NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The entire drag racing universe descends upon historic Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this week for the 72nd edition of the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, the sport’s biggest and most prestigious drag race.

The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing series has reached the end of the regular season, and this weekend’s event crown regular season champions and set the field for the upcoming Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

During Friday’s sole professional qualifying round, Shawn Langdon, Jack Beckman, Greg Stanfield, and Matt Smith claimed the provisional leads in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, respectively.

Today’s packed schedule will feature two more rounds of pro qualifying, the continuation of eliminations for Lucas Oil Series Sportsman racer, and additional qualifying rounds for racers in the JBS Pro Mod Series, FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown, and the Right Trailers Outlaw Street class.

Fans will also see the last event of the season in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge featuring a rematch of the semifinalists from the most recent NHRA event.

Off track, the pairings will be set for the Play NHRA Allstar Funny Car Callout event that will be held on Sunday. The top eight Funny Car qualifiers will meet today where they will decide the pairings for tomorrow’s big money event.

On Friday night, Shawn Langdon went to the top spot in Top Fuel with an impressive 3.727-second run, leading the way over Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett, Jasmine Salinas, Justin Ashley, and Tripp Tatum.

A total of 14 dragsters ran in the three second zone and the bump is currently a soft 4.499, but with 22 on the pre-entry list, it’s sure to get much quicker today.

The Funny Car class has drawn a lot of attention for a robust 23 car field, leading to speculation that the event might produce the sport’s first all-three second field. So far, we are halfway there. Eight drivers ran in the threes and none were quicker than Beckman, who drove his special edition John Force Racing/Peak Camaro to a 3.937 to lead Ron Capps, Austin Prock, Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon, Daniel Wilkerson, Matt Hagan, and J.R. Todd, who all ran in the threes.  

Those who are not currently qualified include Blake Alexander, 
Justin Schriefer, Bobby Bode, Terry Haddock, Dave Richards, John Smith, and Hunter Green.  

Elite Motorsports driver Stanfield leads the way over a large and talented Pro Stock field with a 6.650 in his Janac Bros. Camaro. As expected, the Pro Stock field is close with defending champ Erica Enders, Deric Kramer, Matt Hartford, Dallas Glenn, Matt Latino, and Cody Anderson rounding out the top eight after one of five qualifying runs.

The bump spot is occupied by Shane Tucker at 6.740, but that is sure to change today with two more runs and 20 entries.

Earlier this season, Matt Smith missed time after surgery, but that didn’t prevent the six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champ from claiming the early lead with a 6.864 aboard his Denso Buell. Smith leads the way over teammates Angie Smith and John Hall, with Gaige Herrera, Richard Gadson, Kelly Clontz, Clayton Howey, and Chris Bostick in pursuit.

In the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, here are the pairings for the final event of the season.

TOP FUEL
Doug Kalitta vs. Justin Ashley
Maddi Gordon vs. Leah Pruett

FUNNY CAR
Matt Hagan vs. Austin Prock
Jordan Vandergriff vs. J.R. Todd

PRO STOCK
Greg Anderson vs. Greg Stanfield
Chris Vang vs. Cody Anderson

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
Richard Gadson vs. Matt Smith
Gaige Herrera vs. Angie Smith

DEFENDING EVENT CHAMPIONS
TOP FUEL: Justin Ashley
FUNNY CAR: Austin Prock
PRO STOCK: Erica Enders 
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: Gaige Herrera

MOST WINS (Active drivers)
TOP FUEL: Tony Schumacher (10)
FUNNY CAR: Cruz Pedregon (3)
PRO STOCK: Greg Anderson (7)
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: Matt Smith (3).

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.640 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '22; 343.51 mph by B. Force, Sept. ‘25.
Funny Car - 3.799 sec. by Matt Hagan, Sept. '17; 338.77 mph by Hagan, Sept. '25.
Pro Stock - 6.491 sec. by Greg Anderson, Aug. '25, 211.79 mph by Dallas Glenn, Sept. '25.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.738 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Aug. '25, 201.73 mph by Jianna Evaristo, Sept. '25.

NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '19, Reading, Pa.; 345.00 mph by Shawn Langdon, May ‘26, Valdosta.
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. '24, Pomona, Calif.
Pro Stock - 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March '25, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May '14, Englishtown
N.J.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July '21, Sonoma.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, Sept. 5
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8 a.m.
PlayNHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout Selections at 11 a.m.
Nitro qualifying at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying at 2 p.m. and 4:55 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6
Lucas Oil Sportsman eliminations at 8 a.m.
Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at noon and 2:45 p.m.
Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying at 1:35 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.

Monday, September 7, 2026
Pre-race ceremonies including SealMaster Track Walk at 9 a.m.
Eliminations begin at 10 a.m.

TELEVISION
SUNDAY, September 6 FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 3:00 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, September 6 FS1 will televise one and half hours of All-Star Funny Car Callout at 7:00 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, September 6 FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10:30 p.m. (ET)
MONDAY, September 7 FS1 will televise two hours of finals coverage at 12:00 p.m. (ET)
MONDAY, September 7 Fox will televise three hours of finals coverage at 2:00 p.m. (ET).