NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

FUNNY CAR Q1

We got three bikes into the first Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying session before it started to rain; two hours and change later, we're back and instead kicking off with Funny Car and Top Fuel, which will be followed by Pro Stock car, Pro Stock Motorcycle, then back into the nitro classes, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock car, Pro Mod, then the Summit Series, and finishing with Top Alcohol.

We've got 19 Funny Cars entered, so the battle for the quick 16 will be hot and heavy, especially among the many part-time West Coast cars that typically save up for this event. The adjusted altitude is about 2,000 feet thanks to the cool weather, but there's a lot of water grains in the air after the earlier rainfall, levels not seen here since 2018.

Alexis DeJoria's new silver and black Bandero Premium Tequila entry — unveiled with much pomp before the run by members of Las Vegas Raiders fan club as Bandero is now the football team's official tequila — poured out a 3.874 to lead the field.

"This is one of my favorite tracks," she said. "We've had really good success here. I've got two wins from here, just missing that diamond Wally from this year. So I'd love to triple up here in Vegas. We're off to a great start, No. 1 qualifier so far. We'll see. It's not over yet. I've been a huge fan of the Raiders my entire life, ever since I was a little girl when they were the LA Raiders and they were playing at the Coliseum."

Her John Force Racing teammate, Jack Beckman, was just a tick behind her with a 3.875 to lead a fleet of 10 cars that covered the strip in less than four seconds.

Spencer Hyde got the last bonus point with a 3.901, followed by J.R. Todd (3.922), Matt Hagan (3.945), Chad Green (3.948), Cruz Pedregon (3.966), Daniel Wilkerson (3.967), Dave Richards (3.979), and Paul Lee (3.999)

Richards, who ended up ninth, had a great run going and slowed to just 278, but still got a 3.97 time slip, making one wonder how much quicker he could have gone.

Hunter Green sits on the current bump spot with a 4.712.

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TOP FUEL Q1

Three drivers —Tony Stewart, Shawn Langdon, and Spencer Massey — ran matching 3.719 elapsed times, but Stewart got the provisional pole on speed with a run of 336.99, with Langdon next at 335.73, and Massey, the surprise runner-up earlier this year in Martin, third at 332.67.

"I'm just excited about the mile an hour," said Stewart. "It's a little windy today and it's kind of a headwind, so to be able to pull that kind of mile an hour I think it is really strong for our R+L team so far. It's a product of Mike Green and Joe Barlam again. They're the magicians with their fingers working up in the lounge trying to get this thing going fast."

Langdon's two session bonus points are important as it moved his lead over Doug Kaitta to 141 points (now seven rounds of racing) after the reignign two-time world champ failed to make it down the track under power.

Maddi Gordon clocked a speed of 340.56, the first 340-mph in track history, on a 3.724 pass. The always-reserved rookie racer took it in typical stride.

"Wait, that's the first?" she screamed. "That's so cool! I have no idea. That's awesome, man. That's that flying forklift power right there, man. Rob Flynn has this thing on rails. I'm so proud of my team, man. That was so awesome. I love this racetrack."

Mountain Motor Pro Stock racer Chris Powers made his nitro debut in Todd Paton's entry, the Powers Xtreme Motorsports machine, and ripped to a wiggly 3.885.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q1

Entering the Las Vegas event, just 85 points separate the top three title contenders, with Gaige Herrera, Richard Gadson, and Matt Smith each in the mix. Gadson, the reigning champ, is the leader while Herrera is 58 points back, and Smith is still in contention for his record seventh crown, but is facing an 85-point deficit.

Given that The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is an altitude track, it’s apparent that we won’t see the same record-setting performances that highlighted the last event in Dallas, but that doesn’t mean the Pro Stock field this week won’t be close and competitive. And, with multiple drivers still in the race for the championship, every point matters, perhaps now more than ever.

Four bikes made runs during the first session before rain interrupted the proceedings. GT Tonglet, who returned after a lengthy absence at the last event in Dallas, was quickest with a 7.005 while Karen Stoffer, Ron Procopio, and Brad Hawkes all shut off early.

Following a lengthy delay, and a very competitive opening session for Funny Car and Top Fuel, Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying resumed with Vance & Hines teammates and title contenders Herrera and Gadson claiming the top two spots. Herrera was quickest at 6.835 while Gadson was close behind at 6.841.

“It’s a lot of fun [to race against Gadson]. We go back and forth a lot. Sometimes I wish he wasn’t my teammate,” said Herrera. “We got three points and that’s the big thing.”

Herrera banked three valuable bonus points while Gadson claimed two. Third quickest was Steve Johnson with a surprising 6.875. Title contender Matt Smith could only muster a 7.005 as teams struggled to deal with the windy conditions in Las Vegas.

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PRO STOCK Q1

Realistically speaking, there are five contenders for the 2026 Mission Foods Pro Stock title, and after one round of qualifying in Las Vegas, the battle remains wide open.

Dallas Glenn’s win in Dallas gave him the lead by just 14 points over Greg Stanfield, but that lead is now cut to 11 as Stanfield made the quickest run of the session with a 6.652. Glenn missed the set-up in his RAD Torque Systems entry with a 6.680.

