NHRA News: Capps, Torrence, Anderson, and Gadson win in Thunder Valley
Steve Torrence, Ron Capps, Greg Anderson, and Richard Gadson scored hard fought victories at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at historic Bristol Dragway.
Three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps became the all-time wins leader at Bristol Dragway on Sunday, snapping a 33-race winless streak by defeating Paul Lee in the final round of the 24th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the eighth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
NHRA Funny Car
Capps made the best run of his weekend in the finals, going 3.957 seconds at 328.06 mph in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra to chase down Lee and win for the eighth time at Bristol Dragway, surpassing Tony Schumacher for the most in track history.
It also gave Capps a huge sigh of relief, snapping a long winless streak. His last victory before Sunday came at Indianapolis in 2023, but the veteran found his groove on Sunday in Thunder Valley, winning at the scenic track for the third time in four years. Capps knocked off Matt Hagan, Epping winner J.R. Todd and Dave Richards to reach the final, turning in a classic performance to get his 77th career win and moving to fourth in points.
“We’re a single-car team, and we can’t lean on other teams, so it’s been a little more difficult,” Capps said. “Even when we were struggling, I never once questioned Guido [crew chief Dean Antonelli]. I just knew we had to get better, and we stuck with the plan.
“I knew we’d have times when we’d struggle, but as an owne,r I’ve watched it and tried to handle it a certain way. This is a grueling track. To win more here more times than John Force says a lot. I’ve known for a long time that I’ll be No. 2 to John Force in everything, but to have eight wins here is awesome. To win so many times at a track that is so demanding on a driver and crew chiefs, it makes you feel like you’ve won a championship.”
Lee reached the final round for the third time this season with wins against Chad Green, Buddy Hull, and Daniel Wilkerson. He’s now second in points, while Austin Prock stayed in the points lead despite a second straight first-round loss.
Top Fuel
In Top Fuel, four-time world champ Steve Torrence also got back in the win column for the first time in nearly a year, taking down Justin Ashley in the finals with a run of 4.022 at 325.37 in his Capco Contractors dragster. Torrence last found the winner’s circle last July in Seattle, struggling down the stretch. It wasn’t a banner start to 2025, either, but Torrence and his team undoubtedly turned the corner on Sunday in Bristol, winning for the second time in Thunder Valley.
To reach the final, Torrence got past Dan Mercier, Clay Millican, and points leader Tony Stewart, defeating Stewart by .002 in a thrilling side-by-side semifinal duel.
After a lengthy rain delay before the final round, both Torrence and Ashley struggled off the starting line. But Torrence quickly recovered, powering down the track to win for the 56th time in his career and giving the Texan plenty of momentum in the process.
Torrence remained seventh in points, but showed on Sunday that his team still has plenty of championship potential.
“First and foremost, this is the week before Father’s Day, and I have two beautiful girls, so that’s really special to me,” Torrence said. “My little girl was born in 2021, and that was kind of the end of our reign, and I didn’t want her to think that I used to be good.
“This was a tough day. The conditions were really tricky and I knew I had to be consistent and do my job. I haven’t won since Seattle. We’re trying to get better and make a better mousetrap, but you stay with girl you brought to the dance. That’s the deal with [crew chief] Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana. That’s a testament to their ability to read the track.”
Ashley reached his third final round this season on the strength of round wins against Antron Brown, Epping winner Brittany Force and Shawn Langdon. Stewart remains in the points lead, 76 points ahead of Langdon.
NHRA Pro Stock
On a historic day, Anderson earned his 1,000th round win in the Pro Stock semifinals and followed with his fourth win of the season, defeating teammate Dallas Glenn in the championship round with a weekend-best run of 6.623 at 205.91 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. Anderson now has 110 career wins and joins John Force as the only drivers in NHRA history to score 1,000 career round wins.
It seemed fitting that the milestone round win total came at the track where Anderson earned his first career Pro Stock victory in 2001, as Thunder Valley continued to be magical for the defending world champion and points leader. His car was the quickest during eliminations as he raced by Kenny Delco, Erica Enders, and David Cuadra to reach the final round. Glenn went red in the final round, but it may not have mattered as Anderson made the quickest round of the weekend en route to the historic win.
He celebrated the 1,000th win in the semifinals, but the victory made it a complete weekend for the veteran and Pro Stock’s all-time wins leader.
“This is pretty magical. I think I could call it a day and ride off into the sunset but I’m having too much damn fun right now. Our team is firing on all eight cylinder,s and it’s been fun,” Anderson said.
“I had no idea, we were [approaching 1,000 rounds]. I had no earthly idea. That’s a crazy number but I don’t think that way. I just think about that race. I don’t plan for the future. I just want to win that race. Getting 1,000 round wins is big but if I had lost the final this would have lost a bit of luster. I guess I’m overachieving because this is beyond anything I could ever imagine. I also love racing in Bristol. Thunder Valley is so much fun.
“This track has a lot of personality. The bottom line is you need challenges. My team seems to love them. The taller the challenge, the more they rise.”
Glenn, who qualified No. 1, reached the finals for the sixth time in seven races in 2025, taking down Fernando Cuadra Jr., Matt Latino and Aaron Stanfield, staying second in points.
Pro Stock Motorcycles
For the first time, Richard Gadson is a winner in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks, defeating teammate Gaige Herrera in the final round, taking the holeshot victory on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki with a run of 6.884 at 196.30. Herrera went a quicker 6.882, but Gadson’s stout .014 reaction time proved to be the difference at the finish line.
Gadson had fallen short in four previous trips to the final round, including this year at the four-wide race in Charlotte, but Sunday in Bristol belonged to the standout second-year rider. He defeated Charles Poskey and Chase Van Sant to reach the final round, holding off Herrera to claim his first victory. He had found success in qualifying and in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and Gadson was thrilled to collect his first Wally.
“The first thing is, I’m exhausted. This has been hands down the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done I always knew I could do it. I really needed to win this for me,” Gadson said.
“I’m just not used to some of the mistakes I’ve made. I had to dig deep and remind myself of what I’m capable of. In some ways, I feel like ‘Mr. Almost.’ I almost win. I almost won the Rookie of the Year, but not today. I just needed to make sure I did everything right on my end. Today, the motorcycle is not an excuse. We have three of them, and they’re all really good.”
Herrera reached the finals for the third time this year, thanks to round wins against Chris Bostick, Angie Smith and No. 1 qualifier Brayden Davis. Herrera also stayed in the points lead.