Another stellar batch of qualifying runs set the KB Titan Racing team ahead of the competition, with points leader Dallas Glenn ultimately locking down the top spot in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro for the second consecutive event. Reigning and six-time Pro Stock world champion Greg Anderson, driving his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, qualified in the No. 2 position at the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, raking in 10 important bonus points to keep Glenn on his toes heading into raceday.
“It’s been such a fantastic season; this is my sixth No. 1 qualifier and only the 12th of my career, so to get half of my No. 1’s in one season shows how good this car is right now,” said Glenn, who finished last season just 11 points behind Anderson in the championship chase. “I’ve said it before, that I’ve felt I was in the best car I’ve ever been in, but I feel like it just keeps stepping up. As long as I don’t let the car or the crew chiefs down and keep doing my job, I think it’s going to be a pretty tough battle.”
The four-wide format of the Carolina Nationals marks the first time in history that competition has extended beyond two lanes during the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. If history has its say, the extra wrench in the works shouldn’t be much of a disruption for Glenn, the 2021 Rookie of the Year. He won both the Las Vegas and Charlotte four-wide events earlier this season, and he also won the fall race at zMAX Dragway last year.
Although Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence is the leader in four-wide wins with six overall, he has been battling for four-wide trophies since 2010, when the format was introduced. Glenn, however, is second-most in four-wide wins with four captured overall (two Charlotte, two Las Vegas), and he’s done it in just nine starts. Glenn has raced in the final quad in seven of the nine times Pro Stock has raced four-wide, and in addition to his four wins, he was runner-up once (to Anderson in 2024).
Anderson’s three four-wide wins have all come at Charlotte, and he has two additional wins at zMAX Dragway in the two-wide format, making him the most winning Pro Stock driver at the facility. He’s been to the final in four-wide Charlotte competition 10 times — twice as many final-quad appearances as any other Pro Stock driver.
Glenn, though, is respectfully ill-concerned with history or how many lanes are on the racetrack.
“I’m just going up there and trying to win rounds and do everything I can to win races,” said the driver who recalls all-too-well missing his first world championship by such a slim margin one year ago. He entered this weekend 62 points ahead of Anderson, but the veteran earned 10 bonus points in qualifying – four more than Glenn – as the quickest in two rounds and second-quickest in the two other sessions. Anderson is now 59 points behind in second place. Glenn’s best runs of the weekend came in the second and third qualifying sessions, when it mattered most in terms of position, and his best time was a 6.535-second pass at 209.69 mph, just a touch off top speed of the event.
“I’m not letting up at all,” said Glenn. “Not one round, not one run. If you look at last year, you know that it just takes on small mistake; you can have a fantastic streak of races other than one little mess-up, and then it all comes crashing down. I’m going to go up there and try to do everything I can, every single time I strap into the car.”
The battle at the top of the standings is presently between Glenn and Anderson, but KB Titan’s Eric Latino and Elite Motorsports campaigner Aaron Stanfield are tied for third, 132 marks out of first. Matt Hartford, who entered the event third, dropped back to fifth by just one point; he’s 133 out of the top spot.
“We’re battling it out every round of qualifying, and I expect to be battling through every round of eliminations on Sunday,” said Anderson, who ran a qualifying-best 6.535, 209.20. “I’ve got a great horse beneath me with my HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Dallas has a car that’s just as good. We’ve got a stable full of cars that are capable of performing, but so does the team across the way. Tomorrow will be exciting. May the best man win.”
Driving the Hose Connection/Total Seal Chevrolet overseen by veteran crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia and powered by KB Titan, Hartford’s best time of 6.568, 208.71 has him starting 12th but with a fierce determination to get the win on Sunday and gain headway in the points battle. Hartford was runner-up to Glenn in the Las Vegas four-wide earlier this season; he was also runner-up at the regular-season closer, the esteemed U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
Latino and his GESi Camaro are qualified in the No. 3 position to earn his best start since Sonoma last season. Latino, a 2019 inductee in the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame, was one of the top performers in qualifying with a best time of 6.538, 208.01 and earned a pair of bonus points. Before his move up in qualifying, he was tied with KBT teammate Cory Reed for fifth place in the Pro Stock points entering the event.
Reed, driving the J&A Service Camaro and flying the yellow and teal ribbons on either side of his car to raise awareness for childhood and ovarian cancers, respectively, blasted to a best time of 6.552, 208.71 to score a bonus mark and start from the No. 6 position. Reed, a former Pro Stock Motorcycle Racer, earned the first victory of his career at the Norwalk Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals earlier this summer. He is No. 6 in the Pro Stock points heading into Sunday, 135 marks back.
After a final-round finish last weekend at the NHRA Reading Nationals, Rookie of the Year contender Cody Coughlin raced to a 6.546, 209.01 in his Cody Construction Chevy to start fourth and sweep in three bonus points. He was seventh in the Pro Stock standings ahead of this event and is trailing first by 148 points.
KB Titan Racing-powered Deric Kramer, No. 10 in the standings, has seen surges of success peppered throughout the season. Qualified in the No. 5 position with his Get BioFuels Camaro tuned by seasoned crew chief Michael Hiner, two-time Charlotte winner Kramer’s best time so far this weekend was a 6.551, 208.46.
The unique four-wide event doubles the competition in every round. Rather than the traditional racer vs. racer, the four-wide format brings four racers at a time to the starting line in a fight to advance. The first to the finish line without a red-light start is considered the winner, while the next-place finisher is runner-up in the round. Both advance, and the slower two of the four are ousted.
In the first round of eliminations, quad one will feature Dallas Glenn, Aaron Stanfield, Greg Stanfield, and Troy Coughlin Jr.
Quad two will be Cody Coughlin, Deric Kramer, Matt Hartford, and Cristian Cuadra.
Quad three is set with Greg Anderson, Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and David Cuadra.
Quad four contains Eric Latino, Cory Reed, Fernando Cuadra Jr., and Stephen Bell.
Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations for the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals will begin at 11:00 a.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 21 at zMAX Dragway.
This story was originally published on September 20, 2025. 
