Finish of Pep Boys Nationals Postponed to Monday at Maple Grove Raceway

READING, PA – September 17, 2023 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Due to inclement weather, the semifinals and finals of Sunday’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals have been postponed to Monday at Maple Grove Raceway.

Action will begin at 10 a.m. ET with the completion of the semifinals in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, starting with the remaining Top Fuel semifinal between Steve Torrence and Tony Schumacher. Finals in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will also take place on Monday. The race will be broadcast at 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).

Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta is the lone driver who has advanced to the final round of the first race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, putting together a string of runs in the 3.60s, including a pass of 3.684-seconds at 332.84 mph to get a holeshot win over Leah Pruett in the semifinals. If Kalitta wins in the final round, the veteran would pick up his 50th career victory. He’ll take on the winner of Schumacher and Torrence, who will meet in the other semifinal and will kick off raceday on Monday.

“We’ve been playing the rain game here – we were really hoping we could get it in because the Mac Tools car’s running well in these conditions, and everyone’s in sync here,” Kalitta said. “The competition is tough – it seems like everybody’s running well, but so are we. We’re very fortunate to have (co-crew chiefs Alan Johnson and Brian Husen) Alan, Brian and all these guys behind me in this thing. We’re all super hungry and hoping to do some good in the final. We have a great group here, and it would be really nice to get it done tomorrow.”

Funny Car’s Bob Tasca III advanced to the semifinals in the opening playoff race, going 3.867 at 334.40 in a second-round win against Alexis DeJoria. He’ll take on Chad Green, who picked up wins against Terry Haddock and Tim Wilkerson. The other semifinal is a titanic matchup featuring the points leader and back-to-back world champ Ron Capps and Robert Hight. Capps knocked off John Force in the second round, while Hight put on a show in a thriller against Matt Hagan in the second round. Hight went 3.852 at 326.40 to slip past Hagan’s 3.8589 at 335.48 by a mere .0001.

Pro Stock’s Erica Enders, the No. 1 qualifier, made the quickest run in each of the first two rounds, including a strong 6.497 at 210.83 in the opening round, and will face off with Matt Hartford in the semifinals. With Dallas Glenn falling in the first round, Enders, Hartford or Troy Coughlin Jr. can leave with the points lead on Monday. Coughlin will take on Kyle Koretsky in the other semifinal round.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Jianna Evaristo advanced to the semifinals, posting a major upset in the second round against points leader Gaige Herrera. After setting both ends of the track record this weekend, Herrera ran into trouble in the quarterfinals, as Evaristo went 6.894 at 196.44 to pick up the victory. She’ll take on teammate and defending world champ Matt Smith in the semifinals. In the other semifinal matchup, Hector Arana Jr., who entered the weekend third in points, will race Chip Ellis.

Tickets will be available for purchase at the gate, and children 12 and under will be admitted free.

About Camping World Holdings, Inc.

Camping World Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, (together with its subsidiaries) is the World’s largest retailer of RVs and related products and services. Our vision is to build a long-term legacy business that makes RVing fun and easy. Our Camping World and Good Sam brands have been serving RV consumers since 1966. We strive to build long-term value for our customers, employees, and shareholders by combining a unique and comprehensive assortment of RV products and services with a national network of RV dealerships, service centers and customer support centers along with the industry’s most extensive online presence and a highly trained and knowledgeable team of employees serving our customers, the RV lifestyle, and the communities in which we operate. We also believe that our Good Sam organization and family of programs and services uniquely enable us to connect with our customers as stewards of the RV enthusiast community and the RV lifestyle. With RV sales and service locations in 43 states, Camping World has grown to become the prime destination for everything RV. For more information, visit www.CampingWorld.com.

About NHRA

Headquartered in San Dimas, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 21 national events featuring the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports, Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown™ and Top Fuel Harley Series. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 120 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Source: National Hot Rod Association

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