SONORA — The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series thunders into the heart of wine country at Sonoma Raceway this weekend for the 36th Annual Denso Sonoma Nationals, the 12th of 20 events on the 2024 NHRA season schedule.

Last year, Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), J.R. Todd (Funny Car), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all took home an NHRA Wally for winning their respective class at Sonoma. They will all be returning to do battle once again this weekend along with the Pro Stock class which will make its welcome return to Sonoma after a year off in 2023.

While Ashley will be seeking his second straight Sonoma win and third win of the season in Top Fuel, he will have his hands full with the reigning world champion Doug Kalitta, who once again leads in the points and has notched three wins in 2024.

Also in the hunt for a win will be past Sonoma winners Brittany Force, Tony Schumacher, Shawn Langdon, Antron Brown, and the resurgent Steve Torrence, the former four-time Top Fuel champion who earned his first win of the season last weekend at the Northwest Nationals in Seattle, as well as Clay Millican and Tony Stewart, the former three-time NASCAR Cup champion.

With only three events remaining before the Countdown to the Championship begins, the sense of urgency continues to ramp up, as teams look to secure the best possible position in the standings entering the six playoff races which will conclude with the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Nationals at Pomona Raceway on Nov. 14-17.

The versatile Todd, who has won twice in both Funny Car and Top Fuel at Sonoma, is hoping to use his wine country prowess to cut into the considerable points lead of Austin Prock, who moved over from Top Fuel to fill in for three-time champion Robert Hight at John Force Racing. Former Sonoma Funny Car winners Bob Tasca III, Cruz Pedregon, and Ron Capps, as well as defending world champion Matt Hagan, will provide plenty of competition for Todd this weekend.

Unfortunately, one driver who will not be at this weekend’s event is the legendary John Force who continues to recover from the injuries he sustained in serious crash during the first round of final eliminations at the Virginia Nationals on June 23. At the age of 75, the colorful 16-time Funny Car champion was still competing at the highest level, sitting fourth in the points with one victory this season, at the time of his accident.

While his presence will be sorely missed this weekend, both on and off the track, fans of the sport were buoyed by the recent news that Force has been discharged from an inpatient neurological unit Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona on Tuesday and will continue outpatient rehab in his home state of California where the next steps will include “outpatient speech and OTPT (occupational and physical therapy) to address lingering short-term memory and cognitive issues” from the crash.

Interestingly, Force still sits fifth overall in the Funny Car standings and — as per NHRA rules — if a substitute driver were to take over Force’s car for the final eight events, Force would be credited with his 17th World Championship if the car ended up at the top of the final points standings. The team will announce the replacement driver (Robert Hight?) early next week, and the car Force’s car is expected to return to action at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN on August 15-17.

A host of drivers will be vying for the victory as the Pro Stock class returns to Sonoma, including reigning champion Erica Enders, six-time Sonoma winner Greg Anderson, points leader Dallas Glenn, Seattle winner Jeg Coughlin Jr., and two-time 2024 winner Aaron Stanfield.

All riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle (PSM) division will be chasing defending world champion Gaige Herrera, who is the 2024 points leader on the strength of six wins in the first seven PSM races. However, Herrera showed he was not invincible after Chase Van Sant ended Herrera’s NHRA-record streak of 11 straight victories and 46 consecutive round-wins with a victory last Sunday in Seattle.

In addition to the four Pro categories, Sonoma will also include close competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League Shootout, Street Legal, and Top the Cops exhibitions throughout the weekend.
After Friday’s first round of qualifying, Todd sits atop the 18-car Funny Car field after a run of 3.904 seconds/327.56 mph, while Billy Torrence holds the top spot with a 3.756/331.45 run in Top Fuel.

Manteca’s Chris Thode is currently qualified in the 13th spot out of 27 entries in the Top Dragster class.

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, July 27 at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 28. This year’s race will again be broadcast on both FOX and FS1, including eliminations coverage starting at 1 p.m. Sunday on FOX.

To purchase tickets to the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, fans can visit www.sonomaraceway.com or call 800.870.7223.