Top Fuel, Pro Stock Records Shattered Monday At Maple Grove

For those that returned to Maple Grove Raceway on Monday for the conclusion of the rain postponed Auto Plus NHRA Nationals, they certainly got their moneys worth and then some with single and side-by-side performances unlike that ever witnessed in the history of the sport.

During Top Fuel qualifying, points leader Antron Brown reset the national elapsed time record at 3.766 seconds, but had it quickly snatched away in the first round of eliminations on Sunday as Del Worsham powered to a 3.760-second defeat of Shawn Langdon. But just as tuner Alan Johnson has done in the past, the Brian Husen-led team saved its best for last, as Worsham sailed to the quickest pass in drag racing history at 3.735 seconds at 323.81 MPH. The bad news was that opponent Spencer Massey had strapped a holeshot on Worsham and stole the victory with a 3.77, but in a sport where numbers reign supreme, Worsham’s performance won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Putting Worsham’s performance in perspective, it was .017 seconds quicker than Cory McClenathan’s previous all-time best 3.752 set last year in Engishtown, and .023 seconds quicker than the 3.758 Doug Kalitta recorded on his way to the quickest quarter-mile pass ever at 4.420 seconds. The absolutely unreal 2.989 at 286.50 MPH clocking at the eighth-mile also exceeded Gary Scelzi’s infamous 2.99 half-track elapsed time from 1999. Although we’ll never know given all the variables, but this would’ve likely been a sub-4.40 quarter-mile pass.

The factory hot rods – or more appropriately, Jason Line Eliminator – also got in on the back alley assault on the record books, making the quickest pass in Pro Stock history in round one at 6.483 for a new national record. But less than 24 hours later, the second half of the Ken Black team threw the previous record by the wayside with a crushing 6.477 at 212.49 MPH to defeat Erica Enders.. Line concluded his victorious weekend with runs of only 6.482 and 6.484.