INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 27, 2025) – Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran Ford Mustang Funny Car team are ready to take on the crown jewel of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this weekend.
Richards is heading into the weekend with momentum and confidence after a productive test session following a No. 16 qualifying effort and first round exit to multi-time champion and veteran racer Jack Beckman at Brainerd International Raceway.
“I’m feeling really confident heading into this weekend’s U.S. Nationals,” Richards said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work this year. We had a successful test session following Brainerd that has the whole team excited for the Big Go. We made four passes with three planned early shutoffs. Our early numbers were great, so I think we can look forward to some quality and consistency very soon.”
Richards and his BlueBird team, only in their second fulltime NHRA season, have shown steady progress in the 2025. With a career-best speed of 325.61 mph set in July at the Sonoma Nationals, Richards has reached the semifinals twice in 2025, including a strong showing at the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals and NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee.
Currently sitting 13th in the Funny Car points standings Richards has his eyes set on a top 10 finish as the season reaches the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs. A solid showing at the world’s biggest drag race and the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series 2025 regular season finale will help make that goal a reality.
Competition at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals starts with five rounds of qualifying Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 12:30 and 3:15 p.m. and Sunday at noon and 2:45 p.m. Eliminations will take place Labor Day Monday beginning at 10 a.m. Television coverage of the event will begin on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a qualifying show Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET, a show dedicated to covering the PlayNHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout at 5 p.m. ET and a second qualifying show at 6:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations will begin to air Monday on FS1 at noon ET before switching over to FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) for live eliminations at 2 p.m. ET.