Anderson picked up two valuable points with a 6.655 to cut his deficit to 76 while other title contenders Matt Hartford and Troy Coughlin Jr. remain further down the order.

The third-quickest car of the session was Deric Kramer at 6.657, while Erica Enders, who has virtually owned Las Vegas during her career, ran 6.662 for the No. 4 spot.  

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FUNNY CAR Q2

The day's second sessions will include the Ted Wiens Trick or Traction Award, which will pay the low qualifier in the session (not necessarily low of the day, but usually). The quickest performers in the nitro categories earn $3,500, while the top qualifier in Q2 in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle get $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.

Jack Beckman and crew took advantage of the great conditions with a 3.836, the second-lowest e.t. of the 2026 season (behind his own 3.832 in round one in Martin) to take the No. 1 spot and the cash. But it wasn't easy for "Fast Jack."

"So we pull our chin straps down so when you step on the throttle, your head doesn't go back into the pads," he shared. "I burned out, backed up, and I'm like. I think I want to pull it down more now, which is the wrong time to do it because I have to use my right hand and it's holding the brake, and I didn't have the chutzpah to let go of the brake to do that, so I'm like, all right, just tuck your chin down. And I left and it, and it was moving good, but you can't really tell, tell about 300 ft whether it's moving great. And about the time I realized it was moving great, it was moving out of the groove, and I corrected, and then the front end got heavy again, and it steered too much, and then I corrected, and I knew it was going to knock the tires loose. I have no idea how it stayed hooked up."

J.R. Todd, coming in hot off of his win two weeks ago in Dallas that moved him to third in points, delivered the DHL Toyota to the finish line in 3.889 seconds to earn two bonus points and the No. 3 spot in the field behind Beckman and Q1 leader Alexis DeJoria's 3.874.

Jordan Vandergriff, second in points behind Matt Hagan, powered to a 3.909 to power into the field and earn the last bonus point, and Austin Prock got into the show with a 4.158, punctuated by a small supercharger backfire in the lights.

"That was a great solid run right there," said Vandergriff. "We were slow in Q1, and we wanted to speed it up, and that 3.90 right there, it felt good, felt clean all the way through."

Hunter Green joined the three-second parade with a 3.921

Terry Haddock, having one of the best seasons of his long and winding career, had a pretty good but brief fire on a 4.28 pass that has him in the No. 17 spot. Jeff Diehl is on the bump with a 4.178, with 12 drivers in the three-second zone.

Three-time world champ Ron Capps is one of the surprises on the outside looking in, sitting in the No. 19 spot out of 19 cars to run with a 4.62 best.

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TOP FUEL Q2

The Trick or Traction award came down to the final pair, a sizzling affair between points leader Shawn Langdon and Q1 leader Tony Stewart that lived up to its billing as Langdon ran 3.672 to Stewart's 3.676.

Josh Hart, who will be the first to tell you that his first season with master tuner David Grubnic and John Force Racing had its highlight with a win at the season opener, is looking like he wants to close how he started, racing the Speedmaster dragster to a 3.688.

Doug Kalitta and crew chief Alan Johnson, who ripped the tires loose in Q1 and entered the session in the No. 15 spot, recovered brilliantly with a 3.695 but it was only fourth quickest for no bonus points, meaning Langdon added three more points to his lead, up now to 144.

Cameron Ferre, who did not run Q2, is on the bump spot with a 4.218.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2

The sun set, the wind died down, and the track conditions improved, and along with it, the Pro Stock Motorcycle field got a bit quicker. Title contender Matt Smith made a significant improvement with a 6.896, but it almost certainly wasn’t the run he was looking for.

“It was a pretty good run but I felt like we should have run about 6.96,” said Smith. “I don’t think we can run .83 or .84 like those other [Vance & Hines] guys.”

Smith was the quickest rider of the session until he was bumped from the Ted Wiens Auto Center tire throne by Ryan Oehler, who improved to 6.882. Oehler barely had time to get comfortable when Joey Gladstone bumped him with a 6.856 aboard Jianna Evaristo’s JHG Buell.

Gladstone maintained the lead for the session when both of the Vance & Hines bikes slowed. Gaige Herrera made a move toward the centerline and had to shut off while Richard Gadson ran 6.870 to score a single qualifying bonus point.

“I’m happy to get this [bonus money] to go to baby Evaristo,” joked Gladstone. “This is great for the MSR camp and the JHG motorcycle. I’m getting more and more excited about next year.” 

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PRO STOCK Q2

Title contender Matt Hartford fired the first major shot of the second Pro Stock session with a 6.632 to separate himself from the rest of the field, at least temporarily. Hartford didn’t expect to maintain the lead for the entirety of the session, but he did.

“That’s a run that we thought we should have run in Q1. A 6.63 is a good lap, but I’m not sure if it will hold.”

Reigning champ Dallas Glenn could only muster a 6.670 and fellow title contender Greg Anderson shook the tires. Matt Latino did pose a threat to Hartford but came up a bit short with a 6.635.

Second-ranked Greg Stanfield also made a great run with a 6.639 to earn a single bonus point in what has become a tight points battle.

After two of four sessions, the top of the field includes Hartford, Matt Latino, Greg Stanfield, Erica Enders, Eric Latino, Greg Anderson, Deric Kramer and Jeg Coughlin Jr.