Competing in the marathon that is the NHRA U.S. Nationals for the first time as a Top Fuel pilot, Maddi Gordon took her Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster to the quarterfinals Monday afternoon at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Riding momentum from a runner-up finish at the most recent race on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, Gordon found consistency in qualifying and threw down a promising pass in the opening round of eliminations before hazing the tires in the second round. The NHRA Rookie of the Year contender wrapped up the regular season in the No. 6 points position and now heads into the six-race Countdown to the Championship with her first-year Ron Capps Motorsports team.
Led by crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching, the Carlyle Tools team took a methodical approach to qualifying, beginning with a smooth 3.818-second pass at 324.67 mph in the first session on Friday evening to sit ninth. Saturday qualifying began with the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season, which Gordon earned her way into with her final-round appearance at the Brainerd Nationals. In her fourth #2Fast2Tasty appearance of the season, Gordon went into tire smoke and lost to Leah Pruett. She faced similar issues in the third qualifying session later in the day. Gordon returned to form in the fourth session on Sunday, posting a 3.826 E.T. at 332.84 mph. A consistent 3.825 E.T. at 332.18 mph followed in the fifth and final session, where she collected one bonus point for clocking the fourth-quickest pass.
Racing out of the No. 13 position on the ladder, Gordon met up with Billy Torrence in the opening round of eliminations on Monday morning. Gordon cut a sharp .035 reaction time and powered to a 3.763-second pass at 336.99 mph to take down the No. 4 qualifier. In a rematch from the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Gordon and Pruett squared off again for a trip to the semifinals. Gordon grabbed the starting line advantage, but when both drivers started to haze the tires, Pruett recovered first and got the win. Gordon posted a 4.126 E.T. at 216.24 mph.
“Definitely bummed to go out second round at the U.S. Nationals, the biggest race of the year and the last race before the Countdown,” said Gordon, who earned her first Top Alcohol Funny Car Wally at the 2024 Cleetus and Cars NHRA regional race. “I think our whole Carlyle Tools team had a really good feeling about this weekend. The car was running great. I felt confident, the team felt confident, and we just really had a lot of good mojo, especially leaving Brainerd. I really, really thought we had a good shot this weekend. We had Carlyle Tools on both race cars. The ‘Tools Wars’ are big, so we had great representation here. We had a little too much power for the racetrack, but we’re all learning and we’re going to take it into the Countdown.”
The U.S. Nationals marked the conclusion of the regular season in the NHRA Mission Foods Series. With one win in two final-round appearances, Gordon will enter her first six-race Countdown to the Championship ranked No. 6 in the Top Fuel points standings.
“It’s exciting that the points are going to reset, so everybody’s on a closer playing field going into the playoffs,” Gordon said. “We’re heading into the Countdown with two new racetracks that nobody has ever been to. The crew chiefs don’t have years of data, which I think is going to even the playing field a little bit for those first two races. Definitely bummed with Indy, but we’re going to look forward. The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason, so we’re going to keep trucking on to the next one.”
Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team will have a weekend off before heading north to the inaugural NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Sept. 18-20, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
