Maddi Gordon Pre-Race Report: Indianapolis

MADDI GORDON
Driver of the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel Dragster

Last Event (Brainerd):
Qualified second; Event runner-up (defeated Scott Palmer in E1, Tony Stewart in E2, Leah Pruett in E3; defeated by Doug Kalitta in E4)

2026/Career Statistics:
13 races; one win, one runner-up finish

Noteworthy:

• Begins the weekend carrying the momentum from a runner-up finish from the No. 2 qualifying position at the Brainerd event. It was Gordon’s second career final round through the first 13 races of her rookie season. Gordon also powered to a runner-up finish at the Norwalk Night Under Fire match race last month
• The Rookie of the Year contender begins the weekend ranked fifth in the Top Fuel standings. She has the potential to move up one position to fourth, as she currently sits less than one competition round behind No. 4 ranked Antron Brown
• Will compete in the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the year on Saturday
• Gordon and teammate/team owner Ron Capps will sport matching Carlyle Tools liveries during the weekend as they seek to capture their second double-up as an organization
• Won her first-ever NHRA Wally trophy at Indianapolis Raceway Park while competing in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the 2024 Cleetus and Cars regional event
• The Ron Capps Motorsports team is headquartered in nearby Brownsburg

Fan Events:

• Friday, 2:40 p.m., Gordon and Capps will join the Wes Buck Show, broadcasting live from the Nitro Alley stage
• Friday, 5:00 – 5:30 p.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer
• Saturday, 9:30 – 10:00 a.m., Mission #2Fast2Tasty driver autograph session, Mission Foods midway
• Saturday, 10:30 – 11:00 a.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer
• Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Capps, Gordon, and Carlyle Tools’ Joe Sabo join Hannah Rickards for a Q&A on the Nitro Alley stage
• Sunday, 10:00 – 10:30 a.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer

Quotable:
“We have an action-packed weekend coming up. It’s Indy, the Big Go, the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. It’s actually pretty crazy to think we’re already at this point in the season, because it doesn’t feel like that long ago that we were on our way to Florida for our first race of the year in Gainesville. I’m excited because we’re racing in Brownsburg this weekend, home of Ron Capps Motorsports and home to all of our team members. I know how special home races are, and it makes me so happy that the guys will have their family and friends out there showing support this weekend. It’s also the last regular-season race of the year, with points-and-a-half, and the final time we’ll see a Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in 2026. We’re pumped up to be part of that.

“I’m very excited about the fact that our entire Ron Capps Motorsports team will all be decked out in Carlyle Tools’ black and venom green all weekend. It’s a four-day race, tons of exposure, lots of fans, so we want to make sure we show up and show out for them.

“I’ve raced at Indy a couple of times, and I can tell you, Indy is magical, it is special, it’s different. The feeling is different, the fans are amazing, and I can’t wait for Q1 with all the fans under the lights; it’s going to be awesome. But that being said, the race car knows no different. The race car doesn’t know it’s Indy, the race car doesn’t know it’s the biggest race of the year, so for us as a team, we’re focused on doing what we’ve done all year long, and that’s stay grounded, stay focused, keep our heads down, work on the task at hand and take it one round at a time on race day.”