Drag Racing Action Online and Elon Werner

Images Geoff Sculley and Mike Gregg

BRADENTON, FL (February 7, 2025) — Stellar conditions and aggressive crew chiefs combined to produce one of the quickest fields across Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock categories in recent memory today at the 2nd annual SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout. Multi-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown ran to the top of a stacked field of eight with a career quickest 3.644 second, 322.11 mph run. Funny Car world champion and defending SCAG PRO Superstar Shootout winner Austin Prock held onto the No. 1 spot with one of the quickest runs in Funny Car history, 3.791 seconds at 331.53 mph. Pro Stock rising star Cory Reed drove his KB Titan Racing powered Chevrolet Camaro to the No. 1 spot in Pro Stock with a career quickest 6.494 second run at 209.62 mph.

Brown waited until the final session to wow the near capacity crowd at Bradenton Motorsports Park with his No. 1 qualifier pass. The three-time world champion knew he needed to drop a big number at the superstar event.

“This is the PRO Shootout. What that means is, everybody’s gonna come here and you 
have nothing to lose,” said Brown. “This is one of those races you come out and you want to show out. When you see other teams running low 3.60s you just want to be part of that gang. You know, this year, the field will be so tight. At the SCAG PRO Superstar Shootout everybody’s going to bring the best out that they got.”

Following the final round of qualifying the eight quickest Top Fuel drivers drew chips to find out who their first-round opponent would be. The unique format is one of the special twists at the PRO Superstar Shootout. Brown and Shawn Reed will square off in the first round. 

Low Qualifier Antron Brown, right, will face Shawn Reed, middle, in R1 on Saturday at Bradenton 

Other key first round matchups will be Doug Kalitta, the provisional No. 1 qualifier against Brittany Force and two of the best drivers off the starting line, Justin Ashley versus Shawn Langdon. The final pair of the quick eight will feature Josh Hart versus NASCAR Hall of Famer turned drag racer Tony Stewart. 

Brown ran to the top spot in his championship winning dragster after he had a tire issue on the third qualifying session. It was the first run on the Top Fuel dragster since it had a significant chassis adjustment over the off-season. 

“This was our car from last year that we won the championship with,” said Brown. (Crew chief) Brian (Corradi) told me if it feels good, just drive it all the way. He wants to see the number come up on the board. I saw the 3.644 come up and I was like, ‘Lord have mercy.’ It gives us a little bit of confidence, because we’ve been trying to get our new combination to go there.”

Defending Funny Car event winner Prock dominated qualifying at the second annual SCAG PRO Superstar Shootout. The reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion had the quickest elapsed time during each of the four qualifying sessions.
 
Handling the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car for his second season, Prock came out of the gates with a 3.816-second pass at 332.84 mph to earn the provisional No. 1 qualifying position on Thursday night. His teammate, Jack Beckman, who was making his first appearance at the specialty pre-season event, followed behind him with a 3.836 at 329.99.

“Man, this thing was trucking down there, and I had my hands full. I got really close to the center line down there,” said Prock, following his final qualifying run. “Really proud of this team. We’ve been working at this for so long, and, you know, it’s been, I think, eight years now, since someone’s run 3.79 in Funny Car. The race cars, limitations and rules were much different then. To get back to that number, it says a lot about this team.”

Prock would keep the momentum during Friday afternoon, laying down a solid 3.882 second run at 326.56 mph during the warmest part of the day followed by a 3.860 at 332.10.


 
The final qualifying session would mix things up in the Funny Car field. Matt Hagan in the American Rebel Dodge Charger SRT would jump from fourth to second after a stout 3.82-second pass at 328.22 mph. Not to be outdone, Prock and his Cornwell Tools team gave the fans a show with their No. 1 qualifier run of 3.791 seconds at 331.84 mph side-by-side with Beckman going 3.825 at 334.32, the top speed of the event so far.
 
In the chip draw, it would be Bob Tasca III, driving the PPG Ford Mustang that broke the 340-mph barrier at last year’s event with a 341.68 mph run, that would matchup with No. 1 qualifier Prock. When all was said and done, Hagan, the No. 2 qualifier, matched with No. 3 qualifier Beckman.

“Everyone on the internet is going to think it was staged, but that’s the funny thing about coincidences, right?,” said Prock “It’s going to be great for the fans. We love racing Bob Tasca. He was one of the drivers that had a winning record against us last year. We know how tough that team is, and we enjoy racing them. “

The Pro Stock class saw nearly half a dozen drivers race into the low 6.50 second range before Reed broke through with an eye-popping 6.494 second run in the final qualifying session under the lights. His teammate Greg Anderson joined him at the top of the field with a 6.498 second run but it was Reed’s night to celebrate his first career No. 1 qualifier as a professional driver.

“It just felt fast,” said Reed, who is entering his second season as a Pro Stock driver after competing in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks. “I didn’t expect it to go 6.49 seconds. We were hoping for sure. I totally thought that (reigning world champion) Greg Anderson was gonna blow me out of the freaking water.”

“It’s a lot of fun, no matter, even the bad runs are fun,” said Reed. “Drifting a Pro Stock car, across the starting line and doing burnouts is cool. Then the chip draw is a little bit of wild card. It doesn’t matter in this class, to be honest, if you don’t go up there and have a 0.30 reaction time or better, you’re probably gonna lose. 

Reed, left, will face Mason McGaha in R1 on Saturday 

“The energy here, it’s awesome,” said Reed. “The people have been great. The fan turnout looks good. I was looking at the stands and it was pretty packed.”

A monster R1 matchup between two of the best with 2024 NHRA World Champ Greg Anderson facing six time champ Erica Enders

Gates will open at 8 a.m. at Bradenton Motorsports Park and the first round of eliminations for the pros will begin at 12:30 p.m. with Pro Stock rookie Matt Latino taking on David Cuadra. For more information visit www.prosuperstarshootout.com.