Top Fuel’s Antron Brown defeated first-time finalist Tony Stewart in the final round and Bob Tasca III, Aaron Stanfield, and Matt Smith also earned titles at the 36th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.
Top Fuel’s Antron Brown defeated first-time finalist Tony Stewart in the final round of the 36th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, picking up his third win of the 2024 season on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
Aaron Stanfield stayed red-hot in the Pro Stock ranks, which meant Elite Motorsports did as well, as Stanfield won for the third time in four races while taking down first-time Pro Stock finalist Cory Reed in the championship round with an impressive run of 6.540 at 209.98 in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Janac Brothers car. It’s also the 11th career win for Stanfield, whose efforts over the past two months have helped propel Elite Motorsports to six straight victories.
Stanfield has three of them in that span, grabbing his second career win at Sonoma Raceway after defeating Mason McGaha, defending world champion Erica Enders and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson. He delivered another strong reaction time in the final round against Reed, rolling to the victory as Stanfield continues to make big strides this season.
“This is a great win, but I want to shout out to Cory Reed for going to the final in his second race,” Stanfield said. “This week we lost a good friend, Tim “the Iceman” Kelly, to cancer and I wanted to get it done for him. I know Cory is fresh to the class so I would have been surprised if he played any games, so I just did my normal routine. I think I’m driving better this year and I’d love to continue that.
“We didn’t have a great ladder since all the hitters seemed to be on one side. I had to race Erica and we’re teammates, but we still want to beat each other. Then there was Greg and you’ve got to be on your game anytime you race him.”
In just his second career Pro Stock start, Reed, who previously raced in Pro Stock Motorcycle, advanced to the final round by taking down Deric Kramer, Eric Latino and Jerry Tucker. Dallas Glenn remains the points leader in the class.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith, a six-time world champion, finished off one of the best weekends in his career on Sunday, getting his first win of the season by taking down teammate John Hall in the final round with a run of 6.700 at 203.77 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell. It was a picture-perfect three days for Smith, who qualified No. 1, set the track record with a stellar 6.655, won the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout on Saturday and then snapped a winless streak that stretched back to the Countdown to the Championship opener last September in Reading, Pa.
That drought is over in emphatic fashion, as Smith, now a two-time Sonoma winner, took down Eiji Kawakami and Seattle winner Chase Van Sant to reach the final round against Hall. His teammate left the starting line first, but Smith, who also picked up his 39th career win, quickly chased him down, picking up a meaningful win and putting him right back on track when it comes to racing for what would be a class-record seventh world championship.
“This is very big,” Smith said. “This is a Denso event which is our sponsor, and we won everything there is to win. We put a lot into getting our bikes ready for this weekend. We’re gaining ground on the rest of the field and that takes a team effort.
“It’s all in the 60-foot area. Our class is so dependent on that. The Suzuki’s stepped up their game and we need to follow them. I learned to leave low and take power our to get the bike to leave the starting line. I’m 51 and I’m getting older but I can still do this. To me, the magic number is seven. If I get that seventh title this year I promise I’ll get off the bike and put some young kid on it who can do the job.”
Hall reached his second final round this year and the fourth in his career by defeating Angie Smith, defending world champion and points leader Gaige Herrera and Hector Arana Jr.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 15-18 with the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
