Under a star filled night the superstars of the NHRA rewrote the Texas Motorplex record books and gave the tens of thousands of fans in attendance some amazing rivalry battles. The John Force Racing combo of Top Fuel’s Brittany Force and Funny Car’s Austin Prock each took the $15,000 low ET bonus cash. In Pro Stock Greg Anderson unseated rival Erica Enders for $7,500 while Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera knocked off Jianna Evaristo in a classic Vance and Hines versus Matt Smith Racing tilt for the $5,000 bonus cash.
“The fans saw a great show and with record runs,” said Christie Meyer Johnson, Texas Motorplex co-owner. “The Battle for the Saddle is quickly becoming one of the ‘must-see’ races within a race. Seeing the fun emotion from drivers and riders as they relinquish their seats on the top end saddle is great for our fans.”
Force ran 3.667 seconds at 338.19 mph, the second fastest speed of the season in Top Fuel to secure the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot. She jumped from No. 15 to No. 1 on a spectacular full pull with eight-foot header flames shooting out of her HendrickCars.com Top Fuel dragster.
Right before Force took the $15,000 prize her John Force Racing teammate Prock drove the AAA Texas Chevrolet Camaro to the finish line stripe in 3.813 seconds at 333.09 mph, the quickest Funny Car run of his young career and a Texas Motorplex elapsed time record. Prock had to wait in the saddle for Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan, Paul Lee and Blake Alexander to take their best shots at the NHRA Funny Car point leader before he secured the provisional No. 1 spot.
Pro Stock came down to a familiar duo when Anderson bested Elite Motorsports’ Enders to win the $7,500 prize for KB Titan Racing. Enders took over the saddle early in the session and rode for seven pairs of Pro Stock competitors. In the final pair Anderson’s 6.524 second run at 208.99 mph was two-thousandths of a second quicker than Enders’ 6.526 second run.
The Battle for the Saddle opened with Pro Stock Motorcycle coming down to the wire. Jianna Evaristo ran 6.778 seconds at 201.81 mph to move from No. 7 to No. 1 and in the next pair Herrera blasted past her with a 6.757 second run at 201.21 mph to win the $5,000 bonus. Just before Herrera ran Evaristo’s teammate Angie Smith suffered a tough turn of events in the lane beside the reigning Texas Fall Nationals winner as her motorcycle would not fire, missing the chance to run for the prize money and forcing the championship contender to watch from the starting line.
Tomorrow the final two rounds of qualifying for the 39th annual Texas Fall Nationals will resume. Qualifying sessions will take place at noon and 3:00 p.m. and on Sunday final eliminations featuring the quickest 16 racers in each class will start at noon. For tickets or more information visit www.stampedeofspeed.com.
This story was originally published on October 12, 2024. 
