DENSO Sonoma Nationals results/ Muckleshoot Northwest Nationals preview on WFO Radio

DENSO Sonoma Nationals results/ Muckleshoot Northwest Nationals preview on WFO Radio WFO Radio Podcast · Jul 21, 2026

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Term

diesel particulate filter

A diesel particulate filter is a device that catches the smoky soot that a diesel engine makes. It helps the truck meet emissions rules by keeping that soot from going out into the air.

Term

diesel oxidation catalyst

A diesel oxidation catalyst is an emissions device that helps clean up exhaust. It helps turn some of the harmful gases into less harmful products before they leave the vehicle.

Term

An OEM replacement part is designed to match the original equipment manufacturer’s fitment and function. In practice, that usually means the aftermarket part is built to bolt in and work like the factory component rather than requiring major modifications.

Term

reverse OEM lookup tool

It’s a website tool that helps you find the right replacement part for your specific truck. Instead of guessing, it matches your vehicle to the correct factory part.

Company

FTI

FTI is the company being advertised here. They sell aftermarket parts, and they’re talking about expanding their reach and capabilities.

Term

top fuel funny car

Top Fuel Funny Car is a drag racing category. The cars are built for maximum acceleration, and they use a special body style that’s designed for speed down the track.

Company

McLeod driveline components

McLeod driveline components is another parts company mentioned as working together with FTI. The point is that the partnership expands what they can supply for performance vehicles.

Person

Paul Lee

Paul Lee is a race driver in the Top Fuel Funny Car category. The ad is using his racing connection to suggest the company is serious about performance.

Place

Muckleshoot Casino Resort

This is the resort/casino where the show is being broadcast from. It’s the local event location tied to the Northwest Nationals.

Place

Sonoma

Sonoma is where the host says they were just before coming to Seattle. The transcript doesn’t name the exact track, but it’s part of the event travel route.

Term

SCCA

SCCA is a big U.S. club racing organization. It hosts amateur races where lots of people run cars like the Miata.

Car

Mazda Miatas

The Mazda MX-5, or Miata, is a small two-seat convertible made for fun driving. People also race them in amateur events because they’re relatively easy to drive and set up. The podcast is bringing it up in the context of insurance for Miata owners.

Company

Larisse Motorsports Insurance

Larisse Motorsports Insurance is a company that sells insurance for people who do motorsports. The point is that it’s meant for racers, not just regular car insurance.

Brand

Redline Synthetic Motor Oil

Redline is a company that makes performance motor oil and other fluids for cars. In the episode, they’re being thanked as a sponsor.

Term

water wetter

“Water wetter” is an additive you mix with coolant. People use it to help the engine run cooler, especially when driving hard.

Term

gear oil

Gear oil is the special oil used in places like the transmission and differential. It helps gears stay lubricated and protected under heavy load.

Term

Top Fuel cars

Top Fuel is a drag racing category known for very powerful race cars. When they say top fuel racers use a product, they mean it’s tested in very demanding racing.

Company

HustyPerformance.net

HustyPerformance.net is a website that sells performance and racing parts. In this segment, it’s mentioned as a place to get things like gaskets.

Term

gaskets

Gaskets are thin sealing parts that stop fluids from leaking where two parts meet. Racers talk about them because engines get hot and stressed.

Company

Source in America

Source in America is mentioned as part of the team behind the products being promoted. The host is highlighting that the items are made in the U.S. and are high quality.

Part

torque converters

A torque converter is a fluid coupling used in automatic transmissions to multiply engine torque and transfer it to the drivetrain. In drag racing, the converter’s stall speed and efficiency strongly affect launch consistency and how quickly the car reaches its power band.

Company

Global Emission Systems Incorporated

Global Emissions System Incorporated is presented as a supporter/sponsor and as a company involved with emissions hardware. The host specifically connects it to catalytic converters for trucks and performance applications.

Person

Eric Latino

Eric Latino is named as one of the racers who advanced through the first round of pro stock racing. The host also credits him with getting through while describing a chaotic opening round.

Person

Matt Latino

Matt Latino is named alongside Eric Latino as a racer who advanced through the first round of pro stock. The host frames it as a high-pressure round where “nobody was safe.”

Term

Wholeshot victories

A “wholeshot” is a drag racing term for winning the race by getting the jump at the start—typically meaning you’re first to the finish line in the opening phase of the run. In eliminations, wholeshots can swing momentum because they force the other car to chase traction and timing.

Term

catalytic converter

Catalytic converters are exhaust components that reduce harmful emissions by converting pollutants into less harmful gases. The host specifically mentions them in the context of over-the-road trucks and performance catalytic converters, implying both emissions compliance and flow/performance considerations.

Brand

G-Sport brand

The “G-Sport brand” is presented as a product line focused on emissions-related hardware, tied to catalytic converter solutions. The host’s wording emphasizes keeping the air clean while still supporting performance use cases.

Person

John Oberhofer

John Oberhofer is a Top Fuel crew chief known for race-car setup expertise, particularly around getting the car’s rear-end behavior working correctly. In this segment, other teams credit him with being exceptionally good at setting up the rear end.

Term

gears

Gears are the ratios inside the rear drivetrain that decide how quickly the car accelerates. The right gearing helps the engine keep making strong power instead of bogging down.

Part

rear end housings

The rear end housing is the metal “case” in the back of a rear-wheel-drive car. It holds the gears and differential that send power to the wheels.

Term

rear ends

“Rear ends” is a racing shorthand for the whole gear-and-differential setup in the back of the car. It’s what ultimately controls how power gets to the rear wheels.

Company

Strange

Strange is a company that makes racing rear-end parts—basically the gear/differential hardware in the back of the car. The segment is saying they supply some of the rear-end components used in Top Fuel.

Company

Christman

Christman is mentioned as another company that supplies parts for the rear drivetrain in Top Fuel. The speaker is distinguishing the rear-end housing from the gears inside it.

Term

nitro

“Nitro” usually means nitromethane, the special fuel used in Top Fuel drag racing. It helps these engines make huge power for the race.

Term

supply chain

A supply chain is the whole process of making and getting parts to where they’re needed. The speaker is saying problems in that process can cause racing setbacks.

Person

Greg Stanfield

They’re talking about a specific person named Greg Stanfield. In this part of the show, his name is tied to a nickname they’re using for a car/entry.

Term

KB powered cars

“KB powered cars” means the cars are running a specific kind of performance setup from KB. In drag racing, that kind of setup can change how hard the car pulls off the line.

Term

reaction time

Reaction time is how quickly the driver responds when the race starts. In drag racing, it matters because it can help you get a better launch, but it has to be legal.

Person

Matt Hartford

Matt Hartford is the driver they’re talking about. They mention his reaction time, which is how fast a driver/car responds when the race start signal happens.

Car

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is a high-performance sports car made by Porsche. It’s known for quick acceleration and a distinctive design, including an engine placed toward the back. The podcast is mentioning it in a competitive driving situation.

Term

speed

Here “speed” means how fast the car is going near the end of the run. In some drag races, if two cars take the same time, the one with the higher speed can be favored.

Term

slug fest

“Slug fest” just means a really intense, close fight. Here it’s describing two cars racing each other and trading wins run after run.

Term

spray oil

Spray oil is oil that comes out of a can as a mist. In this context, it’s used to coat the inside of an engine so moisture doesn’t cause rust or other damage when the engine isn’t being used.

Person

Gary Stinnett

Gary Stinnett is the person credited with creating the engine spray. The idea came from him inspecting racing engines and noticing damage from moisture/neglect.

Company

Summit Racing Equipment

Summit Racing Equipment is a store that sells car and racing parts. The host is saying you can buy the spray there.

Brand

Foggett.com

Foggett.com is the website where you can buy the Foggett engine spray directly. The host is listing it as one of the places to get the product.

Term

condensation

Condensation is water that forms when warm and cool conditions cause moisture to collect. If it happens inside an engine, it can lead to rust and damage unless you protect the internals.

Term

friction

In an engine, friction is the resistance to motion between moving parts, like piston rings sliding on cylinder walls. Higher friction increases heat, which can raise wear rates and reduce efficiency (often felt as less horsepower).

Part

piston rings

Piston rings are small metal rings on the piston inside the engine. They help seal the engine so power stays efficient, and if they’re not right, they can rub and cause extra wear.

Term

cylinder walls

Cylinder walls are the inside surfaces of the engine cylinders. The surface quality matters because it affects how smoothly the piston rings move and how quickly parts wear out.

Brand

Total Seal

Total Seal makes piston rings for engines. The idea is that their rings are designed to rub less and wear less, which can help an engine last longer and run more efficiently.

Term

cylinder finish

Cylinder finish is how smooth (and how textured) the inside of the cylinder is at a microscopic level. It matters because it helps the piston rings “bed in” and keeps the engine from wearing out too fast.

Term

break-in oil

Break-in oil is the oil you use right after building or rebuilding an engine. It’s meant to help new parts wear in correctly and seat the piston rings without causing excessive damage.

