MOHNTON, Pa. — Top Fuel’s Shawn Reed won for the first time in his NHRA career on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway, capping off an emotional comeback by defeating points leader Doug Kalitta in the final round of the 40th annual NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish.
Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 15th of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It is also the first of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Reed went 3.844 seconds at 326.63 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Reed Trucking & Excavating dragster to pick up the victory over Kalitta, capping off an incredible moment just two months after a crash during qualifying in Seattle that resulted in the amputation of his left index finger.
After replacement driver Jordan Vandergriff drove for Reed in Brainerd and Indianapolis, this weekend’s race marked his NHRA return and Reed was on point. After qualifying fourth, he defeated Kyle Satenstein, Shawn Langdon and No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican to reach the final round on a wild day in Top Fuel and then powered past Kalitta, moving to fifth in points to complete a day he won’t soon forget.
“Honestly, you couldn’t even write it any better — just a storybook weekend,” Reed said. “For what happened to me in Seattle, what happened to our team there, and then Jordan Vandergriff stepping in to keep our crew going, this car’s been good. I’ve been telling everybody for a long time that we were going to surprise a lot of people. We just had to get our Sunday morning thing figured out, and today, we finally broke through.
“I’m so happy for my guys. I’m happy for me too, but when you get older, you just get thankful for what everybody’s done for you and with you. I’ll remember this forever.”
Kalitta took over the points lead and reached the finals for the fourth time this season thanks to round wins against reigning world champion Antron Brown, Tony Stewart and Steve Torrence. In the second round against Stewart, Kalitta’s dragster crossed the center line past the finish line and collided with Stewart’s dragster. Stewart’s dragster went on its side, came back down on its wheels and struck the left guard wall before coming to a stop, while Kalitta’s dragster went back over the center line before coming to a stop.
Both Stewart and Kalitta were alert and exited their cars under their own power. Kalitta’s points lead is 18 over Stewart and 33 over teammate Shawn Langdon.
Cruz Pedregon (NHRA photo)
In Funny Car, Cruz Pedregon snapped a 55-race winless streak in another emotional moment on Sunday, beating Blake Alexander in the final round with a run of 3.969 at 330.63 in his 12,000-horsepower Snap-On Tools Dodge Hellcat en route to his first win since 2022 and the 40th in his career.
Pedregon reached the finals for the first time this season by defeating Bob Tasca III, points leader Austin Prock and Paul Lee, holding off Alexander at the finish line to win for the first time since the season-finale in 2022. It’s been an arduous process for Pedregon to get back to this point, but he’s trusted the process and the payoff was on Sunday when he won at Maple Grove Raceway for the third time in his stellar career.
The two-time world champion also moved all the way to sixth in points, delivering a classic performance he hopes to replicate again during the Countdown to the Championship.
“This is very special, very special,” Pedregon said. “You know, you start to doubt yourself — as an owner, as a driver — and I’ve done that a lot the last couple of years. I thought, ‘Maybe this is it.’ But we took the hard road. I hired young guys who weren’t already on other teams. It was like a draft.
“We went through the growing pains, but now I’ve got a good group. They’re still learning, but they’re hungry and now here we are. This morning, I told the guys there are six races left, including this one. I’ve won this race before and sat in the winner’s circle wondering how we did it. We can do that again — just be mistake-free, be aggressive and stay the course.”
Alexander reached the final round for the first time this season with wins against Matt Hagan, No. 1 qualifier Spencer Hyde and Ron Capps. Prock leaves Reading with a 25-point lead over Jack Beckman and a 29-point advantage over Capps.
Dallas Glenn wrapped up a nearly flawless weekend on Sunday, rolling past rookie Cody Coughlin in the championship round with a standout run of 6.557 at 209.23 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro. Entering the playoffs as the points leader, Glenn cemented his status as the man to beat in Pro Stock in 2025, picking up his fifth victory of the season – in his 10th visit to the final round – and 18th in his career.
Glenn qualified No. 1 and then dispatched Shane Tucker, Deric Kramer and KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson in a wild semifinal round when the reigning world champion was disqualified. Anderson faltered on the first burnout attempt, crossing the starting line beams, and on his second attempt, crossed the beams again, leading to the disqualification.
In the championship round against first-time finalist Coughlin, Glenn was first off the starting line and drove away to win for the first time at Maple Grove Raceway. This was precisely the start Glenn wanted, opening up a 62-point advantage over Anderson.
“You definitely come in here and my goal every race in the Countdown is to leave with a little bit more of a lead — and we definitely capitalized on that today. What a crazy day,” Glenn said. “Having Cody Coughlin in the final, with me taking out Erica Enders and Eric Latino taking out Aaron Stanfield — it was just a wild weekend. They call it the House of Chaos for a reason. The car is working fantastic right now.
“My car is so good, I just need to make sure I don’t beat myself. I definitely have the car to beat right now. I just need to continue what I’m doing, keep riding the wave, and see how far we can go with it.”
Coughlin reached the finals for the first time thanks to round wins against Troy Coughlin Jr., Indy winner and six-time champ Erica Enders and Eric Latino.
John Hall threw his name into the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship conversation with a fantastic Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway, defeating teammate Matt Smith in the final round with a run of 6.802 at 199.70 on his American Rebel Light/Matt Smith Racing Buell. It is Hall’s second victory this season and first-ever at Maple Grove Raceway, vaulting him to a tie for second in points in the process.
After defeating Kelly Clontz in the opening round, Hall sent a strong message in the quarterfinals, defeating back-to-back world champ Gaige Herrera with a 6.806, keeping Herrera winless in Reading in his career. He followed with a victory against rookie Brayden Davis, setting up the matchup with Smith. It was the first MSR-versus-MSR matchup in the final round since Sonoma last season and Hall prevailed this time, leaving first and pulling away as Smith ran into trouble, as Hall earned his fourth career victory.
“They’re all special for me. To do it in the Countdown is great because, I mean, there’s six races in the Countdown — you’ve got to bring your A-game,” Hall said. “We had a new tire on there that wasn’t working for us. We put the old tire back on, which worked out. We went four 6.80s in a row. The track was great — thank you to the Koretsky family for a great track and to MSR.
It is great that they gave me this opportunity. Matt Smith and Angie Smith gave me an opportunity to come out here and compete, probably in the later stages of my career, and I’m just thankful for everything.”
Smith moved into the points lead, advancing to his fourth final this year and 85th in his career thanks to round wins against Brandon Litten, Jianna Evaristo and Richard Gadson. He leads Herrera and Hall by just six points, with Gadson just nine points back in fourth.
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