For the first time since 2015, Bob Tasca III will not compete during NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations.

In a stacked 19-car field at the annual NHRA Winternationals at Pomona (Calif.) Dragstrip., Tascas four qualifying efforts proved to not be enough as he was bumped from the field after a top pass of 4.057 ET at 271.13 mph in Q4.

The last time Tasca failed to qualify for an NHRA event was the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at North Carolinas zMAX Dragway 10 years ago.

Blake Alexander also had to wait it out in qualifying as he watched Jason Rupert unable to improve on his run. It allowed Alexander and Chad Green Motorsports to solidify the 16th and final spot in Sundays eliminations.

It was a flip of the script as Tasca was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Arizona Nationals one week ago.

Its hard to believe, Tasca began. Leave Phoenix the No. 1 qualifier, car going up and down the track. Its humbling. This sport is tough. Live by the sword, you die by the sword. Very disappointed in our team not making this round.

But, one thing racing teaches you you never give up and this team will not give up.

Tascas co-crew chief, Aaron Brooks, didnt mince words with the result.

We missed it, Brooks began. Got behind yesterday. Weve been fighting it all weekend. Came off a good weekend a few days ago. No idea.

Prior to eliminations, Tasca sits third in the standings, eight points out of first place.

AUSTIN, Texas Just when it seemed as though Warhorse Ducati/American Racings Alessandro Di Mario was going to dominate the all-new Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul Championship after a crushing victory in Saturday mornings race one, a 14-year-old Australian by the name of Bodie Paige put the skids on that with an equally impressive win in race two.

And the 2025 Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul is off and running, with lots of promise with youngsters battling throughout the field in both races from start to finish.

Di Mario stormed to victory in race one, winning by over nine seconds after leading from start to finish in the eight-lap race. In race two, however, the 16-year-old botched the start and didnt get to fourth place until the pack hit the back straight for the first time. Di Mario started to move forward and slipped into second place with a handful of laps remaining, but he couldnt make a dent in Paiges advantage.

At the finish line, it was CTR/D&D Cycles-backed Paige by 1.3 seconds over Di Mario, with the two leaving Texas and heading to round two at Barber Motorsports Park next weekend tied at the top of the championship point standings with 45 points apiece.

Third place in both races went to a second 14-year-old Australian in the form of Estenson Racings Sam Drane.

Race One Di Mario Domination

Di Mario didnt nail the holeshot in race one, but he led by the time they exited from the first corner. From there, he never put a wheel wrong in storming to a 9.442-second win.

With Di Mario disappearing into the distance, it was Paige emerging from the pack and racing to a rather lonely second place with almost 5.5 seconds over third place.

That spot ultimately fell to Paiges fellow Australian Drane, who was just .169 of a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racings Hank Vossberg.

Drane and Vossberg ended up pulling a gap to what was once a six-rider battle for third, with Jones Hondas Julian Correa besting San Marcos Iron Doors 316 Rossi Motorsports Rossi Garcia by a scant .200 of a second. MP13 Racings Ella Dreher crossed the line in seventh, just .202 of a second behind Garcia.

Envy Powered By Warhorses Derek Sanchez, Chase Black Racings Chase Black, and Ice Barn Racings Solly Mervis rounded out the top 10.

Race Two Paige Flips The Order

Paige led from start to finish in race two on Saturday afternoon, ultimately beating Di Mario by 1.3 seconds to win his first career MotoAmerica race. Judging by his performance and the ability to hold off a charging Di Mario, it wont be Paiges last MotoAmerica victory.

Di Mario missed a little bit on setup for race two and said he had front-end chatter that forced him to run wide in several spots on the track. The defending MotoAmerica SC-Project Twins Cup Champion tried but couldnt match Paige. Next week at Barber, Di Mario will be pulling double duty with both Talent Cup and Twins Cup on his plate.

While Drane had a battle on his hands in race one with Vossberg, the Estenson Racing rider was mostly alone in race two until Di Mario showed up. Once Di Mario made his pass, Drane had a lonely race and finished almost two seconds ahead of Jones Hondas Julian Correa, who improved one spot from his fifth place in race one.

MP13 Racings Dreher showed her mettle in race two, finishing fifth after improving from her seventh-place finish in race one.