Term

drag and drive

“Drag-and-drive” means you drive the car to the event, race it like a drag car, and then drive it back afterward. The point is that it has to be fun and fast, but also street-usable and reliable.

Company

NHRA

NHRA is the big organization that runs and promotes drag racing in the U.S. It’s like the governing body for drag strips and events.

Term

points

In motorsports series like drag racing, points are the season-long scoring system used to rank drivers based on their race results. When the host says someone is “up to fourth in points,” it means they’re currently ranked fourth in the overall standings.

Concept

starting line

The starting line is where the race begins for drag racing. Getting off the line well matters a lot because it can decide the outcome before the cars even reach top speed.

Person

Ron Kapps

Ron Kapps is a professional drag racer. Here, they’re talking about how well he’s been doing and how that affects the championship race.

Term

first round

The first round is the earliest elimination race in the event. You race another driver directly, and if you lose you’re out of the next matchups for that event.

Person

Austin Proc.

Austin Proc. is another driver in the same drag racing event. They’re mentioned because he’s the person Ron Kapps races against in the first elimination matchup.

Term

funny cars

Funny car is a type of drag racing. The cars look like modified versions of production models, but they’re built on special race frames and are designed to accelerate as hard as possible for a short distance.

Person

Jared Todd

Jared Todd is a drag racing driver. They’re saying he ran well but got knocked out in a very close race, showing how unpredictable eliminations can be.

Person

Matt Hagan

Matt Hagan is another professional drag racer. They’re saying he won a close head-to-head, which matters a lot for the championship points.

Car

Dodge Challenger

The Dodge Challenger is a muscle car, meaning it’s designed for strong power and fast driving. It’s known for its bold styling and performance-focused feel. The podcast mentions it because there were a lot of them around and it made the event more exciting.

Term

top fuel ranks

Top Fuel is the quickest category of drag racing. A “run” is one straight-line race pass down the track where they measure how fast it goes.

Topic

Sunday in Seattle

“Sunday in Seattle” is the name of a drag racing event in the Seattle area. The host is using it to remind listeners that the racing there has been exciting before.

Term

pro stock

Pro Stock is a drag racing class where cars are based on production models, but they’re heavily modified for racing. They’re built to launch hard and run consistent times.

Place

Pacific Raceways

Pacific Raceways is a well-known drag racing track near Seattle. The hosts are saying it’s a place where big drag racing events happen and the cars can run extremely fast.

LIVE

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It's not cheating, it is the competitive edge.

This is WFO Radio.

Hey, everybody, WFO Radio, we are on the air on location at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort

as we get ready for the Muckleshoot Casino Resort Northwest Nationals.

That's right, I came right from Sonoma, here to Seattle, and it is wild.

We're out here on the West Coast.

You know, I'm an East Coast guy by nature, parents originally from New Jersey, moved

to South Florida, Miami, Fort Lauderdale area, so whenever I come West, it's just totally

different.

It's like being on another planet.

I love it.

The chill in the air, just the difference in everything.

It's just totally a different experience, but when it comes to drag racing, it is the

same.

Passionate drag racing fans.

We're going to do a recap show here from the beautiful digs in the Muckleshoot.

Man, I'm telling you, this place is spectacular.

I love having the Muckleshoot Casino Resort as the event sponsor, because they interweave

all of these different things, elements.

Mini Kiss is going to be playing at the Casino on Saturday night.

We hear what's Mini Kiss.

Look it up.

Just look it up.

We had a great event out there in Sonoma, the Denso Sonoma Nationals, presented by PowerEdge.

All of that is going on.

I've got some on-location interviews that we're going to play and caught up with the

guys in the media center, and Greg Stanfield, and Jordan McGriff, and Doug Colletta.

It was all great, but I asked you to share the show.

Share the show, put it out there, get it out there.

I'm doing it at 10 in the morning.

It's totally different.

It's totally weird.

I'm excited.

We're also going to have Josh Hatchett, the director of communications for the National

Hot Rod Association.

We're going to debrief on the race.

We're going to talk a little bit about it.

It was a triple sellout.

Friday was a packed house.

Saturday was a packed house.

Sunday was a packed house.

I was wondering on Friday, are they going to call this a sellout?

They didn't.

Then Saturday, they called this a sellout.

They didn't.

They must have known something.

They wanted that three-day sellout deal.

On Sunday, the place was mobbed.

I'm like, wonder what's going on.

Just as I was thinking, Galvin gets on the PA and announces the sellout.

It was amazing.

I am going to, as much as I don't like to get sucked into the negativity, I'm okay with

a little negativity every once in a while.

Let's go into the negativity.

The people who are just incensed that this is their ahab with the whale about the sellout.

It's like they just, every seat, oh, look, I see row, queue, seat 27 is unoccupied, not

a sellout.

It's like, so I got a couple of questions for those fine folks later on in the show.

I'll play our interviews.

Of course, I would love for you to share the show.

Let's get it out there.

Josh Hatchett going to do a great job.

We're going to break it down.

The Gettricks pro stock motorcycle pro bike battle, all that.

But first, let's talk a little bit about the people who make it possible.

Guys, right at the start of the show, I want to shout out to the folks at Larisse Motorsports

Insurance.

This is for you racers out there.

If you're a racer, I'm a racer every once in a while.

I'm not a racer.

I got a race car.

But I really don't get to race it.

All the same, it needs to be protected.

It needs to have that shield of protection on it.

Just in case my neighbor wants tree, like falls on the trailer or something, right?

And the folks at Larisse Motorsports Insurance, they do that for you without all the exemptions

and exclusions.

Is it on the lift?

Is there race fuel?

Was it parked in the right place?

Where were you?

All that stuff.

You feel that they're trying to get out of not paying you right from jump with some of

the other companies that I will not mention.

The folks at Larisse, since they are by racers, four racers, now doing road course insurance

as well.

The photograph on the ad is like Miata's in SCCA.

So if that's you or you got some friends, now there's insurance for those fine folks

as well.

Go to Larisse Motorsports Insurance.

Tell them where you heard about it on WFO Radio.

Want to shout out to the folks at Redline Synthetic Motor Oil.

Thank you, Redline.

Been with us for the last year on WFO Radio.

It's been a great year of promoting Redline Synthetic Motor Oil and water wetter and all

their great products.

Again, like gear oil, everything you could want, Redline Synthetic Motor Oil.

But if you don't have a race car and you want to support the show in Redline, you see how

all the top fuel racers, they're supporting out there.

So many top fuel racers using Redline.

Go buy some water wetter or some gear oil for your beamer or whatever you're doing.

They are a great product and they appreciate them greatly.

Also, HustyPerformance.net.

Not everybody's a racer.

Not everybody needs gaskets, but if you are a racer and you need gaskets, these are the

guys.

David Allen and the team, Source in America, Made in America, High Quality, the highest

quality cutting tools possible.

They're shipped to your door usually next day, sometimes same day, quickly is the point

that they're trying to make.

Reach out to HustyPerformance.net.

Their composite gaskets are great and they have contingency programs throughout drag

racing.

So check them out.

HustyPerformance.net.

Shout out to FTI Performance Transmissions and Torque Converters, of course, and Jesse

Converters Global Emissions System Incorporated.

How about Eric Latino and Matt Latino?

Those guys, what a first round of racing and pro stock.

My goodness, it was insanity.

Calvin did such a great job, man.

Jason Calvin made that exciting.

I'm on the starting line like, I didn't even know what to think.

It was just so exciting.

What was going on?

Wholeshot victories.

Nobody was safe.

The top three in points all went down.

And Eric and Matt Latino both got through.

They do catalytic converters for over-the-road trucks or performance catalytic converters

out west here.

You might want to have high performance.

You might want to keep the air that you're breathing clean.

That's what the G-Sport brand is all about.

Thanks to Global Emissions System Incorporated for supporting WFO Radio.

Bernie Speedshop.

Thank you, Bernie.

100,000 square feet up there in Ocala, Florida.

Got the GTO prepped and ready to go to Bernie.

Right before I left, gone for two weeks, and then we'll handle that when we get back.

But they're buying and selling on consignment.

They do street rods and hot rods, and they have exotics.

They sell e-bikes.

They do a lot from the 100,000 square feet up there in Ocala, Florida.

Check them out.

Bernice.com.

Our friends at Frank Halley's Drag Racing School, shout out to the dragster and venture.

Fog it.

You got to have a can of Fog It.

And Marvin Rodax, coffeeandgrills.com.

Best coffee in the world.

Now, I'm drinking, they give us an espresso machine here at the Mucklesuit, which is really

nice.

Then the espresso is right next to me.

Then the espresso pods, these pods, right?

I miss my Rodax.

I do.

Rodax, coffeeandgrills.com, 817-924-6821.

I don't want to welcome a couple of new Patreons.

Hey, guys.

Thank you for joining the VIP listener group.

