NHRA Norwalk notes: Maddi Gordon makes early impact in Top Fuel

NORWALK —Maddi Gordon has drag racing in her DNA. The NHRA Top Fuel driver and Rookie of the Year candidate has been entertaining crowds of racing fans around the country this season because of her energetic personality and standout round wins over veteran racers like Tony Stewart and Shawn Langdon, just to name a few. But this success has been years of work in the making, even before Gordon arrived in the world. "I'm pretty sure that my blood is full of oil and fuel," Gordon said with her trademark smile prior to making her qualifying runs at the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk. "I think that's pretty much what runs through my body, but I mean quite literally, I went to my first race at eight days old. When my mom was pregnant with me, she went to the races, and she'd be on the starting line with me in her belly. She asked the doctor, 'Is this healthy?' And he said, "Actually, it is because when she comes out and she's here, she's going to be used to it, which I was." Gordon was at the track so early in life because racing is a family affair. Gordon's father, Doug, is a three-time NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion, and her grandfather, Mike, won multiple regional events and one Jegs All-Star Race. Gordon also won a Top Alcohol race before it was announced that she would be joining Ron Capps Motorsports as a Top Fuel driver in 2026, which made her a third generation drag racing winner. "I always wanted to drive," Gordon said. "That was never a question in my mind. You know those time capsules you do in school where it's like, 'Next year, I want to play volleyball or whatever.' I remember I wrote a time capsule when I was 12 years old. "I didn't know what kind of regular car I wanted to drive on the road. I didn't know what I wanted to do for a job. I wasn't sure, but I always knew that I wanted to race a racecar. That was never a question, and I truly did base my life around drag racing. I really did from when I was eight years old." A volleyball and softball player in high school, Gordon always kept her focus on the track and worked her way through the NHRA Super Comp/Super Pro categories, Also, she participated in Jr. Dragster competitions, and she won two Division 7 Championships in the process. After earning her NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car license at age 19 in 2023, Gordon drove her family's car for two seasons, and shortly before joining Ron Capps Motorsports, became a history maker. Gordon was the 100th woman in NHRA history to win a National event when she earned her first of three Top Alcohol Funny Car event victories. She drove her Beta Motorcycles Morro Bay Cabinets Top Alcohol Funny Car to that first victory at Pacific Raceways in July of 2024. "Oh, huge," Gordon said of that first National event win. "Just for myself and my team and my family, to be a third-generation National event winner is one for the record books as it was just to be able to do that with them, and I struggled. I didn't just come out there and whoop butt. We had a great season, finished second in the world and won the Regional Championship. We had a great year, but I struggled. I made mistakes, I hurt parts, and it was really, really hard on me. "My family worked extra because of it and myself too, and I hated that. I took that to heart. To get that win for myself and my family was so rewarding. Then, on top of it, to become the 100th woman as well, that was just huge. Honestly, I didn't realize how big it was until probably a couple weeks later when all the publicity came out about it, and I was like, 'Whoa, that's actually a really big deal.'" It was at that same National event that Gordon was asked to join Ron Capps Motorsports, and that opportunity was born not out of victory, but instead, late-night and early-morning work on the car. "She reminded me a lot of myself at that age and that juncture," Capps said Friday. "She worked on the car. She was very mechanical. She loved to weld." Gordon also attributes the opportunity to a willingness to learn. The Paso Robles, California native did not just want to hop in the car when it was time to race. She wanted to learn everything possible about her car. Through that effort, she gained greater appreciation for what it takes to be successful in sending a car down the track safely. "There's so much to learn," Gordon said. "That's what I love about the sport. You never stop learning, and I love my team. They know how much I love the race car and not just driving. I love being part of the team, and they take so much extra time out of their days to teach me whatever it might be, whether it's about magnetos, clutches, engines, cams. They really take extra time to involve me, and I really feel like it's made me maybe a better driver." Gordon's belief that she has become a better driver has been backed up by the results she has experienced in her first Top Fuel season. Gordon and her Carlyle Tools/Ron Capps Motorsports Dragster entered