INDIANAPOLIS (September 1, 2025) — The most prestigious drag race in the country, the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, has a rich and storied history. Careers are defined by wins on Labor Day and every Mission Foods Drag Racing Series competitor circles the race dates on their calendars at the beginning of the season. Regardless of your schedule competing and winning at the NHRA U.S. Nationals is a bucket list achievement. For Chris King, team owner and driver of the Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car, the joy of qualifying in 2024 was tempered with the cruel twist of narrowly missing the field this weekend. King’s best effort, a solid 4.120 second run at 299.53 mph on Saturday during the second of five qualifiers was only quick enough for the seventeenth spot in a sixteen-car qualified field.
“This is a tough pill to swallow for sure,” said King, who last year qualified for the U.S. Nationals. “I am proud of the effort Bob Peck and this team put together. We made every turn around and we were ready to race. We had an oil line issue and made the smart call to skip a session but overall, we didn’t make any mistakes. You look at our runs and we made clean runs right down the middle of the track.”
Chris King gets suited up during qualifying of the NHRA U.S. Nationals, photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography
On Friday night in the first qualifying session King made a straight and true shakedown run slotting him in the No. 15 spot on the ladder. His time of 4.309 seconds at 235.31 mph gave the team data they used to step up heading into Saturday. At the conclusion of the second day of qualifying King was still in the field but the team knew they needed to get more aggressive considering the level of cars just behind them on the qualifying sheet.
“We didn’t hurt anything, and Bob got a lot of good data,” said King. “For a team like ours that is the name of the game. We need good info and that is what we got. You look at our numbers and we are seeing improvement. We are looking at possibly St. Louis or Dallas for our next race but no matter where we go, we will be a much stronger team. I am proud we qualified better than two full-time teams with much bigger budgets. This sport is incredibly tough on the wallet and the psyche.”
Consistent temperatures gave King, and his Bob Peck-tuned Funny Car the chance to take some chances for elapsed time improvement with two runs available to the upstart team. During the fourth qualifying round King’s Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car launched hard and was accelerating down the track when the Goodyear slicks lost traction and slowed to a 8.511 second run. King was still in sixteenth position, but two pairs later rookie Julie Nataas made a 4.09 second pass and jumped from the outside of the field to the No. 15 spot shuffling King to the seventeenth spot with one run remaining.
“We took our shot with the last qualifying session and we didn’t step up enough,” said King. “I probably drove it a little further than I should have but I was hoping some tire shake would clear up. Ultimately, I didn’t want to do something stupid. You have to be smart about it and this race just didn’t go our way. I always want to put on a good show and not impact the other drivers.”
Last year King had to stand on the starting line hoping for his time to hold up but yesterday the Chicago firefighter and Funny Car team owner was in control of his destiny. King rolled his Funny Car into the staging beams and took off looking to improve his performance enough to race on Monday but as he closed in on halftrack his 12,000-horsepower Funny Car overpowered the track slowing him to a time of 6.740 seconds at 99.72 mph.
Chris King (center) spent time with fans throughout the weekend at the NHRA U.S. Nationals,
photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography
CHRIS KING SEES IMPROVEMENTS BUT U.S. NATIONALS SUCCESS ELUDES THE TEAM
INDIANAPOLIS (September 1, 2025) — The most prestigious drag race in the country, the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, has a rich and storied history. Careers are defined by wins on Labor Day and every Mission Foods Drag Racing Series competitor circles the race dates on their calendars at the beginning of the season. Regardless of your schedule competing and winning at the NHRA U.S. Nationals is a bucket list achievement. For Chris King, team owner and driver of the Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car, the joy of qualifying in 2024 was tempered with the cruel twist of narrowly missing the field this weekend. King’s best effort, a solid 4.120 second run at 299.53 mph on Saturday during the second of five qualifiers was only quick enough for the seventeenth spot in a sixteen-car qualified field.
“This is a tough pill to swallow for sure,” said King, who last year qualified for the U.S. Nationals. “I am proud of the effort Bob Peck and this team put together. We made every turn around and we were ready to race. We had an oil line issue and made the smart call to skip a session but overall, we didn’t make any mistakes. You look at our runs and we made clean runs right down the middle of the track.”
Chris King gets suited up during qualifying of the NHRA U.S. Nationals, photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography
On Friday night in the first qualifying session King made a straight and true shakedown run slotting him in the No. 15 spot on the ladder. His time of 4.309 seconds at 235.31 mph gave the team data they used to step up heading into Saturday. At the conclusion of the second day of qualifying King was still in the field but the team knew they needed to get more aggressive considering the level of cars just behind them on the qualifying sheet.
“We didn’t hurt anything, and Bob got a lot of good data,” said King. “For a team like ours that is the name of the game. We need good info and that is what we got. You look at our numbers and we are seeing improvement. We are looking at possibly St. Louis or Dallas for our next race but no matter where we go, we will be a much stronger team. I am proud we qualified better than two full-time teams with much bigger budgets. This sport is incredibly tough on the wallet and the psyche.”
Consistent temperatures gave King, and his Bob Peck-tuned Funny Car the chance to take some chances for elapsed time improvement with two runs available to the upstart team. During the fourth qualifying round King’s Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car launched hard and was accelerating down the track when the Goodyear slicks lost traction and slowed to a 8.511 second run. King was still in sixteenth position, but two pairs later rookie Julie Nataas made a 4.09 second pass and jumped from the outside of the field to the No. 15 spot shuffling King to the seventeenth spot with one run remaining.
“We took our shot with the last qualifying session and we didn’t step up enough,” said King. “I probably drove it a little further than I should have but I was hoping some tire shake would clear up. Ultimately, I didn’t want to do something stupid. You have to be smart about it and this race just didn’t go our way. I always want to put on a good show and not impact the other drivers.”
Last year King had to stand on the starting line hoping for his time to hold up but yesterday the Chicago firefighter and Funny Car team owner was in control of his destiny. King rolled his Funny Car into the staging beams and took off looking to improve his performance enough to race on Monday but as he closed in on halftrack his 12,000-horsepower Funny Car overpowered the track slowing him to a time of 6.740 seconds at 99.72 mph.
Chris King (center) spent time with fans throughout the weekend at the NHRA U.S. Nationals,
photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography
While King’s on-track performance did not yield the results he was looking for, his off-track efforts showed the caliber of professional he is quickly becoming on the NHRA tour. On Thursday night he was one of the headline drivers at the Cruz Pedregon Racing open house to support Riley’s Children’s Hospital and throughout the weekend King invited first responders to sign his Funny Car. Hundreds of men and women who protect their local communities enjoyed meeting King, signing the Funny Car and sharing stories. King was especially moved by the support he received Friday, Saturday and Sunday from the NHRA community.
“Having the first responders come by and sign our Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car was really cool and highlight of the weekend,” said King, a full-time Chicago firefighter. “I heard a lot of great stories and made a lot of new Chris King fans. Thanks to everyone that came by. I also appreciate the support from the NHRA on getting the word out. We had a ton of people come by every day of qualifying.”
Racing his third race of the 2025 season King was once again invited to talk to fans from the NHRA stage and he spent time with fellow Funny Car drivers Joe Morrison and Spencer Hyde along with Top Fuel driver TJ Zizzo on Sunday signing autographs to support the Right2Breathe program.
Qualifying Results
Q1: 4.309 sec; 235.31 mph; Qual. 15
Q2: 4.120 sec; 299.53 mph; Qual 15
Q3: No Run; Qual. 16
Q4: 8.511 sec; 83.62 mph; Qual. 17
Q5: 6.740 sec; 99.72 mph; Qual. 17