All I had to do was start talking about the RL Shirt Club and how the RL Shirt Club is

going to be sending out a shirt each month to our Patreon, it's like somebody who wins

one lucky winner and all of a sudden people are starting to join.

That's all right.

That's fine.

You weren't joining before, but now you're joining.

That's fine.

But thank you to everyone who supports our VIP listener club.

All right.

Let's keep on going.

If you're a fan of ProStock, I want to get these interviews, I don't want to say out

of the way, but I want to get, let's see what people say out there first.

Let's hear from the audience.

Blake.

Hi, Blake.

Hi.

Let's see what Cliff says.

Everything about Sonoma was exciting.

Great weekend on NHRA TV.

Yes, truly.

Oh, here it's David Allen.

Right?

He's working right now.

He's talking.

He's on WFO chatting.

David Allen and the team from HustlyPerformance.net.

What's up, David?

Frisky out there.

Good afternoon, everybody back east, of course.

Sonoma was a very successful event.

Yeah.

And yet.

Morning, Joe.

Hope the air is good.

Oregon and Idaho have forest fires, gunkier.

Well, we know about the smoke and everything back east, New York.

I've seen all of that.

But the air has been just beautiful, absolutely beautiful so far.

So I have no complaints and no issues, and I'm just super happy to be here.

The Sonoma event was just so good, top to bottom, so good.

We had Salzi there.

There was one slight mar.

And I'm bummed about it.

Do we want to dwell on negative?

I don't know.

I'll talk about it later.

Do we want to dwell on the negative?

Yeah.

Joe, Brian, Gary, we're attaining Friday night.

All right.

So you bring up Friday night.

All right.

I'll entertain Friday night.

Here we go.

And then we'll get to Greg Stanfield.

After the first ever historic elite motor sports semi-final sweep.

First of all, how is that possible?

Elite motor sports, that's their first ever sweep, really?

I guess so.

Everybody's saying it.

It's shocking.

It's sent us all into the computers to try to figure out when the last time that happened.

Nope, first time ever.

But the Friday night deal, the gear with the gear, the gear.

We're excited all year for this session.

We hyped the session.

Clay Milliken goes out there, breaks a gear.

Bones pretty much called it immediately off the air.

He goes, oh, no, I think it's a gear.

And you could just see on the replay how the engine like bowed up and then snapped.

Just like, you know, the load went away.

And sure enough, we ran out of time.

They explored everything.

They explored running them one at a time down the left hand lane.

It's just a deal.

So here's what I want to say after spending a few days pondering about it.

Everybody knows me.

If you don't know me, pretty much of this, I will choose to try to be positive over choosing

to be negative as best as I can.

Sometimes it's impossible.

And in the minutes afterwards, I was going negative inside.

What a disappointment.

You know, how do you not be a little disappointed?

But then the next day I spent a considerable amount of time going to my resources and asking

questions.

And the first thing I can tell you is this, that, you know, the guys over there, John

Oberhofer and Nicky and Jimmo and Clay, like, that's the last thing they want to do.

You know that.

So it's definitely not willful.

Fine.

So then that leaves a couple of options, you know, is it something in the supply chain?

Is it metallurgy?

Is it the cars are just so powerful now?

So the things that everybody told me are this, and this is what I'm going to say.

And I'm going to stick up that.

And I talked to people across teams.

I did not talk to anyone from Ric Ware Racing.

No, I did.

I talked to Jesse from Ric Ware Racing, but I did not talk to, you know, about it.

And of the other teams that I spoke with, nobody blamed the team.

Nobody blamed the team.

John Oberhofer is a savant with setting up a rear end was what I was told.

I was told about how good he is and how smart he is and now, and the other crew chiefs that

I talked to, maybe there's one that didn't feel this way.

But the ones that I talked to said, no, no, no, it's something else, something else.

And then I was told something along these lines and leave, leave a little room in there,

but that there's two companies that make gears for top fuel cars nowadays, two companies.

Now there's two companies that make the rear ends, strange and Christman, which you know,

that's the rear end housing, but then the actual gear is a different source.

And do you think those companies make a lot of money making gears for top fuel cars?

Probably not.

So we're very lucky that they even entertain that, that they even entertain that.

You know, we always talk about tires and nitro and we need tracks.

We need gears.

And so perhaps something along the supply chain, one of the processes may be dumb luck,

who knows, but you know, put the pitchforks away, please, and we'll go to the next one

and we'll try again.

And you know, you've got the smartest people on this, they don't want this to happen.

That all having been said, it was a great disappointment.

We all felt it.

We all felt sad, but we did have Gary Selze, which the perfect person to make you forget

about a little sadness.

Gary was tremendous.

We had a great time.

If you didn't watch that Friday night session funny car, it was so much fun.

They're mocking me about my hair and, you know, my hair, my hair.

He touched my hair that haven't been said.

Let's go out to the winter circle.

We'll talk a little pro stock elite motorsports shocking day with a big shock at the end.

A surprise.

How did it possibly happen?

If you fans of pro stock, like a walt is out there, right?

Walt, what's up, Walt?

Let's go WFO.

10 p.m. curfew is a track choice.

No restrictions from the county or anywhere.

It is to ingress and egress.

It is a safety issue.

Nothing else said with real authority said with like gusto, Randy.

And I admire that, except that's not what I heard at all.

I heard something different.

Now, I'm not saying you're wrong.

But what I heard was something along the lines of we asked if we could go over

and we were told that the county or city or local government might not like that

and might respond negatively, like maybe we wouldn't be invited back.

So what you said, Randy, with respect to you and your sources,

is in direct conflict with what I heard.

I heard that the local government has a 10 p.m. curfew and if we blew through it,

we would risk the ability to go back.

So what would you do?

You know, what would you do?

That's what I would ask you.

What would you do?

And I think the answer is pretty uncomfortable,

saying the answer is you would do exactly what we did.

Once you, it's the Kobayashi Maru of drag racing.

What do you do?

The answer is you pull the plug and you'd be disappointed for a day.

And then you come back the next day and you feel excited and then Sunday comes around

and you've moved on and that's it.

Guys, there's going to be some disappointments.

There's one way to solve it.

And that's what Greg Stanfield did.

Let's watch Greg Stanfield as I query him about the most amazing thing I've seen.

Most amazing thing, fans of pro stock.

We got a new nickname.

Let's watch Greg Stanfield.

You are looking at the wine goblet in the 70th anniversary.

Wally belonging to this guy, Greg Stanfield.

Congratulations, Greg.

Thank you, Joe.

Huge win.

All right.

So big questions.

I got a lot of questions for you.

But the one that I think is most important right now.

I saw you shotgun a goblet of wine that size 25 minutes ago.

How are you feeling?

That's a grandpa going crazy is what that is.

You took it all.

Total peer pressure.

Okay.

Total peer pressure.

You killed it.

Yeah.

You had Jordan up there.

You had those other guys.

And you know this old guy here.

You just got to do them sometimes.

You showed him what was up.

So that is number one.

I'm going to pay for it later.

You had to run the kid first round.

But we've seen it like you got to get up for a big race first round

and that momentum carries through.

Talk about your day.

Um, the day we got our gift first round.

I don't know what happened staging with Aaron,

but something happened with the tree, the flick of the light,

and both of us were off our game.

That was my mulling of the day.

So past that the whole day turned out really good for us.

A lot of good quality runs at the right time

against the right people.

Take me back to the first round in that we saw

the top three in points all go out.

A lot of upsets, whole shots.

Were you keeping track?

Were you like hearing the craziness?

I was definitely hearing the craziness at the end of the track.

I just didn't understand how bizarre it got.

And it was, you have those days, you know,

where the top guys go out.

And today was a crazy day for all that.

We need that in a chase.

Well, it's up to you guys as possible.

And we're seeing the field all come together in pro stock.

So now, you know, three races till the countdown,

two races to Indy.

We're going up to Seattle.

Give me a little Seattle preview.

And can you keep this momentum going?

I think the team is building.

Obviously we're getting better as a team.

And it may look like KB has backed up a little bit.

And we gained a little bit,

which makes for a good race and good for the fans for sure.

Just happy to be a part of it.

All right, we hear that Aaron has his date

when he's going to test the top fuel car.

What do you think about that?

Um, I think he's crazy,

but that's what he's always wanted to do.

Just so you know, when he was a kid, Joe,

his nickname in the shop was top fuel.

Really?

So, yeah, that was his nickname.

So everybody called him top fuel

when he was young, running around the shop like crazy.

So that's what he's always wanted to do.

And hopefully he gets that opportunity to do that.

Well, congratulations on this win.

Tremendous job.

Back to back.

Yeah.

It's badass.

Thank you, Joe.

Way to go, Greg.

There he goes.

All right.

Are you willing to shotgun this one too?

No.

I'm done.

He's done.

Thank you, Joe.

There you go, guys.

There it is.

Greg Stanfield.

Crazy Grandpa or Grandpa Gone Crazy.

Do with that what you will.