the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals seventh in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Division standings, just 18 points out of fifth place, a spot that is currently held by four-time Top Fuel World Champion Antron Brown. She is looking to make her way up the standings as the season continues, starting with this weekend's event in Norwalk. "I live for this," Gordon said. "This is what I live for. Some people live to eat. I love to eat too, but I live to race. The offseason is the worst time of the year because I don't have anything to watch. I don't have any racetracks to go to, no cars to drive, no engines to work on. "My parents joke around, 'We don't know what to do with her.' This is just my life. Every day I go home, I either watch racing, I think about racing, I think about how to be better, or I'm working to get to the next race. When I'm here, this is just a dream, and I love it. "People ask how I have so much energy. I've watched other drivers, and everyone kind of works differently. Some people get out of the car, and they're very calm. Last year, I asked Ron's manager, 'Am I supposed to be like that?" Am I supposed to be calm when I get out of the race car because I can't do that. I just can't. I'm so excited.'" New track record Doug Kalitta's Summit Motorsports Park track record for miles per hour in the Top Fuel category was set in June of 2024, but that mark was broken in the first round of Nitro qualifying on Friday afternoon. Running out of the left lane, Clay Millican drove his Parts Plus dragster down the track in 3.809 seconds and did so at 339.11 miles per hour. Millican's mark bested Kalitta's previous record by nearly two miles per hour. Kalitta's mark was 337.16 miles per hour. "I was just happy to see it start," said Jon Oberhofer, Millican's crew chief, at the starting line shortly after the run was completed. Despite drawing a laugh from the crowd, as well as members of the media, Oberhofer explained that he was concerned because of an air leak issue during tuning. Play ball Speaking of the Kalitta Motorsports team, Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon had a busy week, even before arriving in Norwalk. Langdon was given the unique opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Detroit Tigers game on Thursday night. Kalitta Motorsports is headquartered in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which is 37 miles away from the Tigers' home field, Comerica Park. Hometown success Scott Wasko (Columbia Station) and Jerry Albert (Avon) competed in the Top Sportsman Division on Friday. During the first qualifying session, Wasko registered the fourth-best elapsed time out of the 26-person field when he drove his 2011 GXP machine down the track in 6.436 seconds at 215.13 miles per hour. Albert made his first pass in 7.199 seconds at 144.03 miles per hour. Wasko posted a reduced time of 6.390 seconds during his second qualifying session, which helped him stay in the fourth qualifying position. Later in the day, Wasko defeated Larry Demers (Carroll, Iowa) in the first round of eliminations. Stepping up for the team The month of June has been a struggle for Matt Smith Racing, as the team's namesake has been working his way back into racing shape. On June 4, Smith underwent emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder, which along with other health issues, resulted in him needing to step away from the track for an extended period of time. Already having missed the Potomac Nationals (Mechanicsville, Maryland) and Thunder Valley Nationals (Bristol, Tennessee), Smith was again out of action at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk. In his absence, Joey Gladstone was selected as a replacement rider to help the team stay competitive in the points standings. Despite working as a crew member for a Pro Stock car too, Gladstone ran his first qualifying session in 6.795 seconds at 198.7 miles per hour, which was good for the second-lowest ET of the round. Gladstone remained second after Qualifying Round No. 2 Friday afternoon. Solid showing Marc Ingwersen, a Findlay, Ohio native, had a solid showing in the second round of qualifying in the Pro Stock Motorcycle Division. Ingwersen ran the quarter-mile pass in 7.090 seconds at 163.26 miles per hour, which was good for 13th in the field. Saturday specialties The NHRA's best drivers in the Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions, and Pro Stock Motorcycle riders will take part in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday. While the Pro Stock drivers will not compete in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, they will have their own competition during the qualifying rounds Saturday. The Pro Stock's best drivers will participate in the GETTRX Pro Stock NHRA All-Star Callout. The field for the Callout includes Greg Anderson, Dallas Glenn, Eric Latino, Matt Hartford, Greg Stanfield, Erica Enders, Aaron Stanfield and Jeg Coughlin. Contact Matt Florjancic at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.