Ron Capps Motorsports Post-Race Recap: Dallas
Texas NHRA FallNationals
Event 18 of 20
Countdown event 4 of 6
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Oct. 16 – 18, 2026
Maddi Gordon Races to Third Top Fuel Final Round at Texas NHRA FallNationals
By: Ron Capps Motorsports (Photos Courtesy Ron Capps Motorsports)
ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 18, 2026) – NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Maddi Gordon continued to impress during the Texas NHRA FallNationals, racing to a runner-up finish on Sunday at the Texas Motorplex. Competing in just her 18th professional event, the driver of the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster advanced to her third career final round, defeating Shawn Reed, Doug Kalitta, and Justin Ashley before facing Antron Brown in the championship round.
Gordon entered the fourth of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship looking to rebound from an early exit at the previous event in St. Louis. While the talented young driver had competed at Texas Motorplex in the Top Alcohol Funny Car category in both 2024 and 2025, this weekend marked her first appearance at the Ennis facility behind the wheel of a 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster.
Gordon and her Ron Capps Motorsports team, led by crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching, turned in a solid qualifying performance. The Carlyle Tools dragster was third-quickest right out of the gate, with Gordon clocking a run of 3.701 seconds at 333.43 mph. Her machine smoked the tires in Q2 and got loose approaching the top end during the third session, but she closed qualifying with another strong run of 3.733 seconds. Her opening-session effort ultimately secured the No. 6 starting position for race day.
On Sunday morning, Gordon lined up opposite No. 11 qualifier Shawn Reed for the first time in eliminations. Gordon was first off the starting line and never trailed, powering her Carlyle Tools machine to a stout 3.715-second pass at 340.08 mph to defeat Reed’s 3.743 at 331.98.
The opening-round victory set up a quarterfinal matchup against two-time world champion Doug Kalitta. Gordon delivered another strong performance, charging down the Texas Motorplex dragstrip in 3.720 seconds at 336.70 mph while Kalitta lost traction near half-track. Facing Justin Ashley in the semifinals, Gordon continued her impressive race-day consistency. She powered to a 3.722-second pass at 335.07 mph as Ashley encountered tire smoke early in the run, sending Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team to the finals.
The showdown featured a rematch of the Norwalk final, where Gordon defeated four-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown to earn her first professional victory in June. This time, Gordon left the starting line too early, drawing a red-light foul and handing Brown the automatic victory.
“We had a great car all weekend long,” Gordon said. “We were consistent, got a bonus point for running third-low of the session. Before every run, I talk to Rob and Troy about what they think the car will run, and every single round, the car ran what they were trying to run, or better. So, we all felt really confident.
“First round, versus Shawn Reed, I had a decent light and it was nice to get that round out of the way, because that’s always the most nerve-wracking. Second round, took out Doug Kalitta, and that was awesome. They’re obviously one of the cars to beat out here so that felt really good. Then made another good run in the semis against Justin Ashley, which makes what happened in the final round all the more devastating. I’m beating myself up and disappointed for sure. These guys work so hard, put their heart and soul into this and they hand it off to me to do my job, and I didn’t do my job, so it’s really disappointing, but I will learn from this, and I will be a better driver because of this.”
Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team will continue their rookie campaign when the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads to the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 30–Nov. 1, for the fifth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship.
Qualified: No. 6 (3.701 E.T. at 333.43 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.715 E.T. at 340.08 MPH defeated Shawn Reed 3.743 E.T. at 331.98 MPH
E2: 3.720 E.T. at 336.70 MPH defeated Doug Kalitta 4.438 E.T. at 185.31 MPH
E3: 3.722 E.T. at 335.07 MPH defeated Justin Ashley 9.567 E.T. at 78.30 MPH
E4: Foul (red light) defeated by Antron Brown 3.706 E.T. at 335.75 MPH
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):
| 1 | Shawn Langdon | 2546 |
| 2 | Doug Kalitta | 2407 |
| 3 | Antron Brown | 2322 |
| 4 | Tony Stewart | 2294 |
| 5 | Leah Pruett | 2281 |
| 6 | Will Smith | 2261 |
| 7 | Maddi Gordon | 2260 |
| 8 | Justin Ashley | 2227 |
| 9 | Billy Torrence | 2198 |
| 10 | Josh Hart | 2197 |
| 11 | Clay Millican | 2151 |
| 12 | Tony Schumacher | 2108 |
Ron Capps Races to Semifinal Finish at Texas NHRA FallNationals
Ron Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team advanced to the semifinals Sunday at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, closing an eventful weekend at the Texas Motorplex just outside of Dallas.
