With track temperatures soaring to an unbearable 131 degrees it was a day of surprising upsets and disappointment for many teams at the O’Reilly NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.

Larry Dixon continued his incredible season in Top Fuel and is a perfect 11 for 11 in final rounds as he won in Top Fuel. The upset wins came in Funny Car and Pro Stock as Cruz Pedregon and Greg Anderson had their best performances of the season. Rookie LE Tonglet proved his win at the U.S. nationals was no fluke as he again got the Pro Stock Motorcycle win.

In one of the more bizarre happenings of the weekend, Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson was disqualified from racing when he failed NHRA’s “zero tolerance” policy for alcohol after blowing a .027.

Words by Kay Burk, compiled from team press releases
Photos by Ron Lewis and Chris Haverly
Layout by Marissa Gaither