Maddi Gordon, Carlyle Tools Top Fuel Team Work Through Challenges at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 14, 2026) – NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Maddi Gordon’s first trip to Bristol Dragway came to an end in the second round of the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals as she lost to 2025 regular season champion Tony Stewart. It was another learning experience for Gordon and the upstart Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team out of the Ron Capps Motorsports organization as they dealt with a brand-new racing surface and atmospheric conditions unlike any other track on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour. Gordon leaves the ninth of 20 races ranked No. 7 in the Top Fuel points standings.

Like many other teams racing on the new Bristol surface for the first time, Gordon lost traction early in her first qualifying attempt on Friday. Crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching reviewed the data and tuned Gordon to a much-improved 3.965-second pass at 311.77 mph in Q2 to close out Friday in the No. 10 position. Gordon lowered her weekend best again with a 3.922 E.T. at 313.29 mph in the third session on Saturday, then smoked the tires in the final qualifying session.

Racing from the No. 12 spot on the ladder, Gordon squared off against Billy Torrence in the opening round of eliminations. Despite a dropped cylinder, Gordon powered to her quickest pass of the event, a 3.817 E.T. at 329.26 mph, to upset the No. 5 qualifier, who ran a 3.895 E.T. Gordon recorded a consistent 3.826 E.T. at 330.88 mph in the second round, though she reached the finish line second behind Tony Stewart and his winning 3.805 E.T.

“Even though we didn’t qualify well, I had confidence in our car,” said Gordon, who sported a special carbon fiber cowboy hat crafted by NASCAR driver and racing seat fabricator Corey LaJoie using Revchem Composites materials, throughout the weekend. “Rob and Troy talked me through all the changes that they made for race day and I just felt really confident that we had a good race car. Going up against Billy is a tough matchup, so I was super pumped to get past the first round. It would’ve been really nice to get through second round against Tony, but it didn’t happen. It was still a good race. There are conditions here we don’t really see anywhere else with the altitude. We’re going to keep learning and keep it rolling for Norwalk.”

Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team will have a weekend off before returning to action at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, June 26-28, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Qualified: No. 12 (3.922 E.T. at 313.29 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.817 E.T. at 329.26 MPH defeated Billy Torrence 3.895 E.T. at 288.03 MPH
E2: 3.826 E.T. at 330.88 MPH defeated by Tony Stewart 3.805 E.T. at 320.05 MPH