I think Crazy Grandpa,

and there is a Crazy Grandpa gasser out there already,

but I think we, I don't know, Greg,

you might have stepped in it.

I think Crazy Grandpa works.

Crazy Grandpa.

I'm going to use it a couple of times just for fun,

and we'll see if it sticks.

But Elite Motorsports, they brought it.

Driving wise, they got up on the wheel.

There were also some down moments for the KB powered cars.

Matt Hartford had a 70 reaction time.

Jag was 34, certainly beatable,

not like the best race in the world, by any means.

But you're going to have races like that.

I think Greg said it very, very well.

So we'll see.

We'll see what else people have to say.

Joe always on the story.

Hawk Motorsports insists there's no curfew.

It's not what I was told.

That's not what I was told.

And I'm sorry, but when I have to choose inside myself

who I believe, the powers that be that I work with

that were real, like, why else would you think?

I don't know.

I'm going to choose to believe the people that I believe.

So sorry, Wright and Nighthawk.

They would have not asked or fine or many zeros.

Who knows?

Maybe we don't go back.

Who knows?

But again, I don't want to get stuck on that.

Yeah, the source of the curfew is co-pilot on the internet.

Joe, use your influence and encourage the NHRA

to end Friday's Q2 session by 7 p.m.

Sonoma gets cold at night.

Listen, last year you had the best show

that has ever happened in the world.

Britney Forrest running 343.

And some would say it was directly because of that.

And I even said on the broadcast,

this was the cosmos evening it out.

Like, that's how it works.

You got something incredible and amazing one year ago.

And this year, we saw the Jordan Vanagraaff 384.9.

That was pretty exciting.

You got what you paid for.

I think you got a full day of entertainment.

I was not disappointed with the day.

I was disappointed with the end.

And it's just that simple.

But it is what it is.

We build that session up so big.

But all right, let's move into our next category.

Speaking of Jordan Vanagraaff had the most dominant race car

we've seen in a while.

Pretty much won it all.

Start to finish.

Jason Bunker, this guy was looking so confident.

Let's see what Jordan had to say after winning.

A race that he should have won, right?

It's a different situation.

Sometimes you don't know.

Daniel Wilkerson got to the final round.

A lot of people are rooting for Daniel.

I would have loved if Daniel won the race.

That would have been great.

Get him across that threshold.

But Jordan had the best car all weekend and won the race.

Let's see what Jordan has to say about it.

All right, WFO here with our Denzo Sonoma Nationals,

presented by PowerH winner Jordan Vanagraaff.

This is the WFO interview since I'm staying out.

It's going to be a show.

Oh, it is.

Okay, it is.

This is it.

We'll catch up again, of course.

But all right now, second win.

This is very different because you had the dominant race car.

You had the best car and you delivered.

Yeah, it's a weird feeling coming in to Sunday,

having the dominant race car.

I mean, obviously that's the situation you want to be in

coming in.

But it's a weird feeling.

It feels like you have a target on your back.

It's the first time I've experienced it this way.

And I don't think it's going to be the last time

because I'm just going to hand Jason Bunker on my boys,

my Cromo Plexus boys.

They're really good and we are really good.

So it was a new experience today.

But yeah, I think the way I can sum this up

is we handled business, right?

We did what we should have done.

We dominated all weekend and we needed to win this race

to prove that we could dominate Sonoma and we did.

So great, great win.

So happy and very happy to be on WFO radio.

There you go.

This guy is amazing.

Someone called you a walking soundbite earlier.

You didn't hear him when you said,

a sweet is the wine, a sweet is the wine.

All right, the run against Austin.

This is what we all wanted.

We put a poll up on the scoreboard.

The start of the season is kind of unfair

to judge either of you.

But now both cars are coming online

and you're good and he's good.

And this is kind of a meaningful thing.

Like you said, there's many more down the pipe.

But the first one was going to be memorable.

Walk us through that experience.

Yeah, yeah.

It was a lot.

It was something that I'd waited for.

And I know he'd waited for it as well.

And we didn't know how it was going to go.

And we didn't talk about it.

We'd never talked about it.

Him and I never talked about it.

And it was a lot.

I know there was a lot riding on it.

And I'm fortunate to come out on the winning side of things.

But listen, it's the first of many.

And we are going to battle for a long time, I hope.

And I think it's exactly what's for you.

It was a good race.

And I get out and I look at the time slip.

And I see a 91.

I think it was 91-1 to 92-1.

And he had me by a little on the tree.

And it was like 3,000 difference.

And that's exactly the way it should have been.

I didn't want to go out there.

And one car smoked tires or something like that.

I didn't want any of that.

I want to take it at the strike.

And I think I thought about this too after I got my first win

in South Georgia.

And they were still struggling early on.

And they got their win.

I thought to myself, OK, it's a level playing field now.

And if we race each other, that's how I want it.

And I want them to be fine in their stride.

And I want us to be good too, because we

need to race each other at our best.

That's what you saw today.

And it was a 3,000 difference.

Amazing.

All right, let's talk a big picture.

You're going to Seattle.

And what I want to ask you about is

that you're in a bit of a race against yourself, against time.

You've got a championship caliber car.

Crew chief, you're winning races.

You're climbing up the points.

The limiting factor could be you.

But you've got to make the most of it.

This is a great opportunity.

So how do you process that?

Joe, Joe, come on.

That doesn't help me, Joe.

Come on.

That doesn't help the psyche.

It does.

It helps you get through this.

And it's true.

It's, look, I'm a factor of this.

And I know I have the confidence now

that Chris Cunningham, Jason Bunker are going to be very,

very good.

And my guys are going to put together a great race car.

And I think I'm the unknown, right?

I'm the new driver.

And I think I do the best I can.

I've been very consistent.

I do look at things and try to be in some sort of window.

And I've been there all year.

And the key is just how do I keep doing it?

It's my first year, first full year driving.

So it's all new to me, but I'm just

trying to stay level headed and stay in it.

Because if I do my job, I know they're going to do theirs.

So we can be players in this if we all take our part.

All right.

That's enough for now.

We'll get you back on WFO.

OK, enough for now.

We'll do this.

Enough for now.

We'll do this.

But we'll do it again.

We'll do it.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Way to go, Jordan.

Thanks.

There goes Jordan Vanagriff with us on WFO radio.

And what a great first race.

Him and Austin.

What a great first race.

Like they both ran great.

It was very intense.

It was very exciting.

We had to put the poll up on the strange vision.

The fans voted.

That's like a sample of what we've got to come.

But there was going to be one historic first time.

There was going to be one.

And that was it.

And Jordan got the job done and Jordan won.

Now the prock rocket is still coming online.

The prock rocket is still getting better.

And Jimmy told me on the starting line

that they were challenged by a clutch disc situation,

that it's perplexing them.

You saw that interview.

And they're learning some things.

And so it's learning on the fly.

Whereas the Cornwall car is kind of in the industry term

faxed out.

It's a progress.

Chris told us at the start of the season,

we did a great interview with Chris,

that they're going to keep on running it.

Some minor changes.

But Jordan is doing a great job.

And he is a walking soundbite.

He is a different personality.

He got Matty Gordon is bouncing off the walls.

Jordan is a little smooth.

He's silky smooth.

He's looking into the camera.

He's smiling.

And you think the girls are going crazy out there, right?

I don't know.

You'd think they would though.

Let's get the media department.

If only we were going to have someone

from the media department on real soon,

that we could get after them.

Marquis Matchup, Austin Proc, and Ron Capps.

That was great.

I just watched my Meta sunglasses interview.

I'll be releasing that later on.

Really good stuff over the course of the event.

We'll get into it.

But one more interview.

We got one more interview that I want to play.

And that's Doug Coletta runs Jasmine Salinas

in the final round.

And Doug and Sean, again,

that we talked about last week with the whole odds

and everything.

And playing HR odds makers are giving you a gift

whether you choose to take them up on it.

That's up to you.

But in the end, Afflack and the duck

goes through the winter circle.

They were great all weekend.

30 years to the day that Blaine won his final race

at Sonoma.

And Doug going to tell us a little bit about that.

Let's watch Doug Coletta after his media interview

in the media center at Sonoma.

Just like that.

The Diamond Wally with Doug Coletta.

Doug, congratulations.

Huge victory.

It's good, huh?

Nice and silver.

We got this heavy deal on it.

I'm going to actually give this to Alan Johnson.

I didn't realize that they lost Alan.

Blaine three years ago.

On the day.

And so we ended up obviously winning this thing.

And as soon as I hit the trailer,

I'm going to give it to Alan and let him take that baby home.

It'll be a nice addition to his trophy case.

We think about that.

You guys understand what it's like

to lose a family member in the sport of drag racing.

We have to honor that.

But the final round, Jasmine, she was a wild card, right?

All day long.

Winning races took out Sean.

How did you prep for that final?

Yeah, they were running good.

I know the round before we smoked the tires.

We were really trying to run a 73, 74.

