Madison Payne Wins NHRA US Nationals

Indianapolis - Madison Payne, a third-generation driver from Claremont, California won the prestigious NHRA Dodge Power Brokers US Nationals against Julie Nataas in the final round. "It's a great win for Madison and our team. This continues the winning tradition of the Payne family. I have been in the finals here five times and was runner-up four times and won it just once so I know how hard this race is to win" a jubilant car owner Duane Shields said after the race. Madison's father Jay Payne has won Indy four times and her grandfather, Brad Anderson won the US Nationals in 1984 in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class.

Madison, qualified twelfth with a 5.36 at 267 MPH. "We didn't have the fastest car here but all weekend we felt confident we could win" Duane said.

In round one, Madison faced Shawn Cowie and beat him with a stout 5.26 at 273 MPH package to Cowie's competitive 5.32 at 272 MPH to get out of round one. From there Madison raced all female competitors to the championship round.

In the second round, Madison raced Karen Stalba (pictured). At the hit, Stabla had a .102 reaction time to Madison's quicker .074. At the finish line, it was all Madison with a 5.32 at 274 MPH over Stalba's 5.38 at 271 MPH.

Next, Madison raced Megan Smith in the semi-final round. It's worth noting that this was the first time that both competitors had a mother who formerly raced in Top Fuel. And, both Shelly Payne and Rhonda Hartman-Smith were in opposite lanes watching their daughters to see who would make it to the final round. At the start, it was Smith out first with a .041 to Madison's .059. As the cars raced to the finish line it was Madison by a whisker as she rang up a stout 5.28 at 278 MPH to Smith's valiant 5.35 at 270 MPH.

In the final round, it came down to Madison and Julie Nataas driving one of Randy Meyer's potent A/Fuel entries. It turned out that this was not the race everyone had expected. As the Christmas tree lights came down, Nataas fouled by leaving the starting line too soon which gave the win to Madison. Unfortunately for Nataas, Madison was there for the taking as she lost traction. Madison then idled down the historic Indy race track to collect the 2023 NHRA US Nationals title. "There were lots of upsets at this race and we didn't want to make any mistakes. I'm proud to add Madison's name as the 2023 US Nationals Champion. This win makes up for when we stumbled at Brainerd. It's a great win for the Muscle Milk team" Duane said.

Next, the team heads to Reading for the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, September 14-17. Duane and Madison would like to thank Muscle Milk, Brad Anderson Enterprises, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods, and Clean Boost for their excellent support in 2023.