Rookie Gordon Gains More Experience at NHRA New England Nationals

Maddi Gordon experienced another first in her Top Fuel rookie campaign Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway, where the Ron Capps Motorsports driver had to pedal her Carlyle Tools dragster for the first time in competition during a second-round loss to Leah Pruett. Competing in the eighth of 20 races on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule, Gordon continued to gain critical race-day experience while maintaining her No. 6 position in the Top Fuel points standings.

Gordon went into New England Nationals qualifying with increased OKUMA branding on her Carlyle Tools dragster as part of a six-race collaboration with the newly announced official CNC machining partner of Ron Capps Motorsports. She lost traction early in her first qualifying attempt before going straight down the groove with a 3.808-second pass at 330.55 mph in the second session to move up four spots to ninth. A smooth 3.828 E.T. at 332.75 mph followed in the third session. Gordon closed out qualifying in the No. 10 spot after coasting to the finish line in the final session.

In the first round of eliminations on Sunday morning, Gordon paired up with 2025 regular season champion Tony Stewart. Crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching sent Gordon on a weekend-best 3.753-second blast at 337.50 mph to defeat a tire-smoking Stewart. It was the second-quickest pass of the round, giving Gordon lane choice for her second-round match with Leah Pruett. Gordon stepped up on the starting line to lead the race out of the gate. Both drivers drove into tire smoke, and though Gordon pedaled the throttle, Pruett recovered quicker and took the win.

“That first-round run was amazing – we’ve been looking for that mid-3.70 for multiple races, so that was huge,” Gordon said. “Second round against Leah, I had a great reaction time, so I’m super happy about that. But it was my first-ever time pedaling the car and I waited a little bit too long to pedal it. Didn’t blow it up, so that was great. But these next couple of days I will go back and watch NHRA.tv 100 times, visualize it, look at what the graphs tells us, and I think I’ll come back in Bristol and be a better driver. I always want to do perfect, so when I don’t do perfect, I get bummed at myself. But there’s a positive in everything. I had a good light and we’ll head into next weekend with a good-running race car.”

Gordon won’t have to wait long to get back into her Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, as the NHRA Mission Foods Series season continues June 12-14 at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.

Start / Finish: No. 10 / def. in quarterfinals
Points Standing / Total: No. 6 / 447 pts. (-381)

Next Race: June 12-14, NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, Tenn.
How to Watch or Listen: FS1, NHRA.TV

NAPA Racing:@NAPARacing
Maddi Gordon: @MaddiGordon_TF
Ron Capps Motorsports: @TeamRonCapps