So it was really close, according to Brian.

That's what he was mentioned after talking to Alan.

So yeah, I figured if we could run something low like that,

we probably could get around her and land.

So it just fortunately worked out.

But she did a hell of a job driving that thing.

And I'm hoping that those guys will be finished off the year

with the NHRA.

It'll be hopefully good.

Yes, absolutely.

Big speed on that final round run as well.

Flying the flags of the Aflac, duck, Aflac.

You had a lot of people here, though.

And I was around them and overhearing them.

And it looked like a lot of guests

looked like they enjoyed their time here at the NHRA.

What was your experience?

Yeah, I know it was good.

The car looked good.

We had a, I think we had a suite for them.

And you know, we just, it was a great,

they had a great experience with our hospitality.

You know, our friend, our hospitality team,

they do a hell of a job.

Rachel and Luke and Rob, they worked real hard

at putting that deal together for us.

We've run Aflac before.

So we've had a good relationship with those guys.

And yeah, it's one of those deals that,

for what they do,

I mean, they have certainly helped a lot of people.

So that's, it's pretty special for me to know

what they represent and have an opportunity

to fly their colors.

So that was pretty special today.

So we have three races remaining

for the regular season championship, which is nice.

And then of course the U.S. Nationals,

right after Brainer and Seattle.

But you and Sean, like my eyes are on you and Sean.

And today you were able to gain a little ground on Sean.

And for the number one spot, identical ETs,

you want it on speed, you want the diesel on it,

like both cars are just so good.

And it's exciting to watch the two of you,

both Brian and Alan and you and Sean

and the teams like slug fest,

just frame it up for us from your perspective.

Yeah, I have to say it's just one big team effort

with those guys.

I mean, everybody on my car, everybody on their car,

you know, we know what's at stake,

trying to run with those guys

and stay out of them or try to catch them

or whatever you're trying to do on any given day.

So, but I have to say after all those years,

you know, that they work together.

I think Alan is probably super proud

of what Brian has accomplished

and is making happen with the Clut Erick car.

So, and it just makes Alan, you know, that much better

to try to see if, you know, see what else is up his sleeve

to try to stay ahead of those guys.

So it's cool to watch from my perspective.

And yeah, I'm just trying to do the best job I can

and try to, you know, be part of the effort.

So it's so far today worked out nice.

That's cool to think about,

that Alan Johnson is being pushed, right?

By the next generation, he's being pushed.

Yeah, it's something, yeah.

You probably wouldn't want it any other way.

That's awesome.

Doug, congratulations on the win.

Thank you.

There he goes.

Look at that.

Coletta.

Doug Coletta gets it done.

Big win for Doug with heading up to Pacific Raceways.

Three races remaining in the regular season.

And that, you know, big bonus

for the regular season championship.

Maybe they can get up there and get it.

Obviously, it all goes to the same team.

But the bottom line is it's a fight.

It's a fight.

It is going to be great.

All right, we're going to debrief on this race

and more details.

As NHRA's Director of Communications,

Josh Hatchet will be joining us momentarily.

We'll talk about the salat.

We'll talk about whatever is on your minds.

Comments in the comments section, all of that stuff.

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When we come back, you're going to want to share the show,

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When we come back, we're going to speak with Josh Hatchet.

We're going to take a deep dive into the results, the race,

all that stuff.

Maybe he's got some information that I don't that will satiate

some of you folks.

We'll talk about the sellout that was all that coming up after

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All right, let's bring on Josh Hatchet,

NHRA's communication director.

And hopefully, he's got some vital information for us.

Josh, welcome to the show.

How are you?

I'm doing great, Joe.

How are you?

Just enjoying Muckleshoot.

Another great week.

Yeah.

Yeah, let's see.

Let's inspect your room here.

Yeah.

I'll see.

We're prepared.

You weren't prepared for me to inspect your room.

Yeah.

No, that's Muckleshoot, man.

I love this place.

I'm going to do a commercial for the fine folks at Muckleshoot right now.

This place is fantastic for a bunch of reasons.

Number one, it is like a beautiful casino resort.

This is a photograph of one of the nice postcards

that they give us just for staying in here.

The casino is great.

The food is great.

The service is great.

The rooms are beautiful.

The track is like 12 minutes away.

What's left to love?

I mean, it's a great place.

And they've got stuff going on every night after the race.

So it's like a fun place to come out and hang out after the race,

especially Saturday.

Mini kiss, mini kiss.

I told them about mini kiss.

Everybody knows mini kiss is going to be here.

Mini kiss, yes.

One of my most highly anticipated events of the entire season,

if I'm being honest.

But no, this place is awesome.

I love it.

Me too.

I want to get those guys on the starting line, man.

I can't wait.

It's a cool scene.

It just adds to the excitement for the weekend.

Everyone hanging out in the same spot.

And they've got these huge LED screens blasting advertisements

for the race and stuff like that.

It just gets you in a mood.

And again, it makes you feel like this is a big deal, which it is.

It is a big deal.

A big deal in Sonoma as well.

And in the energy, the sport runs on energy.

We had a lot of energy out there.

Let's start out with the sell out.

Sure, Josh.

You work for NHRA.

What did you do, Josh?

Tell me, did you stage up all these people here?

Where'd you go?

Like, tell them, did you give them all free shirt at the Nitro Mall

to go stand?

It's A.I., it's A.I.

It knows.

It's awesome.

The middle scene there is incredible.

The atmosphere there is always electric.

And these people just come out.

Friday night sets the tone and they pack the place.

We didn't get what we wanted Friday night,

but still a great fan base.

So on that note, not to put you in an awkward position,

but there is a bit of a factual disagreement happening.

And maybe you know, or maybe you don't know,

or maybe you know and you can't say, I don't know.

But I heard and was told that there is a 10 p.m. curfew,

and that the track did not want us to go over the curfew.

And I was heard anecdotally that it's as related to their

relationship with the county or city or someone.

I've had several people post in our chat, definitively, man,

they're ready to go to war on this.

They swear they're right.

Or I believe the quote was,

may lightning strike them down if they're wrong.

Something along that I made that up.

But maybe lightning will strike them down if they're wrong.

But what do we know?

Is there a curfew or are these people right?

And there's no curfew.

And it was just our choice to end.

There's 100% a 10 p.m. hard curfew for the race on Friday night.

Yes, 100%.

And it's always been, and I'd ask around,

is that something that's always been in place?

And for at least several, several years,

that has been in place there at 10 p.m.

And it's with the local community.

And it's something that they're not deservedly so.

They shouldn't, they're not willing to risk whatever

the consequences may be by going over.

And it just doesn't make sense to burn that bridge

or disrupt any good relationships

within the community to go past that.

But yes, very, very true, 100% true,

that there's a 10 p.m. curfew Friday night in Sonoma.

And on our end, to get the track back to what it needed to be

and safe and all those things,

it would just wouldn't have been able to run all the cars.

And again, you want to do what's fair for the entire class.

And if you get two pair and then have to end it

because it's 10 o'clock, that really makes sense, probably not.

And there you have it.

Okay, folks, so you're watching WFO.

We got some people who really believe what they think in the chat.

They're telling us one piece of information.

And we have the director of NHRA Communications.

Josh just gave you a very reasonable explanation.

I know what I think.

But I guess it's for everyone to just decide.

And what about those lightning bolts, guys?

The hand up out there.

All right, let's keep going.

The sellout crowd, let's just stay on that.

I hate the way I am.

The world is that there could be 98 really good comments

and I want to know the reason the two negative comments

are what they are, right?

We announced the sellout.

The place was physically packed.

And there are some people that are...

They just can't wrap their mind around it.

That NHRA drag racing is this healthy that we sold out Sonoma.

They mentioned that we moved some seats around.

We added a campground.

Some of the more ingenious marketing strategies that I've seen,

I think they should win awards for what they did.

Removing those bleachers, putting everybody on one side,

creating Thunder Alley, and selling that space as a campground.

It's like reorganizing your furniture in your living room

and you realize, oh my gosh, it's so much better this new way.

Well, and I think a lot of it, they were done for reasons

that have nothing to do with tickets sold.

It's not like these grandstands were removed

because we couldn't sell tickets there.

Or we're worried about filling the place.

And nothing to do with that.

It was more what made the most sense from a successful event standpoint

for us, for Sonoma especially, and for everyone.

And shifting that to track sites, those sold out.

Those like however many spots it was, 30, 40, whatever it was,

right along the track, which is just an incredible view and deal and whatever.

Those were sold out before they were even officially announced last year.

Like those sold out in minutes.

So just from what makes this event really successful, that's part of it.

So moving those people to Thunder Alley

and having that option for people, it all made sense and it made it worth it.

And the place was packed.

And if there's an empty seat here, a row of empty seats, go check the pits.

Go check Thunder Alley.

Go check the concessions there and go check Nitro Mall.

I mean, I think some of that stuff is confusing to me.

You're not going to go to any other sporting event.