Sanchez also improved in race two, moving from eighth to sixth.

Three-time AFT Singles Champion Kody Kopp bounced back from his crash in race one to finish seventh in what was just his first day of road racing. Kopp was in a heated battle throughout, with just .266 of a second covering Sanchez in sixth to Garcia in ninth. King, meanwhile, was also in that pack and finished eighth.

Black rounded out the top 10, dropping a spot from his race-one ninth.

Vossberg, who was a fighting fourth in race one, was knocked out of the battle by a mechanical failure.

PORT ROYAL, Pa. It had been 11 years since Ryan Smith had parked in victory lane at Port Royal Speedway for his first career win.

On Saturday afternoon, he was able to get back there for the second time in his career behind the Kreitz Racing No. 69K and did so in comfortable fashion for the $5,000 payday.

Ricky Peterson Jr. would start alongside Lucas Wolfe to take the opening green flag of the 25-lap A-main event with Peterson getting out in front early. Within the opening lap, Smith would charge from his sixth-place starting spot and take the 3rd spot away from Jeff Halligan while also challenging Wolfe for second.

Smith would catch Peterson over the next four laps and with a good drive into the low side of turn one, Smith would get by Ricky Peterson Jr for the lead and wouldnt look back.

The A-main would remain green for the remainder of the race and Smith would finish with a margin of victory over four seconds.

To be honest with you I didnt know how to get here, joked Smith in victory lane referencing how long its been since he had won at Port Royal Speedway.

Chase Deitz would be the Ramseys Car Wash hard charging coming from the 10th starting spot to finish 2nd and Justin Whittall would round out the podium in third.

Super Late Model

In Penske Racing Shocks super late model competition, Rick Eckert was able to get back to victory lane in back to back weeks at Port Royal Speedway.

Drake Troutman would take the early race lead but after a pair of cautions over the opening three laps of the race, Eckert was able to utilize an outside starting lane on restart to get by both Colton Flinner and Troutman to take the race lead and not look back.

Troutman would run in second for the majority of the race with Flinner close in tow, when contact with a lapped car nearly took the Hyndman, Pa. driver out of contention. The driver of the No. 22* was able to reel the car back under his control and maintain speed and would hold on to finish in third with Flinner able to capitalize and finish in second.

Limited Late Models

For the Zimmerman Truck Repair limited late models, Kyle Hardy would lead from wire to wire and pick up the opening race win of the season for the division.

Lane Snook and Ryan Zook would round out the top three.

Sprint Car Feature Finish (25 Laps)

1. 69K-Ryan Smith[6]; 2. 23-Chase Dietz[10]; 3. 67-Justin Whittall[8]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[9]; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1]; 6. 55-Logan Wagner[11]; 7. 45-Jeff Halligan[4]; 8. 71-Dylan Cisney[5]; 9. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[7]; 10. 2-Gerard McIntyre Jr[17]; 11. 98-Ricky Peterson[2]; 12. 12-Blane Heimbach[20]; 13. 8-Brock Zearfoss[16]; 14. 39M-Anthony Macri[15]; 15. 39-Lynton Jeffrey[3]; 16. 77-Michael Walter[19]; 17. 47K-Kody Lehman[14]; 18. 99-Devin Adams[12]; 19. 1A-Jacob Allen[22]; 20. 35-Austin Bishop[13]; 21. 22-Doug Hammaker[24]; 22. 12D-Lance Dewease[21]; 23. 32B-Brandon Spithaler[23]; 24. 18J-JT Ferry[18]

POMONA, Calif. Defending world champion Austin Prock and his John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman dominated the Funny Car ranks on Saturday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, as Prock powered to the No. 1 qualifier position at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals and Jack Beckman won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge specialty race.

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) qualified No. 1 at the third of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Beckman went 3.831-seconds at 330.72 seconds in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS, defeating Paul Lee in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and claiming his first win in the specialty race.

Paul Lees car is an A-level competitive car and when we went 3.83 in round one, we were feeling pretty spicy and then they go 3.82 and got lane choice, but we knew it didnt matter, Beckman said.

These conditions are A-plus-plus, as good as it gets out there. The issue when the track gets as good as the crew chiefs dont have much data on this. We know what to do when the track gets good, but when the track gets great, you can count on one hand, typically, the number of runs a year you get when the track is phenomenal. In all likelihood, all the runs tomorrow are going to be in those type of conditions.

