NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Maddi Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster team showed strong progress at the second race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, the NHRA Nationals at The Rock at Rockingham Dragway.
A week after falling in the opening round in her playoff debut, Gordon and the Ron Capps Motorsports team advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday, defeating Justin Ashley in the opening round of eliminations to pick up her first career round win in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team went a solid 3.755-seconds at 337.08 mph, quickly tracking down Ashley en route to victory to become the first driver in Mission Foods history to earn a win light at The Rock. It was the strongest run of the weekend for Gordon and her team after qualifying ninth with a 3.764 at 335.32 to set up the first-round showdown.
Following the first-round win against Ashley, Gordon faced off with reigning world champion and No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta. The standout rookie put together a valiant effort, leaving first on the two-time world champ with a reaction time of .044 and a run of 3.790, but Kalitta tracked down Gordon early in the run, going a quicker 3.763 at 331.61 to advance to the semifinals.
While they didn’t make it as long of a race day as they had hoped, Gordon and the Ron Capps Motorsports team will leave the fourth of four new facilities on the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Series tour tied for seventh in points, up one position from eighth.
“The number eight and nine match-up is usually the toughest of the round on paper and almost always ends up being the first pair of cars down the track on race day, which I love,” Gordon said. “I love firing up right after the National Anthem and we made a really nice pass. It was solid A to B with that 3.75 and we were the third or fourth quickest of that round and that put us in a good spot in round two against Doug Kalitta, the number one qualifier.
“We definitely had to push against that other tool car. It was a very close race, but it wasn’t enough. Our car wore a little too much clutch and it’s unfortunate to go out in the second round in the second race of the Countdown. We still have four more races left and we get to do this again in five days in St. Louis and we’re excited about the NAPA Auto Parts Midwest Nationals. We have some really cool stuff happening next week, so definitely stay tuned for that.”
Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team finish off a stretch of three straight races to open the Countdown to the Championship next weekend when the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads to St. Louis for the 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals near St. Louis.