And if it's a sell out, every single seat is filled,

every single second of the game or the race or whatever.

I mean, I don't know, I feel like you're just kind of trying to picket things,

nitpicket things that really aren't there.

And instead, the focus should be on just a great weekend

and a great fan base who show up and just have a blast the entire weekend.

You know, these people are into it.

You know, this is just a such a unique and cool fan base.

Like you, from the media center, you can hear them cheering.

And you don't get that everywhere.

Not saying that fans are bad in this area of that.

You know, they just have different ways to watch the race

and appreciate the race and stuff like that.

But these fans are rowdy and wild and loud and super into it

and just super passionate.

And I think that's really honestly what the focus should be.

100%. 100%.

I, you know, like I got, I got this thing.

I want to address, address the two negative comments.

I don't know why I should just ignore them.

But I agree.

Like the people were having so much fun.

The Sonoma people were having so much fun.

I'm sure everybody has fun.

These people were loud and proud and hooting and hollering

and having a beverage and doing shots of tequila.

And it was just, and they hung out.

They hung out late in the going.

Really great stuff.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the racing though.

So Top Fuel will start there.

You just heard Doug.

You heard some guy in the background in the media center

like talking over him.

It was a little hard for you.

That's all right.

That's pretty nice.

I should, that's my fault.

I should have picked a better location.

But you got Doug versus Jasmine.

You got Jasmine versus Leah.

You got Leah versus Maddie.

The matchups, like I'm standing on the stage

with Maddie Gordon and Leah Pruitt.

And I'm thinking to myself, nobody else has this.

No, the Formula One doesn't have this.

NASCAR doesn't have this.

These are two high quality, highly entertained,

unique personalities.

They're going to race each other.

And just every matchup, every round,

as you went closer and closer to that Jasmine, Doug,

final round, we've got all these great personalities

battling it out right now.

Yeah, so many great personalities.

You're right, Joe.

Maddie and Leah was awesome.

Jasmine, they've got a good car.

They've proven that this year and last year.

So hopefully this is a good boost for them

to race more and more because you want full fields

and she's a great personality, great driver to have,

a great team.

The whole scrappers kind of vibe is very cool for the sport.

But I think everything still goes through Doug and Sean.

We definitely are seeing that.

And Doug's right there now.

He's within, I think, four or five rounds

with three races left in the regular season.

Like you said, it all goes back to the same place.

But I think they definitely want that.

Doug wants to be the regular season champ.

Sean wants to be the regular season champ.

There's a lot of mono e mono with Brian and Allen going on

as well, which is pretty awesome to watch and a lot of fun.

It's bringing out the best in both of them.

So it's super cool to see a lot of great storylines.

Antron is running really well now.

He's right back in the mix.

I think he's up to fourth in points.

So he's kind of quietly stuck back up there, which has been great.

And the class has just loaded so many cool personalities.

Tony Stewart, Josh Hart, once they get kind of going around

and Justin Ashley, been a rough season for them so far.

But obviously he's outstanding on the starting line.

But yeah, it's a lot of fun right now on Top Fuel.

And we're gaining a Krista Baldwin this weekend

at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort Northwest Nationals.

Krista has hired a gun.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, it's great.

Yeah, up to 15 cars.

And in Seattle, obviously you want a full field.

But last year, it was kind of just a weird bump

at the road that time of year where we struggled

to get some Top Fuel cars out west.

Funny car was great, but had struggled with some numbers.

Top Fuel, Seattle Sonoma this year, 14 in Sonoma.

That's up for Seattle up to 15.

So up four cars there.

So good improvement there.

Yeah, exactly.

And I hope that we can get Jasmine out there.

She'll be there this weekend.

But I'm really hoping we can get Jasmine out

for as many of these NHRA races.

I watched Monica and Mike on the starting line

as their daughter is walking up to take on Doug Coletta,

the world champ.

And it was really a great moment.

Mike held out his hand and Monica held his hand.

And they were husband and wife, parents to this girl,

watching their baby daughter do what she had dreamed.

And they were feeling the emotions.

And so I'm really hoping Mike and that team

just decide to go all in on this deal

and let Jasmine and the team go earn sponsorship.

You know what I mean?

Through performance.

Earn the sponsorship through performance

as opposed to sit there and wait pushing sponsorship

proposals across people's desks on the maybe

that they will perform.

Like that's not really how it works anymore.

And so I'm hoping what you got,

you got a team that can do it, obviously.

Adam Cave, Todd Okahara, and I think

it will be better if Jasmine could be out there.

And from this point on, they should not miss a race.

They should be at every race and just scrap it out.

They're scrappers, right?

Go find the money.

Make it happen.

It's easy for me to say, of course.

I agree.

And it was super cool to see it happen at Sonoma too,

or home track.

You could see a cool vibe there with her fans

and family and friends there.

So that was neat.

But yeah, it's, I mean, you know,

when she's been out there, they've ran well.

So it's a viable team for sure.

Yeah, hopefully the last nine, 10 races,

they're there for sure.

That'd be awesome.

Exactly, exactly.

And Randy says Salinas is a performing great sponsor,

should be upcoming.

It really should.

They just got to keep seeing her out of sight, out of mind.

And it's like, oh, yeah, the girl from Chasing Speed

that was so interesting and intriguing.

Oh, man, look at her.

She's, she's, she's got, she's emotional.

She's got this whole thing going.

Got to keep her out there.

It's just amazing.

All right, let's talk Funny Car,

where Jordan Vandergrift dominated the weekend.

It was a dominant weekend.

Daniel Wilkerson, Wilkerson win a race so badly.

But on this given weekend, I think the right car won.

It's really hard to win, regardless of whether you have

the best car or not.

But they were dominant from start to finish.

They won the diesel power systems Friday night live,

ran a 384, like first car down the track.

Jordan beats Austin the first time they raced.

Jordan got through Matt Hagen, Jason Rupert.

Just you wonder, at least I wonder, like,

all right, is the, is the kid going to get tripped up?

Hasn't gotten tripped up.

He's delivered.

He definitely has from Q2 on that.

That was definitely the best car on the property by far.

384, quickest run of the year in Funny Car.

And it was interesting listening to Jordan talk throughout

the weekend.

You know, he was up there Friday, Saturday and Sunday

in the media room.

You know, they had struggled.

The team had struggled a little bit, you know,

at least by their standards for a few races before.

And it kind of, you know, messed with him a little bit too.

You know, he had started the year confident as a driver,

lost some of that as the car kind of, you know,

went through its ups and downs after they won in Valdosta.

And they made wholesale changes to the car right after

Norwalk.

And obviously it worked out.

And, you know, that's kind of what you're seeing

with Jordan is just kind of those ebbs and flows of,

you feel like you got the, this thing handled,

and then, you know, it throws you for a loop

and you feel like you can't drive anything.

And then you're feeling confident this weekend.

And just all those ebbs and flows,

especially as a rookie driver in the category,

you know, obviously race in top field,

but first year in funny car.

And these things are a handful and he's finding that out,

but he raced extremely well.

It's a lot of pressure on you as a driver when you're

handed the best car on the property.

You've got to perform.

You've got to keep the thing in the groove.

You've got to leave on time and do all those things.

And he was on point, absolutely.

And that semi-final against Austin was, you know,

would he say popcorn?

I'm not going to say that, but it was awesome.

Get your popcorn ready.

No, he's right.

And that's what I like about him.

I don't know if you were able to see the interview

I did in the media center a couple of moments ago,

because I challenged him a little bit.

Like it's you versus you now.

Like, you know, you got the car and you got the crew

and you could win a world championship.

You could win a world championship.

This car has won a world championship

and you're doing a good job.

And he's like, oh man, you know, you're getting in my head.

But the kid is delivering.

And also a huge point swing.

Ron Kapps, who won the mission foods too fast to Tasty,

goes out first round in the marking matchup

against Austin Proc.

And I think that shows us what could happen in funny car

that there's a minefield out there

and nobody is going to have an easy run to a championship.

No, not at all.

And you're going to see, I mean, I think you're going to see,

you know, drivers get hot for one or two races

and then maybe they get slipped up

because someone else has run great though.

I mean, you're going to see that all year.

You know, Kapps has been great, three wins.

You know, there's no way against this field

you're going to keep that pace.

You know, he wins mission Saturday,

loses first round Sunday.

I mean, that's just what funny car is this year.

You know, Jared Todd's run well

and then he loses on a very close race to Matt Hagan.

I mean, in the first round

and that is a bad points weekend for them and everything.

I think you're just going to have that

just the way these things match up.

And it just, you know, you've got to weather the storm

and, you know, hopefully it doesn't, you know,

if you're struggling,

hopefully it doesn't last more than a race.

You know, hopefully you get right back on track

because that's what it's going to have to be.

You can maybe afford, you know, one or two bad races

but you got to quickly rebound

if you're going to stay in this thing

because there's so many challengers.

It's so exciting that we're getting to crunch time.

