Courtesy of the NHRA POMONA, Calif. – For the second time in three years, Doug Kalitta is a world champion, as the veteran officially clinched the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world championship on Saturday at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Kalitta locked up the title when qualifying was canceled on Saturday due to weather. It marked a far different feel than Kalitta’s first championship, which went down to a winner-take-all final round at Pomona in 2023. This time, Kalitta’s dominance in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs ensured that a…
Author: Mike Haag
Mike Haag
Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 39 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 19 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. — After a phenomenal NASCAR Xfinity Series season that included 10 victories and 20 top fives in 32 starts, rookie Connor Zilisch finally came up empty. Zilisch finished third in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, behind best friend Jesse Love and Aric Almirola, but in a season of unprecedented triumph for a first-year driver, the disappointment in Zilisch’s voice was almost palpable. “We did everything we could, and I left my heart out on the track, but second in the championship is all we got,” Zilisch said. During…
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ty Majeski climbed out of his race runner-up No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 on Phoenix Raceway pit road Friday night with the smoke from Corey Heim’s championship burnout nearby still lingering overhead. Less than a second separated the popular 31-year-old 2024 series champion Majeski from the race winner Heim in his bid to become only the second driver in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series history to claim back-to-back season titles – matching his ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton. And it certainly was a valiant try. As happens in big-time auto racing, a…
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS, Texas — NHRA Funny Car driver Austin Prock came to Texas looking for redemption — and he left with a cowboy hat, a Wally and a little more breathing room in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship. After last year’s heartbreak in the semifinals, the NHRA Funny Car standout stampeded to victory Sunday at the 40th annual Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex, winning for the first time at the historic all-concrete facility. Prock defeated three-time world champion Ron Capps in the final round, clocking a 3.959-second run at 328.30 mph…
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS, Texas — Doug Kalitta kept his championship push alive and well by powering to victory Sunday in Top Fuel at the 40th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals. The veteran driver continued his playoff dominance, winning his second straight race and fourth of the season to extend his points lead with just two events remaining in the Countdown to the Championship. Kalitta, driving his 12,000-horsepower Mobil DELVAC 100th Anniversary dragster, clocked a winning pass of 3.777 seconds at 333.04 mph to defeat Texan Steve Torrence in the final round. The victory marked Kalitta’s third career…
By Mike Haag and John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS, Texas – Since it opened in 1986 the Texas Motorplex in Ennis has stood as one of the crown jewels of NHRA drag racing. The all-concrete quarter-mile track has hosted countless moments that shaped not only the sport but also the legacy of professional drag racing in Texas. From record-breaking runs and championship drama to milestone victories and historic firsts, the Motorplex has been the backdrop for some of the sport’s most memorable achievements. While the list of great performances over nearly four decades is long, Raceday San Antonio…
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS, Texas — Austin Prock is determined to turn heartbreak into hardware this weekend at the 40th annual Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. A year after suffering a crushing semifinal loss when his car broke on the starting line, Prock is back in Texas at the Stampede of Speeed looking for redemption — and a cowboy hat. “I’ve always wanted a cowboy hat,” Prock said. “We had a great race car last year and had some misfortune there in the semi-finals. So yeah, we want to redeem ourselves this year. We…
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS, Texas – Four-time NHRA Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence of Kilgore, Texas will end his 2025 racing season after he competes this weekend at the 40th anniversary of the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Torrence, who is a 56-time NHRA winner, said that due to changing priorities relating to his growing family and CAPCO, the pipeline construction company founded 30 years ago by his dad, Billy, the Texas rancher and businessman said he is opting out of the final two races of the 2025 season at Las Vegas and Pomona. …
ENNIS, Texas – Photos from Friday’s Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. All photos provided courtesy of the NHRA. Click on the photo below and then click the arrows to see all of the pictures.
By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio ENNIS, Texas — Shawn Langdon, Austin Prock, Greg Anderson and Richard Gadson lit up the Texas Motorplex on Friday night, racing to provisional No. 1 qualifying positions and pocketing bonus money during the “Battle for the Saddle” at the 40th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals — part of the Stampede of Speed’s milestone celebration. The quartet shined during “JEGS Friday Night Live” qualifying which feature drivers in the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series battling in the fourth of six Countdown to the Championship playoff races that is being held this weekend. More than…