Local drag racer Maddi Gordon earns first Top Fuel victory
Win moves Gordon to fourth in the Top Fuel standings
– Paso Robles native and Templeton High School graduate Maddi Gordon earned her first career Top Fuel victory Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
The victory came in Gordon’s 10th professional Top Fuel start. The 22-year-old became the eighth woman in National Hot Rod Association history to win in the Top Fuel division.
The milestone also marked a family achievement. Gordon celebrated the victory alongside her father, three-time Top Alcohol Funny Car world champion Doug Gordon, who also won his class earlier in the day. According to the National Hot Rod Association, they became the fifth father-daughter pair to win at the same national event.
The victory also completed the first nitro double-up for Ron Capps Motorsports after team owner Ron Capps won the Funny Car division. Gordon moved up three spots to fourth in the Top Fuel standings during her rookie season.
Ron Capps, Maddi Gordon, and Doug Gordon are winners at the 2026 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
Gordon qualified fifth after posting a track speed record of 339.79 mph during qualifying Saturday.
On race day, she defeated Spencer Massey in the opening round, Tony Stewart in the quarterfinals, and current Top Fuel points leader Shawn Langdon in the semifinals. She then defeated four-time world champion Antron Brown in the final with a run of 3.786 seconds at 333.16 mph.
“I was in my mom’s belly at the drag races and went to my first race at eight days old,” exclaimed an ecstatic Gordon after climbing from her dragster at the top end of the race track. “Never in my life did I think I would be driving a Top Fuel dragster, but it’s this guy right here, Ronald Capps! He made what felt like the impossible become a reality. Our team works so hard; weekends, holidays, birthdays. Thank you to their families for letting them come out and drag race. This is everything right here. Blood, sweat, and literal tears go into this.
“When my parents first told me that Ron had approached them about me driving for him, they said just be grateful for the opportunity because we don’t have the money that it takes to drive one of these cars. But for Ron, that wasn’t what it was about,” Gordon continued. “He told us he didn’t have the funding yet, but he was going to find it. And that’s exactly what he did. Carlyle Tools and NAPA Auto Parts believed in me before I even hit the gas pedal and that type of loyalty will stick with me forever. This is the best day of my life!”
Gordon grew up working at her family’s race shop in Paso Robles and spent years as a crew member on the Gordon Family Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car before taking over as the team’s driver in 2024. Sunday’s victory marked her first professional Top Fuel win.
“I can hardly think right now, I’m just so happy,” Gordon said. “My family being here means so much; they’re what got me here. They taught me everything I know, and without them believing in me when I was driving the Alcohol Funny Car, I would’ve never gotten this opportunity. Because I blew some stuff up in that car. I made mistakes, I cost us money, I cost us more work in the shop, and I ate myself up over it, but they stuck with me, stuck by my side, and believed in me. Ron Capps has done the same thing. I’m just so grateful; this truly is the best day of my life.”
The National Hot Rod Association Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will continue with the Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway on July 17-19. The event is Gordon’s home race.