Prock, who clinched the world title in Pomona last season and set a Funny Car record with 15 No. 1 qualifiers in 2024, went a blistering 3.816-seconds at 338.26 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to take the No. 1 position into raceday for the 20th time in his career. Prock will open eliminations against Blake Alexander as he looks for his first victory of 2025.

Our race car hasnt run bad all year long, its just things havent been really going our way like they did last year, Prock said. Weve been trying to do that all weekend long and just been tickling the thing. Im really proud of how diligent everybodys been working and making progress each run and just getting it A to B.

The boys were high-fiving before we even got in the water box, like they knew, it was either going to be hero or zero, and we ended up on the good end of it. Im really proud of John Force Racing and John Force is so proud right now of the whole team.

Lee is qualified second with a 3.829 at 331.45 and Ron Capps is third after going 3.830 at 328.94.

Top Fuel

In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon kept Kalitta Motorsports rolling and continued his recent dominance as well, beating teammate Doug Kalitta in the final round with a run of 3.662 at a near-record 338.68 in his 11,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Careers dragster. It denied Kalitta a chance at a perfect weekend, but Langdon kept rolling along, capturing his second straight Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory.

Langdon also won the event in Phoenix last weekend as the car continues to perform at an extremely high level. The run in the Challenge final was his best of the weekend and puts him third heading into eliminations, while the speed marked the second-fastest run in Top Fuel history. The points leader will now have a chance to double-up for the second straight race in his red-hot early-season start.

Honestly, its a great feeling to come back from the run and see the smile on Connies [Kalitta] face and see the smiles on the teams faces. All their hard work, everythings paying off, Kalitta said. The cars are running good, which is great. Theyre responding well to what the crew chiefs have been doing.

Its obviously a great feeling when everythings clicking, and the biggest thing now is we got a good, fast, consistent race car. Now its just a matter of maintaining it and trying to see if we can kick off a couple wins along the way and get ready for the Countdown at the end of the year.

Brittany Force earned her first top qualifier of the year on the strength of Fridays 3.646 at 334.82 in her 11,000-horsepower Monster Energy dragster. Shell open eliminations against Steve Chrisman as she looks for her first career Winternationals win. She added a 53rd career No. 1 qualifier to her accomplishments on Saturday, but a victory at her home track and a chance for JFR double-up would make the weekend even better.

Weve had some really strong performance on track, Force said. We earned a No. 1 qualifier. We went 3.64 twice, and then a 3.69 today. We want to turn on four win lights tomorrow. Looking at our ladder, we could have a bye second round, which is awesome for us. I love this place. Its just home for me. I grew up out of here at this racetrack and in the stands. You just have that good feeling coming out here and we want to do well. My whole familys out here, Ive had all my friends this weekend, popping in and out, and its just our home race track, so we want to finish strong.

Kalitta qualified second with a 3.657 at 335.15.

Pro Stock

In Pro Stock, Matt Hartford defeated Greg Anderson in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, going 6.496 at 210.67 in his GETTRX/Total Seal Camaro to get his second win in the specialty race. The first came two years in Pomona as the veteran continued his strong performance at the historic facility. Next up on Hartfords list is an event win, which would be his first since the 2023 campaign.

This is as good a car as Ive ever had. Its hateful, Hartford said. Over the winter, we made a very easy decision to make sure that we continued in our older chassis and to try to reinvent the wheel every run or make changes that we dont know. Lets use facts and work off data.

A win is the next thing for us, but youve got to get through first round and take it one round at a time. When you look at the qualifying sheet, I can promise you of the 16 cars, none of them you want to race first round because theyre all good. The conditions tomorrow are going to be hateful. If you think the runs that youve seen over the last four runs were good, wait until tomorrow. The cars are all going to pick up tomorrow.

Anderson held on to his second No. 1 spot this season, improving to a 6.490 at 210.77 on Saturday in his HendrickCars.com Camaro, handing the defending world champion his 134th career top qualifier. Anderson made two more runs in the 6.40s on Saturday, which could bode well as he seeks his second straight win and his 16th overall at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Running 6.40s seems to be the price of poker out here this weekend, Anderson said. You better run 6.40 or youre probably going to go home. Unfortunately, theres a lot of cars that can do it. I think only two of them didnt today, but theres a lot of them that can do it and youre going to see more of it tomorrow. Im looking forward to it. It should be a hell of a race.