In qualifying, crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli tuned Capps’ 12,000-horsepower machine to a solid pass of 3.922 seconds at 330.11 mph in the first session on Friday afternoon. Tire smoke followed in the second session, leaving Capps in the provisional No. 13 spot.
On Saturday, Capps was on a strong run when, just as he crossed the finish line, the blower exploded, sending his Funny Car body flying off the chassis. The rear tires were airborne for several feet as Capps relied on his 30 years of drag racing experience to keep the car off the guard wall and slow to a controlled stop. Despite the dramatic finish, Capps recorded a 3.899 at 324.61, his best qualifying performance of the event.
The NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team immediately went to work, unloading the backup car within minutes of the incident and preparing for the final qualifying session. Their quick turnaround paid off as Capps returned to the track for Q4, making a solid shakedown pass of 3.965 at 327.44 mph.
Starting from eighth, the three-time Funny Car world champion faced No. 9 qualifier Chad Green, in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. The duo left the starting line within two-thousandths of each other before Green ran into tire smoke while Capps charged ahead to pick up the first-round win.
In the quarterfinals, Capps got a clean launch against Jack Beckman and powered to another strong pass of 3.917 at 332.67 mph while Beckman drove into early tire smoke. It was another close drag race in the semifinals against J.R. Todd, but ultimately, Capps’ 3.933 was not enough to defeat Todd’s 3.912.
“This has always been a game-changing race,” said Capps. “We knew we needed to have a good weekend. We always love to see the Stampede of Speed on our schedule and sure enough, it was another great weekend. We did have a pretty exciting blow-up. It made a lot of highlight reels. But one great thing about having Guido and our NAPA Auto Care team is the way they attack something. They assess it just like they do when you pull your car into your local NAPA Auto Care. I mean, the way they went about seeing what was wrong on the run. The good thing was, we saved the chassis. I was able to keep it off the wall, luckily. But it was another harrowing experience. That’s not how you want to make television, but everything worked out. And I know I brag on social media about how we are the fastest motorsport by far, but we are also the safest. We got it done and got qualified with lane choice in the first round.
“Every round is tough as we get to these end-of-the-year races. We got to the semifinals. Great job by our guys to come back after what we did, put another body on it and go right back up there to make a great run. It just shows why I brag about the NAPA know-how they have. It was a great weekend and it gives us something to build on. We’ve got some confidence going into Vegas.”
Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team will head to the penultimate event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, for the Mopar NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Qualified: No. 8 (3.899 E.T. at 324.61 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.922 E.T. at 330.11 MPH defeated Chad Green 3.976 E.T. at 299.72 MPH
E2: 3.917 E.T. at 332.67 MPH defeated Jack Beckman 10.111 E.T. at 85.17 MPH
E3: 3.933 E.T. at 330.86 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.912 E.T. at 333.01 MPH
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car Point Standings (Unofficial):
| 1 | Matt Hagan | 2503 |
| 2 | Jordan Vandergriff | 2405 |
| 3 | J.R. Todd | 2384 |
| 4 | Austin Prock | 2348 |
| 5 | Jack Beckman | 2443 |
| 6 | Ron Capps | 2315 |
| 7 | Alexis DeJoria | 2276 |
| 8 | Dan Wilkerson | 2207 |
| 9 | Chad Green | 2155 |
| 10 | Spencer Hyde | 2149 |
| 12 | Cruz Pedregon | 2123 |
| 11 | Dave Richards | 2117 |
