NHRA’s best at Sonoma Raceway

It’s race weekend yet again in Sonoma.

The NHRA’s best drivers and riders descended on Sonoma Raceway on Friday, with the circuit reaching the tail end of it’s famed Western swing (Seattle and Sonoma).

Starting with the top fuel drivers, defending Sonoma champion Justin Ashley currently sits fourth in the standings. He has had another stellar season heading into Sonoma, with two titles (Pomona and Charlotte), two more made finals in Las Vegas and Phoenix, and three-time winner of the #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Chicago, Charlotte and Phoenix.

“I think the approach is a little different because we are going to have a little bit of a target on our back, as we are the defending event champions,” Ashley said. “In terms of the preparation, all of that stays relatively similar. … I think the best way for us to prepare is to take what we’ve done in previous races and try to learn from it and apply it here this weekend.

“(Sonoma) is one of the nicer facilities we have on tour, it’s a place we love to go and is a little closer to our hearts,” he continued. “A lot of our team is from Sonoma or the surrounding area, so it’s a little bit of a home race for us.”

Doug Kalitta sits atop the standings with 932 points, while Shawn Langdon is second with 812 points. Last year’s second place finisher at Sonoma, Antron Brown, is fifth with 699 points.

Heading into Sunday’s elimination rounds, Kalitta is the top seed, while No. 5 Ashley will take on No. 10 Tony Schumacher. Brown, who placed seventh after qualifying, takes on No. 8 Shawn Reed.

Heading over to the funny car category, former Funny Car champion and defending Funny Car winner at Sonoma, J.R Todd, is looking for a record-tying fifth victory at the raceway this year.

Todd took the title last year after running a sub-four seconds in each of his races on the final day. His best was in the final, with a time of 3.972 seconds.

Last year’s first place qualifier on the top fuel category, Austin Prock, has a comfortable lead in the top of the standings with 1044 points in his debut season in the funny car. Prock has wins at Phoenix, Bristol, Richmond and Seattle, and should be a top contender once again at Sonoma. Also in the mix are Bob Tasca III and Matt Hagan.

Tasca III nabbed the top spot after qualifying, and will take on No. 16 Buddy Hull in the opener. Hagan earned second-place, Prock fourth and Todd sixth.

Now moving on over to the pro stock motorcycle tour, defending Sonoma champion Gaige Hererra is once again lighting it up. He sits atop the standings with 845 points, and last year was the first rider to sweep the famed Western swing of Denver, Seattle and Sonoma. While he won’t be able to replicate that this year as the Denver race was taken off the circuit and Chase Van Sant won up in Seattle, Hererra still looks to be the favorite in Wine Country.

But there’s a Northern California native nipping at his heels.

Jianna Evaristo, daughter of the legendary Mike Salinas, was born in and still resides in San Jose. Evaristo sits in seventh but has run some of the best races of her life after switching bikes from a Suzuki to a V-Twin Buell.

“At first it was a little rough, and I kind of thought maybe this wasn’t the route for me,” Evaristo said about the change. “It was so much more of a motorcycle to try and handle. … I had really struggled with it for the first couple of races. Now, I think we are really starting to see over the past couple of races that what we’ve been working on has all come together.”

Evaristo earned second place after the qualifying races and will take on No. 11 Clayton Howey in the elimination rounds. Herrera, who had some bike issues on Friday, worked is way back to fourth-place and will race No. 9 John Hall. Matt Smith earned first-place.

This will be Evaristo’s fifth time racing Sonoma, but it’s a little bit more than just a hometown race this go-around.

Her older sister, Jasmine Salinas, will be racing in the Top Fuel ranks for the first time at Sonoma since taking driving duties over from her father in March of 2024. Jasmine sits at 13th in the standings at the moment, but she says that she is as comfortable as ever in the Top Fuel car.

“Being from the South Bay, Sonoma is definitely our home track,” Salinas, who now resides in Brownsburg, Indiana, said. “I have a really good feel for the car, and I have my routine now with our crew. We felt really good coming out of Seattle, but now coming down to Sonoma, where I’ve watched my family race but haven’t gotten to myself. It’s very exciting for us and for our friends and family.”

Salinas earned the ninth spot after qualifying and will race No. 6 Billy Torrence in the opening round Sunday.

The 2024 DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals began on Friday with qualifying sessions that lasted through Saturday. The Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge also took place on Saturday, with elimination rounds for top fuel, funny car and pro stock motorcycle happening on Sunday.

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.