We got this weekend, we got Brainerd

and then the U.S. Nationals.

It makes a career.

If you win it once, it makes your career

and so many good cars and interesting personalities

coming online.

D-Rail wants to know if Sonoma is Jordan's hometown.

It's not.

He's claiming a lot of places though.

He's spent a lot of time in California

but then in Georgia and he's all over.

But Sonoma is not in California.

He's a SoCal kid.

Yeah.

SoCal kid but he liked NorCal is what he said.

I like NorCal.

I like NorCal a lot.

I like the weather.

I like that the food, the weather,

so many great things out there just around that race.

One of the best races.

All right, let's talk pro stock where Greg Stanfield

has to run his son first round,

marquee matchup or rematch of the final round.

Bulbs flickering, they both missed it

but Greg got through and then goes through Mason McGay.

Took out number one qualifier, Chris and Vang.

And I think that was the story of pro stock.

I wanna hear your personal experience

when all these like heavy hitters,

number two qualifier, Cody Coughlin goes down.

Dallas Glenn, number seven qualifier goes down.

Cody Anderson, excuse me, I say Cody Coughlin.

Thank you, but he lost Detroit Coughlin.

So that's my reasoning for making that mistake.

Matt Latino beats Greg Anderson.

We had the first ever elite motorsports all semifinal,

just a wild one.

Yeah, and you're watching this

and you know, you maybe do for one or two

of these like crazy things per race.

And then first one happens, I think, you know,

Eric beat Dallas and had a great reaction time.

And then Matt beats, I can't remember the exact order,

but Matt beats Greg and then Cody Anderson loses

and it just like keeps going and going.

And then Mason beats Chris, Vang, number one qualifier,

which bummer for Chris, cause it was cool to see him

like enjoy number one qualifier, you know,

out of the blue and everything.

But, you know, all of a sudden it's like

every single matchup, except for maybe one,

you know, even Aaron and Greg was crazy

with what happened on the starting line.

And Greg in the media center afterwards like, you know,

I got completely lucky there.

I shouldn't have won, Aaron should have won that

and just got lucky and won.

So that was crazy.

So, I mean, you probably had seven crazy matchups

out of the first eight and that just set the tone

for the day.

And, you know, I don't know if you can say, you know,

well, Elite has all four semifinals,

they're definitely back because I think, you know,

Dallas and Greg are still, you know,

probably that far ahead, even Matt Hartford for sure

with the success that he's had this year.

So, I don't know, this was just kind of one

of those wacky convergence of events

where it worked out for Elite,

but obviously they're going to take it as momentum.

You got four semifinalists guaranteed winner.

They're going to try to do that.

And, you know, Greg said in the media center,

it's going to be an all out brawl the rest of the year

is how he feels, you know, so he feels they're close.

So we'll see.

How was his media center interviewed?

Because he was a little loose, you know,

having shot down a couple of goblets of wine,

two outlaw light beers, one at the top.

And, you know, he's a big guy, but he seemed happy.

I'd say not knowing that ahead of time.

I'd say he handled that pretty well

because you wouldn't have known.

I mean, he was, he was good, but not like a guy

that had just done that.

I was like, dang, this guy, well, I couldn't do that.

I couldn't, but then again, I didn't just win a race.

The Get Tricked Pro Stock Motorcycle All Star Callout,

that was, it was fun.

There was some interesting antics in the call out show

where Richard made Matt choose Matt Smith's racing.

And Matt's like, oh, you didn't choose me.

You don't have the courage.

But at the end of the day, though,

it's Richard and Gage and Gage comes out on top

taking home the Get Tricked's bonus check.

And kind of interesting,

have a pro stock motorcycle bonus raise out there alone

without the rest of the category.

Yeah, that was interesting for sure.

Just everything was on the line for them Saturday.

For one, it was good to see Matt Smith back racing.

That was great to see.

Always better when he's out there for sure.

But I think the real takeaway for me was,

you know, time trials, nothing crazy.

And then right off the trailer

in the first round on Saturday,

Gage for air goes in the 60s,

660s, which we hadn't seen in, you know, since in a while.

And then all of a sudden he does it three times in a row.

It's like, oh, is this the Gage from two years ago?

And he kind of hinted like,

this was kind of one of those throwback performances.

And if he's back in the 60s

and making runs like this, it's, it may be tough.

It may be tough.

And I had someone say about three races ago,

they asked me, hey, Joe, you know,

you think Vance and Heinz is sandbagging?

And I'm like, I don't know, you know, I don't know.

And I hadn't thought the thought until yesterday,

maybe, oh, what's that?

And, or Saturday, but we'll just have to wait and see

how it all continues to play out.

The next time we'll see them is Indy,

if I understand correctly, if I can read his schedule.

Any other notes you want to take

before we change directions and talk a little Seattle

as we get ready for this race at a historic facility,

Pacific Raceways, all the stories,

any final thoughts about Sonoma

that you want to put out there,

maybe something that we didn't cover?

No, I don't think so.

You know, obviously, you know, Friday night was a bummer

and I thought it was cool of Clay to kind of speak on that.

A couple of times, certainly, you know,

wasn't Clay's intention or fault or anything like that.

But that was a bummer.

But other than that, I would say like,

this had just one of those great weekends

that you think of of like just the whole flow of the event.

Everything flowed nicely.

Sunday had a great pace to it as well.

So it was easy to kind of watch around one,

go grab something, get right back, watch around two.

You know, I think everything just flowed together

as like an ideal race, great crowd, everything like that.

So I think that was one of those race days

that you hope for and every so often it happens that way.

I agree, I agree completely.

It was tremendous.

And you know, how many great races

have we had now consecutively?

Like Norwalk, Lone said it was one of his favorite races

of all time.

And I posted some clips, guys, and Lones last week

talking about Maddie, Lones talking about the chaos

that's happening in drag racing in some places.

Really good stuff.

Brian really knows how to lay it out.

But Norwalk was great and Bristol,

Bristol, what I remember of Bristol,

I remember it being pretty great, right?

New England, I remember that one being pretty great.

I mean, I don't know, like was it a nine or was it an 8.5?

But it was pretty great.

And I remember Maryland being a blowout success.

Everybody was super excited about Maryland

and Saturday we sold the place out, a big packed house.

So I don't know.

Pretty good pace right now, yeah.

Right, like these races, every one of them,

and sure, you know, maybe we'll stumble this weekend,

who knows, but every one of them are high level entertainment.

High level entertainment, one after the next.

People are getting used to having great drag racing

entertainment on the weekly basis from the NHRA.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's great.

You know, hopefully just keep that momentum going.

You know, I feel confident things will go well.

And in Seattle, it's turned into a great service,

a great track.

What we see last year, you know, Langdon

goes some crazy speed number.

Brittany tops that.

Doug goes three, 64.

I mean, last Sunday or last year, Sunday in Seattle

was pretty epic, you know, that string of top fuel runs.

Pro stock's going in the 640s all weekend.

On Sunday, Dallas, Glenn broke the track record

like three times in one day or something crazy, you know.

So no reason why it can't be another great weekend this weekend.

Super exciting going out to Pacific Raceways.

And I know you've heard the stories,

John Force and all the crazy stuff,

64 funny cars, the things that happen at Pacific Raceways,

Seattle, this place is wild.

It's like another world almost, but they love their drag racing.

So super excited.

Josh, thank you very much for joining us on WFO Radio.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you for taking the time.

Thanks, Joe.

Always a pleasure.

There he goes, Josh Hatchett.

He's the director of communications

for the National Hot Rod Association.

There you go, guys.

All right, let's get your comments in the comment section.

Let's get some comments in the comment section

and we'll wrap this thing up.

I do want to tell you about a couple of the other winners,

though, like Top Dragster winner, Keith Winters,

I think was a first time winner.

Ken Rassloff was not a first time winner.

Join me on the stage.

Doug Sedmak was definitely a first time winner in Super Gas.

Tray Vetter, not a first time winner in Supercom.

I do want to mention Grant, who I believe is Grant Williamson,

who run it up.

Now, I never really have a rooting interest at all

in any race.

And Tray Vetter's a great guy,

and when I'm watching that race, it was really interesting

because this Grant Williamson,

he and his dad approached me years ago,

seven years ago, I don't know,

but it was in the breakfast area at the Sheraton in Pomona.

And something like this,

we're thinking about going junior dragster racing,

what do you recommend?

So since that time, we've had several check-ins with Grant,

and hey, we're junior dragster racing.

Hey, we won a race.

Hey, we're doing really good.

At this race, on Friday, before we really got going,

there was a young man standing in the broadcast booth

above the starting line, way up there.

And he was, you know, I'm looking at him,

and you know how it is with kids,

like they changed so much that the kid you knew

that was down here is now taller than you,

or at least with me, it happens all the time, right?

Is everybody taller than me?

And he's like, hey, Grant, and he's racing in Supercom.

He's at his first national event.

He's running with Tom Bayer Drag Racing School,

and we had a nice talk, and I'm super excited.

