NHRA brings rookie drag racing talent rookie Maddi Gordon to Chandler

PHOENIX – Professional drag racing is returning to the Valley and it is bringing 21-year-old rookie Maddi Gordon in her second career Top Fuel race. 

The National Hot Rod Association’s top drivers will roll into Chandler for the NHRA Arizona Nationals Friday through Sunday at Firebird Motorsports Park. 

“This is notorious for being one of the record-setting tracks,” three-time NHRA champion Ron Capps said. “It’s always great weather, it always sells out, so we always look forward to it.”

Capps, a driver and the team owner of Ron Capps Motorsports, brought Gordon onto his team for her first season racing in the sport’s top division, known as Top Fuel. 

“(I’m) really looking forward to coming out here,” Gordon said. “That will be my second-ever national event as a pro driver, so I’m really stoked.”

Gordon is no stranger to an NHRA track. She was the first third-generation Top Alcohol Funny Car driver in the NHRA’s 75-year history. She went to her first drag race when she was 8 days old and started racing as an 8-year-old.

In 2024, she became the 100th woman to win a national NHRA event after taking over driving duties from her three-time world champion father, Doug, when he retired. 

During the 2025 season, Gordon’s entire Top Alcohol Funny Car team was composed of family members, who double as her boss and co-workers. She won two more TAFC events and finished third in the championship standings. 

And this year, she followed up by winning in the first round at her Top Fuel debut in the Gatornationals, advancing all the way to the semifinals by upsetting former world champions Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher before losing to reigning champion Doug Kalitta.

“We all just truly love this sport so much and we put our heart and soul into it,” Gordon said. “Every Saturday we work at the race car shop if we aren’t at the races. We all live, breathe and eat for this sport. 

Coming from a drag racing background, Gordon has a strong appreciation not only for the sport of drag racing, but also the commitment it takes to get behind the wheel.

“I love everything about (this sport). … It’s what I live for,” Gordon said. “Up to this point it’s been a hobby … for this to become my profession and literally my whole life is something that I never thought I could achieve, I really never did, especially at my age … it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Although she has been around the sport her whole life, the opportunity is just starting to sink in. 

“People say reach for the stars,” Gordon said. “Well, this felt like outer space.”

For Capps now as a team owner, Gordon was an obvious choice. Her upbringing and start in NHRA caught his eye because he saw something in her: himself. 

“I grew up the same way she did,” Capps said. “She’s very mechanical. She worked on her mom and dad’s race; her and her sister built it. She can weld. It took me back to where I was and why I got hired by the owner that saw something in me … we built the team around her.”

Gordon is grateful for the opportunity and for the team around her. She gets to learn from one of the sports best, Capps, whom she knows brings a wealth of knowledge. 

“I’ve got a lot to learn but I love this sport because you can never stop learning,” Gordon said. 

There is a storied history of women in the NHRA – a list of which Gordon is now a part. Gordon credits four-time regional Top Alcohol Funny Car champion Annie Whiteley as a role model and someone who helped her realize that her dreams could become a reality. 

“I sat in her car and that was the first time I had sat in an alcohol funny car,” Gordon said. “The pedals were close, the brake handle was within reach, the seat was within reach and it was like, ‘Maybe I can fit into one of these cars.’”

This weekend, Gordon will be in the driver’s seat of a 11,000 horsepower race car– more than 14 times that of a NASCAR engine – capable of speeds over 330 mph. 

“This thing just takes off,” she said. “I mean it’s pulling like six to seven (G force). It literally feels like there’s an elephant on your chest.” 

There may not be a better sales pitch than that. 

“Every ticket is a pit pass so everyone that comes out can get right in the action,” Capps said.

Tickets are available for the entire weekend on the NHRA website.

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