Jordan Vandergriff took advantage of holeshot victories in both rounds of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge to earn his first victory in the race-within-a-race held in conjunction with the second day of qualifying for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
Vandergriff’s triumph was the 18th #2Fast2Tasty win for John Force Racing. He was the 24-time NHRA World Championship organization’s sixth different driver to achieve the feat, on a list that includes Robert Hight, John Force, Brittany Force, Austin Prock and Jack Beckman.
“This is my first time racing four-wide, and it’s interesting, for sure,” said Vandergriff. “This last run, I was in lane two and it’s a little trickier looking across the tree, but it seemed to work out. I didn’t expect to win it. I just went up there and did what I could and that’s thanks to my Cornwell Quality Tools team giving me the right car to go out there and do it. I’m getting more and more comfortable in the car. It’s starting to slow down and I’m starting to get the handle on the steering wheel and feel for the car. It’s a whole lot of fun driving these cars. I never thought I would be a Funny Car driver, but I think after this, I can say I’m a Funny Car driver now.”
All four John Force Racing teams maintained their qualifying positions from Friday’s night qualifying session. In Funny Car, Vandergriff qualified second in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS (3.889 seconds, 328.70 mph), Alexis DeJoria maintained the fifth position in the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS (3.932 seconds, 331.20 mph) and Jack Beckman qualified the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS in the sixth position (3.933 seconds, 314.97 mph). Hart drove the HendrickCars.com dragster to a fourth place showing with a run of 3.733 seconds at 324.59 mph.
The Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car driver cut a 0.067 light in the #2Fast2Tasty final round and streaked to a run of 3.933 seconds at 325.85 mph. Ron Capps ran quicker, 3.929 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome his 0.073 reaction time. J.R. Todd ran the exact same time as Vandergriff, 3.933 seconds, but had a 0.101 reaction time.
In round one, Vandergriff grabbed the holeshot over Capps, 0.061 to 0.088, and held on for the win with a run of 3.982 seconds to Capps’ quicker run of 3.957 seconds.
Vandergriff’s three competitors in his Round 1 of eliminations quad are No. 7 qualifier Dave Richards, No. 10 qualifier Daniel Wilkerson and No. 15 qualifier Jeff Diehl.
Hart won his #2Fast2Tasty Challenge first round with a run of 3.957 seconds at 293.15 mph against Billy Torrence (who also moved to championship round), Shawn Langdon and Tony Stewart. In the final, Hart’s 3.873-second run was no match for Clay Millican’s 3.832-second run.
Hart’s three competitors in his round one of eliminations quad are No. 5 qualifier Torrence (3.748 seconds), No. 12 qualifier Stewart (3.808 seconds) and No. 13 qualifier Tony Schumacher (3.812).
DeJoria lined up against Vandergriff, Capps and Chad Green in her first round of the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Her run of 3.993 seconds 329.42 mph was the third quickest of the quad. The competitors in her quad for the first round of eliminations are No. 4 Todd (3.910 seconds), No. 12 qualifier Hunter Green (4.049 seconds) and No. 13 qualifier Jeff Arend (4.080 seconds).
Beckman’s #2Fast2Tasty Challenge first-round run of 3.984 seconds at 317.94 was not enough to get past Todd’s 3.935-second run or Hagan’s 3.972-second run. The 2012 Funny Car World Champion’s first round of eliminations quad includes No. 3 qualifier Hagan (3.901 seconds), No. 11 qualifier Cruz Pedregon (4.001 seconds) and No. 14 qualifier Jeff Smith (4.117 seconds).
Sunday eliminations are slated for 12 p.m. ET. Television coverage Sunday, April 26, includes an event recap at 11 a.m. ET with eliminations at 7 p.m. ET.