Like man, this kid who I've known the whole time

is now involved in drag racing,

and running in Supercom, and running a national event.

Wow.

And so of course, me saying something like,

you know, hey man, maybe we'll talk on Sunday, you know?

Have a good race.

And the kid made it all the way to the final, guys.

He made it all the way to the final.

He was 20 something in the final,

your first final, it's a big moment.

But that's what it is.

That's what it's all about.

So maybe you should do it too.

Really amazing.

It was awesome, just personal story.

Congratulations, Grant, run her up.

Nothing to be ashamed of.

Stock Eliminator, Justin Lamb, Superstock, Jody Lang,

Compleminator, Clint Neff, and those are your final results.

I mentioned the Sean Langdon, Dallas Glen, and Ron Capps,

won the Mission Foods Too Fast Too Tasty challenges.

One of the best races of the year,

sold out just bonkers, bonkers stuff, like in a good way.

Let's see what you guys have to say,

and then we'll get on out of here.

Great show, have fun this weekend.

Awesome.

Thoughts on the tech controversy with this device?

Don't know enough about it to give my thoughts or commentary.

Heard some things, but you know,

not everything makes its way to me instantly.

Some things I get them disseminated

and filtered down a little bit after the fact.

That's what this week is for.

I have the most basic knowledge of the controversy at all.

Like I saw something about it, but not much.

Let's see what else.

Jim Essex, you're right, Jim.

Personally, I think we're spending too much time

about the minority naysayers, and that's what they want, right?

Sad people who are desperate for attention,

and so they say negative things

just to get people to interact with them and say,

no, you're wrong.

And that makes them feel part of civilization,

that people are telling them they're wrong.

I know, Jim, you're so right about it.

Drag racing is a bit different to where there's gonna be

fans back in the pits at all times,

checking everything out,

which is leaving some of the Grand Stamps empty.

There's never a time.

All right, so this is my legal argument to the naysayers.

Jim chose like, why are we talking to these naysayers?

And the first thing Castello does

is talk to the naysayers.

On the Ignition Show last night,

we did an Ignition Show, I attacked.

It was vicious, I felt bad for a minute.

But these people, they have a genuine problem.

They have a problem, there's something wrong with them.

Because in effect, you're accusing people of being liars.

In effect, you're accusing people of being liars

and putting their whole professional reputation

on the line for what?

For what, why?

Why would we do this?

And so this is what my question is.

If people are willing to lie,

then why isn't every race to sell out?

Why are the sellouts sporadic?

Why didn't we sell out Norwalk?

Why didn't we sell out?

If lies are being created to misinform the public for benefit,

why isn't every race to sell out?

Why are we always lying?

Another sell out, another sell out.

Oh man, a great sell out, it's all sell outs.

It all gets the biggest, it's the best,

it's the most beautiful.

Why aren't we just saying that, every race?

Why is it intermittent?

And which ones are the ones

that we choose to make up stories?

Why wouldn't we just do it all the time,

or a lot more often?

And the answer is, there's no logic.

It's just people who have the desire to be contrarian,

to believe everything one person says

and call the other person a liar.

And it's just, I guess they're right

as an American citizen to do whatever they want.

See this weekend, Joe, social media trolls.

Everything's a conspiracy when you don't understand anything.

Am I even real?

This show could be AI guys for years, I was first in.

Great ignition show, Scott liked it.

Joe, what's your favorite race on the NHRA tour?

Wow.

Now, Sonoma is earning a spot at the top, near the top.

I love the Gator Nationals.

The Gator Nationals, I'll always say first,

Indy is incredible.

The finals is amazing, the best, the finals.

The finals is the best, except it can't be the best

because Gainesville is the best,

except it can't be the best because Indy is the best.

Vegas in October is definitely the best.

But what about the Stampede Speed?

That is the best.

So you got all these races that are so just smoothed out now

with things to do and great restaurants

and great places to stay and other things.

The Stampede Speed, it's almost that time of year

where Christy Meyer Johnson is gonna come on the show.

We're gonna learn about the concerts, Stampede Speed.

If you haven't gone to that one, Jigs All Stars,

they're all incredible, Brainerd, it's its own unique thing.

So very difficult to answer that question, Blake, really is.

Norwalk, how is Norwalk not one of the best races

on the tour?

It absolutely is.

They are all great, they are all great.

You've got a series with all these tracks

and every one of them is great, putting on a great race

where the fans are happy and joyful and excited and fun.

And then if somebody's like, you know,

well say to Joe on your favorite thing, right?

Now I'm lucky, I go to these races a lot guys.

And when you go two or three years in a row,

you get an average and you can see it.

Like maybe the one year you went somewhere,

there was a problem, there's no way to know about that.

There's no way to know about that.

But generally speaking, guys, quick reminder,

RL Shirt Club, $26 a month, they send you a shirt.

You don't know what the shirt is, but it's cool

because it's all drag racing art and drag racing history.

Also, really appreciated Brian Lones being on last week.

If you didn't hear that interview, it was great.

Brian really brought it and a lot of deep dives

into the sport.

Life's a drag going to be on tomorrow,

12 noon Eastern time.

I believe they have Jasmine.

They have Jasmine Salinas scheduled to come on the show.

It is going to be awesome.

WFO swag is available, it's been on sale off and on.

We've sent out a bunch of stuff.

If you're a WFO patron and you've received T-shirts

and you're thinking like, oh my gosh,

I didn't order this stuff.

No, you didn't, you didn't order the stuff.

We sent it to you on purpose.

We're trying real hard to make our patrons feel the love

that they have given us over the past couple of years.

And our VIP listener club is growing

and we're coming up with all kinds of different stuff.

And I got a little help in the summertime

to do all the shipping and receiving.

So guys, maybe you want to join Patreon,

patreon.com slash WFO radio and get the VIP show,

you know, the behind the scenes stuff.

All right guys, it's time to go get ready.

I'm going to check out Mount Rainier tomorrow.

I'm going to go to the Mariners game tonight.

I'm checking out Seattle.

I'm going to do the whole thing.

Oh, here's Kara.

I want to tell you about this lady.

Kara Mann is a die hard super fan for John Force.

She loves this man.

She's out at Sonoma every year.

She was in the launch pad, that new VIP area out there

watching the crews get ready.

So great, so great.

Changing the camping spots,

changing the bleachers to camping spots was genius.

Moving everybody to one side of the racetrack was genius.

Opening up Thunder Alley for $20.

You can come down like near where I stand.

Genius, getting rid of that old tower

and creating a VIP area experience.

Genius, the folks at Sonoma really outdid themselves

this week and you know, what can you say?

It was amazing and now we're on to the next.

So if you're in the Pacific Northwest,

I know one more thing.

I want to say congratulations to Troy in Oregon,

Troy Abacromby, who is going to be,

if you watch NHRA TV,

he's going to be our local regional announcer.

This guy got into racing four years ago.

He built the car.

He's one of my WFL listeners and patrons.

He's Troy from The Ignition Show.

He does a bracket podcast now online.

Anyway, he's our local regional announcer this week.

He is coming in as a race winner.

He won a big bracket race, won $4,000 last weekend.

Congratulations Troy in the domestic dispute

because that's what it's all about.

We're all racers and I just, you know,

I wish I could get out to the track.

Troy made it out to the track.

He won the race.

He's coming in.

He's going to school up me and Galvin.

It's going to be great.

All right guys, appreciate you W.

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About this episode

Hosts kick off with sponsor chatter and then broadcast live from the Muckleshoot Casino Resort as they gear up for the Muckleshoot Casino Resort Northwest Nationals, coming straight from Sonoma. They recap the Denso Sonoma Nationals—highlighting a triple sellout, chaotic early-round swings, and dominant performances like Jordan Vanagraaff’s win—while also diving into race-day logistics like a 10 p.m. curfew debate. The show mixes pro stock, Top Fuel, and Funny Car talk with sponsor-driven engine and emissions tech plugs.

Austin Proc. break-in oil catalytic converter Christman condensation cylinder finish cylinder walls diesel oxidation catalyst diesel particulate filter drag and drive

Dodge Challenger Mazda MX-5 / Miata Porsche 911

Original notes

#NHRA #DragRacing #NHRAresults DENSO Sonoma Nationals winners, World Champion Doug Kalitta, Jordan Vandergriff and Greg Stanfield talk about how they brought home The Wally from Sonoma Raceway. Host Joe Castello recaps the results with NHRA 's Director of Communications, Josh Hachat and they look ahead to this week's Muckleshoot Casino Resort Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. 🚨 Don’t miss out! Subscribe to WFO Radio for weekly NHRA updates, driver interviews, and exclusive motorsport content. Hit the bell 🔔 for notifications! MERCH: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/wfo-radio?ref_id=24678 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/WFORadio APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wfo-radio-podcast/id449870843?ls=1 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0oo5mn0E3VmfhRCTHyLQIS

WFO Radio Podcast

Joseph Castello

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