KALITTA, TODD, ANDERSON & GADSON WIN MISSION #2FAST2TASTY CHALLENGE AT INDY

Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the fifth time this season – NHRA Photo

Force, Beckman, Anderson and Herrera remain No. 1 qualifiers at Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals

Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the fifth time this season on Saturday at a packed Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis Raceway Park, defeating Clay Millican in the final round of the specialty race as part of this weekend’s prestigious Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.

J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Anderson and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) remained the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 14th of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Selections were also made for the first round of Sunday’s PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout. No. 1 seed Austin Prock selected Cruz Pedregon, while Beckman picked Bob Tasca III. Ron Capps chose Daniel Wilkerson, leaving Matt Hagan and J.R. Todd as the other matchup.

Kalitta’s dominance continued in the bonus race, running a Saturday-best 3.730-seconds at 332.92 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster to power past Millican in the finals. The former world champion had already clinched the season crown in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge entering the weekend, but Kalitta added a little icing on the cake with Saturday’s triumph.

Between Kalitta and teammate Shawn Langdon, the duo won 10 of the 13 bonus races in 2025, an impressive performance in the regular-season specialty race capped off by Kalitta’s dominant win on Saturday.

“That was really cool, especially down at the end. Mr. [Juan] Gonzalez [of Mission Foods] was down there, so that was very cool,” Kalitta said. “We definitely appreciate what Mission Foods does for the NHRA, and the cool part is being able to race before race day and it’s good for the drivers too, to have an opportunity to race.

“It didn’t seem like a lot of cars were getting down the track, and I was thinking, ‘If anybody can get my car down the track, it’s Alan [Johnson] and Mac [Savage] and all these Mac Tools/Toyota guys on my car.’ It went straight down through there, so I was very, very happy to see that.”

Force’s blast of 3.666 at a track-record 339.79 from Friday easily held up in her 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Quality Tools dragster, as the two-time champion stayed in line to earn her fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 56th in her career. Jordan Vandergriff stayed in second with his 3.683 at 333.33 and T.J. Zizzo remains third thanks to his 3.695 at 333.08.

In Funny Car, J.R. Todd made it a Kalitta Motorsports sweep for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday, defeating Austin Prock in a wild final round when the points leader and reigning world champion went red.

That handed the victory to Todd, who earned his second specialty race win of the year in his 12,000-horsepower DHL Toyota GR Supra. It’s also the second straight bonus race win at Indy for Todd, who can make it a historic weekend with a Callout victory tomorrow and a U.S. Nationals win on Monday.

Todd defeated Jack Beckman earlier in the day with a strong run and will now get focused on trying to take down Hagan in the opening round of the Callout on Sunday.

“I heard him go, and I was about to go at the same time, and caught myself, and then thought, ‘I think he red-lit, and saw my win light come on,” Todd said. “We’re definitely having some luck on our side, racing two JFR cars and neither of them make it to the finish under power. That’s pretty wild. I wish this was Monday and this happened.

“It’s our goal to win three races in one week, so that was a step one. Dickie [Venables, crew chief] said he was just trying to find the limit, and I like his approach, being aggressive. He wants to be aggressive, and the car is responding to the changes he’s making.”

Matt Hagan finished the regular season as the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge winner, earning 16 bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship.

Beckman stayed at the top in his “Brute Force” tribute car thanks to Friday’s 3.865 at 332.26 in his 12,000-horsepower Peak Chevrolet SS. He is looking for his fifth No. 1 qualifier this season. Ron Capps is second thanks to a run of 3.877 at 331.69 and Alexis DeJoria stayed third after going 3.891 at 329.02.

Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson enjoyed a stellar Saturday, winning his second straight Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and taking the overall specialty race championship in the process, defeating Erica Enders in the final round with a run of 6.523 at 210.14 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.

He stayed as the No. 1 qualifier thanks to Friday’s track-record run of 6.491 at 210.44 and followed it up with a pair of spectacular runs on Saturday. The victory over Enders gave him the overall Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge crown by one point over Matt Hartford. Next up is trying to wrap up the regular-season championship and picking up a U.S. Nationals victory on Monday.

“Obviously, the drag race with my old nemesis, they’re certainly knocking on the door again,” Anderson said. “They’re capable of winning again and hopefully that drives me even harder to try and do something special. It turned out right for me at that time. We’ll see what happens on Monday, but after today, I’m pretty damn happy.

“As I said last night, my plan coming in here was to try and have a perfect weekend for the Black family, for Judy and Kent Black. And so far, we’re right on schedule. I’m doing all I can to try and lighten her heart a little bit and give her something to smile at this weekend.”

Glenn is second with a 6.523 at 209.59 and Erica Enders is third after going 6.528 at 211.26.

Richard Gadson got the best of Matt Smith in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Pro Stock Motorcycle, going an impressive 6.744 at 201.01 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

It’s his second victory in the specialty race and sent the young standout to second in qualifying . Gadson was thrilled with the opportunity to take on Smith after a disappointing loss to him in the Callout in Sonoma.

“This was my first shot at him [Smith] since Sonoma, so I wanted to win that a little bit more than normal. I knew he’d probably do something at the start line. I didn’t know what it was going to be. I didn’t care what he did, so this one that one was all business,” Herrera said.

“It’s always a pleasure to race Matt. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. We have a lot of back-and-forth banter, but he’s not a six-time champ for no reason. You’ve got to kind of savor it because it can go the other way at any moment.”

Gaige Herrera stayed No. 1 with Friday’s run of 6.739 at 200.98, while Brayden Davis is third with a 6.762 at 199.64.

Qualifying continues at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.