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Force, Hagan And Dallas Grab No. 1 Qualifying Spots for NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals At zMAX Dragway

by racerx55 September 20, 2025 0 comments

Story by: Matthew Thomerson/TheFourthTurn.com

CONCORD, NC – Qualifying for the 2025 NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway saw the Top Fuel and both Funny Car divisions have interesting sessions.

Qualifying on Friday saw two-time Top Fuel champion, Brittany Force of John Force Racing, have the quickest time of 3.698 seconds at 338.85 mph. She backed it up Saturday with a 3.823-second run at 327.66 mph to grab her fifth No. 1 qualifier of the 2025 campaign and the 57th of her career. Points leader, Doug Kalitta was second, followed by Steve Torrence. 

“Qualifying was outstanding for us this weekend,” Force said. “We had four solid, consistent runs down the dragstrip and we were in the heat both days. The heat is always when we struggle. We’re all very happy with that. It’s what we plan to come out and do every single weekend. We just haven’t been getting there. So, this was just outstanding for our team.

“We always want to qualify top three, top five, which would be awesome, picking up bonus points and really going rounds on race day. Consistency is key. We have a great car this weekend, so I’m feeling confident going into race day.”

Funny Car qualifying on Friday saw Matt Hagan boast the quickest time for Tony Stewart Racing Nitro with a time of 3.891 seconds at 329.67 mph. The four-time champion ran a time slightly faster Saturday, of 3.970 seconds at 325.85 mph, to set himself up well for Sunday eliminations. It was Hagan’s second No. 1 qualifier of the season, and the 54th of his career. Ron Capps was second, and the Funny Car championship leader Austin Prock, was third. 

“We’ve been down the racetrack all four times in every lane and I think that’s a real positive,” Hagan said. “I’m really happy with the way things are going. I truly feel like maybe we found that problem that’s cost us a couple blow blow-ups with the ignition switch, so everything’s looking good on the graphs and the crew chief seems to be pretty confident about everything.”

In Pro Stock, it was Glenn Dallas setting the fastest time of 6.535 seconds at 209.69 mph. He now has two consecutive No. 1 qualifiers. Dallas also currently owns the top spot in the standings.

“It’s been such a fantastic season; this is my sixth No. 1 qualifier and only the 12th of my career, so to get half of my No. 1’s in one season shows how good this car is right now,” Glenn said. “I’ve said it before, that I’ve felt I was in the best car I’ve ever been, but I feel like it just keeps stepping up. As long as I don’t let the car or the crew chiefs down and keep doing my job, I think it’s going to be a pretty tough battle.”

The Eliminations for the 4-Wide Carolina Nationals begin Sunday at 11:30 a.m., beginning with Top Fuel. Coverage will be on Fox Sports 1.

Photo Credit: zMAX Dragway