so the final session could see some real fireworks as the battle for a spot in the field concludes.

The dragster field tightened up considerably with the 15th qualifier (Madison Payne) in at 5.316, while Greg Hunter in the Canadian car of Doug Doucette holds down the bump spot at 5.386. Hunter's position is in serious jeopardy entering the final session, as defending world champion Julie Nataas is at the bottom of the 20-car list after two consecutive tire smokers. When was the last time a Randy Meyer-tuned car smoked the tires three times in a row? Like never, so you can expect that the bump will end up at 5.316 or better when qualifying finishes. Two of the other three alternates have run in the 5.20's in the past, so we could possibly see a 16-car field qualified in the 5.20's, or better. Stay tuned!

2:00 PM UPDATE: The final qualifying session for the Top Alcohol cars was also the first round of eliminations for the JEGS Allstars. Starting with the Funny Cars, the first four pairs to run were the JEGS qualifiers. In the second pair of the round, Christine Foster improved to a 5.583 to get off the bump spot and put Mark Billington there with his 5.596, making it a very quick field. Next out of the lanes was Ray Martin who needed to pick up nearly a tenth to get into the FallNationals elimination field. He almost did, falling just ONE thousandth of a second short with a very good 5.597. That solidified the field with everyone qualified in the 5.50's or better, including the lone alternate.

The dragsters set a new standard with the quickest field in the history of the sport. Coming into the final session, the bump spot Greg Hunter sat on the bump spot with a very good, but fragile 5.386 e.t. When Julie Nataas blasted her way into the field to the #9 spot, from the very bottom in #20, it pushed Hunter into the first alternate spot. After the other three non-qualifiers all failed to improve and make the field, it was down to Hunter and while he turned his best e.t. of the weekend, a 5.350, it wasn't enough to bump into the show. With the 16 cars from Mike Coughlin on top with a 5.216, down to Madison Payne on the bottom with a 5.315, the entire field were bunched within a tenth of a second. Eliminations are obviously guaranteed to be quite a show of quick e.t.'s and reaction times.

Next up today is the first session of PRO qualifying, then the second round of JEGS eliminations followed by the awesome "Friday Night Live" qualifying show under the lights. It offers more than $40,000 in bonus qualifying money, and the totally Texas scenario where the quickest qualifier in each class gets to sit on a mechanical bull until they are bumped off by a quicker qualifier. The last racer on the bull in each class will pick up the bonus bucks, with $15K each to the Top Fuel and Funny Car low qualifiers. It should be quite a show with some serious entertainment value.

6:00 PM UPDATE: Before the night time qualifying show got under way, the second round of JEGS Allstar competition for Top Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster took place. At the conclusion of the Funny Car segment, a special ceremony was held in the shutdown area where Sean Bellemeur was presented with his 2024 World Championship Trophy.

Photos copyright by NHRA.tv 2024

The four dragsters remaining in the JEGS eliminations all put up great performances, with the slowest e.t., a 5.236 by Karen Stalba, taking out the quicker and faster Shawn Cowie of British Columbia, Canada, who lost with his quickest pass of the weekend, a 5.215 at a booming 279.16 mph. In the other pairing, Julie Nataas earned the final round berth against Stalba by eliminating a slower reacting Matt Cummings. Cummings' 5.227 wasn't nearly enough to catch Nataas' low e.t. of the meet 5.212 effort.

The night time PRO qualifying session is underway and with the air and track temps cooling and density altitude dropping, there should be some spectacular performances coming. Stay tuned for further updates tomorrow morning.