NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Maddi Gordon continued to impress during the Texas NHRA FallNationals, racing to a runner-up finish on Sunday at the Texas Motorplex. Competing in just her 18th professional event, the driver of the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster advanced to her third career final round, defeating Shawn Reed, Doug Kalitta, and Justin Ashley before facing Antron Brown in the championship round.
Gordon entered the fourth of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship looking to rebound from an early exit at the previous event in St. Louis. While the talented young driver had competed at Texas Motorplex in the Top Alcohol Funny Car category in both 2024 and 2025, this weekend marked her first appearance at the Ennis facility behind the wheel of a 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster.
Gordon and her Ron Capps Motorsports team, led by crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching, turned in a solid qualifying performance. The Carlyle Tools dragster was third-quickest right out of the gate, with Gordon clocking a run of 3.701 seconds at 333.43 mph. Her machine smoked the tires in Q2 and got loose approaching the top end during the third session, but she closed qualifying with another strong run of 3.733 seconds. Her opening-session effort ultimately secured the No. 6 starting position for race day.
On Sunday morning, Gordon lined up opposite No. 11 qualifier Shawn Reed for the first time in eliminations. Gordon was first off the starting line and never trailed, powering her Carlyle Tools machine to a stout 3.715-second pass at 340.08 mph to defeat Reed’s 3.743 at 331.98.
The opening-round victory set up a quarterfinal matchup against two-time world champion Doug Kalitta. Gordon delivered another strong performance, charging down the Texas Motorplex dragstrip in 3.720 seconds at 336.70 mph while Kalitta lost traction near half-track. Facing Justin Ashley in the semifinals, Gordon continued her impressive race-day consistency. She powered to a 3.722-second pass at 335.07 mph as Ashley encountered tire smoke early in the run, sending Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team to the finals.
The showdown featured a rematch of the Norwalk final, where Gordon defeated four-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown to earn her first professional victory in June. This time, Gordon left the starting line too early, drawing a red-light foul and handing Brown the automatic victory.
“We had a great car all weekend long,” Gordon said. “We were consistent, got a bonus point for running third-low of the session. Before every run, I talk to Rob and Troy about what they think the car will run, and every single round, the car ran what they were trying to run, or better. So, we all felt really confident.
“First round, versus Shawn Reed, I had a decent light and it was nice to get that round out of the way, because that’s always the most nerve-wracking. Second round, took out Doug Kalitta, and that was awesome. They’re obviously one of the cars to beat out here so that felt really good. Then made another good run in the semis against Justin Ashley, which makes what happened in the final round all the more devastating. I’m beating myself up and disappointed for sure. These guys work so hard, put their heart and soul into this and they hand it off to me to do my job, and I didn’t do my job, so it’s really disappointing, but I will learn from this, and I will be a better driver because of this.”
Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team will continue their rookie campaign when the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads to the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, for the fifth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship.