You kind of need to have a lot of luck because theres too many good cars, too many good drivers and too many good race teams. You better not only have a fast race car, but you also better have some luck.

Hartford qualified second with a 6.490 at 210.67 and Deric Kramer is third after going 6.511 at 210.80.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. The speedway that robbed Austin Hill of a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 two years ago gave him a gift on Saturday.

Diving underneath a trio of wrecking cars in the final corner of overtime at Martinsville Speedway, Hill beat perennial bridesmaid Sheldon Creed to the finish line by 0.190 seconds to win Saturdays US Marine Corps 250, giving Richard Childress his 100th win in the series and earning a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the unlikely winner.

The ending of the race couldnt have been more appropriate, given the rash of cautions that peppered green-flag action in the final stage. The ending also left 29th-place finisher Taylor Gray with thoughts of vengeance and 10th-place finisher Sammy Smith with an ostensible target on his back.

After the 14th caution for Matt DiBenedettos spin in Turn 2 sent the race to overtime, Gray lined up behind Smith, the leader, and used his bumper to wrest the top spot from Smithreturning the favor from the previous restart on Lap 249 of 256.

Gray, seeking his first Xfinity Series win, held the lead until Turn 3 of the final lap, when Smith charged into the corner, spun Grays No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and knocked it into the outside wall.

Hill hit the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier from behind, sent him crashing into Smith. Hill sneaked through on the bottom, bringing Creed with him, as Allgaier held on for third. In the surprising victory, Hill led less than a quarter mile before taking the checkered flag.

I chose the bottom because of how rough everybody was on restarts, Hill said of the overtime. I had to do what I had to do on the last lap. On that restart, it just got wild. We were definitely leaning on each other, and getting into (Turn) 3, I knew we were all going to get beating and banging, and I just drove it in as deep as I could.

The all hit each other, and I hit the 7 (Allgaier) a little bit and dumped him off and got on the apron there and came home with the win Man, Im in disbelief that were in Victory Lane right not. Its unbelievable. I actually said at the end of the race that I hated this place because of all the beating and banging that was going onand to top it off, we won a hundred grand!

After 14 cautions for 104 laps, pole winner Connor Zilischs sweep of the first two stages seemed a distant memory. Zilisch, however, didnt figure in the outcome after a series of spins and contact with the outside wall eliminated him from contention.

Gray took the lead for the second time on Lap 183 and held it for 66 circuits and a series of six restarts. But Smith lined up behind the No. 54 Toyota for the restart on Lap 249 and moved Gray for the lead.

Smiths charge into Grays Toyota on the final lap was more egregious.

I feel like we had the best car all day, said Gray, who suffered a similar fate in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series loss to Christian Eckes last year. I cant thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing enough. We brought a really fast Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra.

Just unfortunateits the same story Ive lived here for the past two Martinsville race in a row. It sucks, but it is what it is. Long year.

Smith acknowledged that the last lap maneuver was over the top. He and Gray had a testy exchange after the race.

Im not proud of that, but if the roles were reversed, he would have done the same thing, Smith said. Hes got no respect for me He was flipping me off on the red flag (for a multi-car wreck that caused the 12th caution), swore at me. It was definitely uncalled for.

Im not proud of it, but he would have done the exact same thing. Thats what I told him.

Brennan Poole finished fourth after the melee, joining Hill, Creed and Allgaier as eligible contenders for the next Dash 4 Cash bonus, to be contested April 12 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sam Mayer was fifth, followed by Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye, Ryan Sieg, Kris Wright and Smith.

Zilisch, who finished 28th, led a race-high 100 laps to 87 for Gray. Creed, still seeking his first Xfinity victory, finished second for the 14th time, extending his record number of runner-up results for a non-winner.

Coincidentally, it was contact from Creed that denied Hill a spot in the Championship 4 in the fall race of 2023when both drivers raced for RCR.

In a cosmic sense, the ledger was balanced with Hills win on Saturday.