The 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals mark the final race of spring for the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and the third of back-to-back-to-back events quickly becoming known as the Eastern Swing. Bristol Dragway is rich with history — specifically for Pro Stock — and as the ninth race of 20 on the schedule comes into view, there’s no time like the present to dig into a few observational and statistical notes.
BRISTOL MARKS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREG ANDERSON’S FIRST WIN
In 2001, six-time world champ Greg Anderson claimed the very first win of his career at Bristol Dragway with a final-round defeat of two-time champion Jim Yates. Last season, the most winning driver in the history of NHRA Pro Stock won the race in Bristol, and in doing so became only the second professional driver in NHRA history to log more than 1,000 round wins; Anderson’s win over Dallas Glenn in the 2025 final pushed him right up to 1,001. In all, Anderson has three Bristol victories (2001, 2004, 2025) and enters the race in the hunt for Pro Stock trophy No. 115. The gravity of winning an NHRA 75th anniversary Diamond Wally on the silver anniversary of your first is a dizzying prospect, but Bristol has held magic for Anderson before.
DOUBLE A IS GOING FOR DOUBLE DIAMONDS
It was announced this week that Aaron Stanfield would be spinning a plethora of plates in Bristol – a proven method for success for a driver who has regularly raced two categories at national events. This weekend and going forward for 2026, in addition to piloting his Janac Brothers Racing Pro Stocker for Elite Motorsports, the youngest Stanfield in Pro Stock will also be driving the ProFlow Pumping Solutions/Modern Racing/Elite Motorsports Pro Mod entry. Stanfield has won Bristol four times – twice in Top Dragster (2017 and 2018), and then back-to-back in 2022 and 2023 with wins in Pro Stock and the Factory Stock Showdown. Stanfield has doubled twice in his career at a national event – the first time was in 2020 with in Pro Stock and Factory Stock at Houston, the second time was in 2024 at the U.S. Nationals with trophies earned in Pro Stock and Factory X. After winning the World Series of Pro Mod in his first outing earlier this year and then winning Pro Stock in Chicago, it is fair to say that he has a reasonable shot at bringing home a pair of those commemorative Diamond Wallys.
REIGNING WORLD CHAMPION DALLAS GLENN STILL LEADS
Sportsman racer-turned-Pro Stock world champion Dallas Glenn has had the points lead at every race but one since the Northwest Nationals at his home track in Seattle last year. North Carolina transplant Glenn leads the Pro Stock points over KB Titan teammate Greg Anderson by 39 points heading into Bristol, and the wild thing has been watching that gap narrow and grow, narrow and grow as Anderson has been making up points in qualifying as one of the quickest in many sessions (those baby points of +3 for quickest, +2 for second, and +1 for third sure add up). Anderson has been the No. 1 qualifier five times in 2026 and has two wins in four final rounds. Glenn hasn’t been No. 1 since going back-to-back with low qualifiers to start the 2025 Countdown to the Championship on a powerful note, but with three wins in five finals so far this year, he’s made raceday count. That being said, both Greg Stanfield and Matt Hartford have been making quite a racket in their heated pursuit of the two at the top. Veteran racer Stanfield was the No. 1 qualifier in Maryland with an Elite-powered entry that also set top speed of the meet at the Winternationals. He’s No. 3 in the points, and Hartford – the guy who opened the season with a win and is the only one other than Glenn to have held the points lead – is fourth. Tuner/driver Hartford, with class mainstay Eddie Guarnaccia in the role of crew chief, has taken a KB Titan bullet to the final three times this season and thus far scored two of those glimmering 75th anniversary Diamond Wallys. Glenn was No. 1 qualifier and runner-up in Bristol last season.
IS THE 50TH STING OF THE QUeeN BEE COMING?
A few have come and gone, but there is one woman currently standing in NHRA Pro Stock, and she’s been after a milestone since her win at last season’s U.S. Nationals. Erica Enders has not hitched her wagon to the star of becoming one of the best female drivers, but rather has established herself as one of the most competitive racers in Pro Stock, male or female. She’s sixth in victories for the class with 49, trailing Greg Anderson (114), Warren Johnson (97), Bob Glidden (85), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (69), and Jason Line (51). Behind her on the top 10 list of most winning in Pro Stock are some big names: Kurt Johnson and Mike Edwards (each with 40), Darrell Alderman (28), and Allen Johnson (27). Enders is No. 25 on the list of all-time winners in all categories with 50 total, including her 2004 Super Gas win at Houston Raceway Park, but that eventual 50th Pro Stock trophy will not only mark a milestone — it will be the sting her competition has been anticipating as they’ve noted her recent gain of steam. Enders was No. 1 in Chicago – where her Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield won the event – and was a top-half qualifier last weekend in Epping. Competing in her 398th Pro Stock race this weekend, she will be seeking a fourth Bristol win.
REACHING FOR MORE WITH FOUR
This note must be started by saying that three-time Funny Car champion Ron Capps is the most winning NHRA driver in Bristol Dragway history with eight trophies earned at the national event (he’s being inducted as a Legend of Thunder Valley this weekend). Top Fuel’s Tony Schumacher, also a Legend of Thunder Valley, has seven. The most winning driver in Bristol’s NHRA Pro Stock history is Mike Edwards, and his four wins are ahead of a trio of current racers currently tied at three: Greg Anderson, Erica Enders, and Jeg Coughlin Jr. HOWEVER… Coughlin actually won Pro Stock at Bristol in 1999 over brother Troy, but it was in the Winston No-Bull Showdown and therefore is not tallied as a national event win. Troy Sr. won the Winston Showdown over Mark Pawuk – the two-time and reigning Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown world champion – in 2000 (he also won Pro Mod there in 2017).
THE QUICK AND THE FAST
Shane Tucker. Have you seen him? Probably not, because that guy is fuh-lying by as he makes his way down the quarter-mile in his Rob Tucker Racing Volando Tequila Pro Stocker. He notched top speed of the event at the first two of three races on the Eastern Swing with a 213.06 mph pass in Maryland (the fastest of all in 2026) and a 211.76 jaunt in Epping. Bristol’s track record for speed is 209.26 set by Bo Butner in 2016, and it will be interesting to see if Tucker can break it and/or make it a trifecta of speed for this three-race block. In addition to Tucker and, as previously mentioned, Matt Hartford (twice), others to claim top speed at events this year are Chris McGaha (come back!), Greg Stanfield, Greg Anderson, and Matt Latino. Low e.t. has belonged to Cody Coughlin, Greg Anderson (six races), and Erica Enders. Low elapsed time of the season was Anderson’s 6.464 in Maryland to start the Swing. The Bristol Dragway record for e.t. was set by Anderson in 2022 at 6.613.
_______________
The 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals will begin with Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series qualifying and time trials at 11a.m. ET on Friday, June 12th. Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Friday, with a 7:30 session closing out the evening. Saturday’s action is slated to begin with Sportsman eliminations at 9:30 a.m., followed by Pro qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at 12:30 and 3:00 p.m. Sunday eliminations are scheduled for noon at Bristol Dragway.
The #NHRAonFOX broadcast for the event is scheduled to air on FS1 (all times Eastern).
Qualifying: Friday, 8-9:30 p.m., and Sunday, 2-3 p.m. ET. Eliminations: Sunday 3-6 p.m.
Subscribers can watch live on NHRA.tv
The majority of these photos were provided by Auto Imagery. You can find images like these (and over a million more!) for viewing and purchase at AutoImagery.com
_______________
If you find an error in this story or have anything to add, please contact WinLight News editor Kelly Wade: kelly@winlightnews.com. Thanks for reading!
Leave a Reply