Network
The 40th NHRA Arizona Nationals was full of big moments. Shawn Langdon scored ins second straight win at the Arizona Nationals. Paul Lee was able to secure his first win behind the wheel of a nitro Funny Car. Greg Anderson won what will probably go down as the most unique final round in NHRA Pro Stock history.
All weekend long the crowds at Firebird Motorsports Park were impressive. The event was actually sold out on Saturday, this was the third straight time this has happened during the NHRA Arizona Nationals. Track officials also announced that a long-term deal has been put in place to keep the track open and the NHRA will be coming to Arizona for years to come.
Photos provided by NHRA/National Dragster
Langdon put together the quickest run of eliminations in the championship round, going 3.724-seconds at 330.39 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Careers dragster to get past Kalitta’s 3.770 at 325.53. It was the second straight final round for Langdon to open 2025, as he defeated Scott Palmer, Justin Ashley and Brittany Force earlier in the day before picking up his 20th career win and first this season.
He’s now made the final round in Phoenix three straight years and enjoyed another stellar weekend at the facility, winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday and following it up with Sunday’s victory, also putting him in the points lead.
“Running [Alan Johnson, crew chief] and Doug in the final, we know what they’re capable of, and the run they made in the semi’s [3.76], and the one we made go only going 3.83, we knew we had to step up, so we kind of threw the kitchen sink at it,” Langdon said. ““(Crew chief) Brian Husen has turned this whole team into a bunch of superstars. All the guys have done such a fantastic job and have made no mistakes.
“Brian said, ‘I’m trying to get this thing build low 3.70s and, I was like, ‘OK, I’ll try to be .050-something Tree and it should be a good race, and it was. It’s kind of neat when everything plan comes together, right?”
Kalitta reached the final round for the 120th time in his standout career, as the No. 1 qualifier defeated Travis Shumake and Jasmine Salinas to reach the championship round.
In Funny Car, Paul Lee became the 96th different Funny Car winner in NHRA history on Sunday with his first career victory, defeating reigning world champion Austin Prock with a run of 4.030 at 313.22 in his 11,000-horsepower McLeod/FTI Performance Dodge Charger SRT. It was a remarkable performance from Lee, who defeated a slew of standouts to earn his first career win in the category.
After qualifying fifth, Lee took down Gainesville winner Chad Green, Blake Alexander and Bob Tasca, running an impressive 3.964 at 319.82 to reach the final round. Prock drove into smoke, while Lee made a clean run en route to the victory. It led to a memorable celebration, as Lee continues to make massive strides in the loaded Funny Car ranks.
“Twenty-one years ago was the last time I won a Wally in Englishtown, N.J., at my home track in Top Alcohol Funny Car and I’ve dreaming of someday standing here with a nitro Funny Car Wally,” Lee said. “I love driving a nitro Funny Cars. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was 13 years old. A lot of people don’t realize this is a lifetime of work, it’s not just overnight.
“It’s a special day. We lost Eric Medlin on this day [in 2007], and we have a team prayer every Sunday, and John [Medlen, Eric’s father] leads us and today, he asked for Eric to watch out for us. You know something, our whole pit was calm all day, we just had a feeling that Eric was watching over us. I know it’s a funny feeling. It was just we were calm all day. Nobody was excited. Everybody did their job. It was a long time coming, but it’s well worth it.”
Prock advanced to the final round for the first time this season and the 21st in his career after defeating Buddy Hull, Matt Hagan and John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman.
In one of the wildest Pro Stock final rounds in recent memory, Greg Anderson picked up his second straight Phoenix win when Dallas Glenn went red in the final round. Anderson, the reigning world champ, barely moved off the starting line as his car had its own trouble, lost power and didn’t even make it to half-track.
But it was still a victory for Anderson in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, as the all-time wins leader in Pro Stock earned his 107th career victory and fourth overall at Firebird Motorsports Park. To reach the final round for the second straight race, Anderson got past Fernando Cuadra Jr., Eric Latino and Aaron Stanfield, setting up the third straight Anderson-Glenn showdown dating back to last year’s NHRA Finals.
This one was easily the strangest, but Anderson will gladly take the win and the points lead after defeating his KB Titan Racing teammate.
“I’m still trying to figure out how the heck I won,” Anderson said. “When you go into a final against Dallas, you know he’s going to be double .00 (reaction time) and you’re just on edge trying to leave the starting line. I saw some sort of flash of light, and I let the clutch out and red-light, but obviously that flash of light was Dallas’s red light coming on first, so he red-lighted before I did under the first or worst.
“My car made it about a foot and it shut right off and now I‘m going to have to sit in front of the grandstands and want to sink underneath the seat, because I just red lighted, and you just threw the race away and I wondered why Dallas didn’t go by me? I reached up and I’m trying to restart the car, and it won’t start. Something went wrong. I don’t know if the ignition blew out on it or what happened, but I red-lighted and somehow Dallas did something worse than I did. So crazy final round, but, like they say, a win is a win.”
Glenn, who won the opener in Gainesville, defeated David Cuadra, Greg Stanfield and No. 1 qualifier Matt Hartford to reach the final round for the 29th time in his career.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action March 27-30 with the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Top Fuel — Shawn Langdon, 3.724 seconds, 330.39 mph def. Doug Kalitta, 3.770 seconds, 325.53 mph.
Funny Car — Paul Lee, Dodge Charger, 4.030, 313.22 def. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 4.507, 240.68.
Pro Stock — Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, Broke def. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, Foul – Red Light.
Competition Eliminator — Jeff Taylor, Spitzer, 6.912, 159.83 def. Paul Mitsos, Chevy Camaro, 21.356, 35.22.
Super Stock — Ryan McClanahan, Chevy Cobalt, 8.284, 161.32 def. Leo Glasbrenner, Chevy Camaro, 9.413, 142.49.
Stock Eliminator — Justin Lamb, Chevy Camaro, 9.618, 135.21 def. Jody Lang, Chevy Malibu Wgn, 12.019, 107.05.
Super Comp — Chad Webber, Dragster, 8.944, 180.91 def. Steve Williams, Dragster, 8.927, 182.62.
Super Gas — Roger Kato, Chevy Camaro, 9.932, 171.60 def. Jerry Denton, Chevy Corvette, 9.826, 157.85.
Top Dragster — Mike Fuqua, Dragster, 7.237, 184.77 def. Mallory Reis, Dragster, 6.495, 203.95.
Pro Modified — Mike Stavrinos, Chevy Camaro, 5.725, 248.43 def. Rickie Smith, Ford Mustang, 5.787, 250.09.
Legends Nitro Funny Car presented by Extreme Steel — Ryan Horan, Chevy Camaro, 4.706, 240.55 def. Bobby Cottrell, Camaro, 4.826, 235.39.
