READING, Pa. — Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta picked up his milestone 50th career win on Monday at Maple Grove Raceway, earning his first victory in nearly three years after driving past Steve Torrence in the final round of the 38th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, the first race in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Torrence took over the points lead with his fifth trip to the finals this year and 86th overall. Green reached his second final round this season, also moving to fifth in points, thanks to round wins against Terry Haddock, Tim Wilkerson and No. He won his second straight race in the process, but it didn’t come easy for the new points leader. Hartford leads Enders by 30 points with five races remaining, feeling plenty of satisfaction with the win and the journey to get there. With five races remaining, Smith now holds a 17-point lead over Herrera. We’ve won races on Monday before and we pulled it off today,” Smith said.

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