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Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals Saturday preview

If the racers are right — and they usually are — the final day of qualifying at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals will erase much of what was accomplished Friday like an overnight rain shower, as all three low qualifiers insist that their field-leading Friday numbers would not remain atop the field.
11 Apr 2026
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
Race coverage
Winternationals

 If the racers are right — and they usually are — the final day of qualifying at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals will erase much of what was accomplished Friday like an overnight rain shower.

To a driver, all three low qualifiers — Leah Pruett in Top Fuel, Jordan Vandergriff in Funny Car, and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock — predicted that their field-leading Friday numbers would not remain atop the field with ideal weather conditions predicted for the day.

Pruett, who raced her Rinnai dragster to the top of the field on the final pass Friday, says her team is still looking for the type of 3.6-second tune-up that other teams already possess, and that they will take the opportunity of the prime conditions — after two season-opening races with less than ideal track or weather conditions — so expect tuner Neal Strausbaugh to try to flex his muscles to keep the top spot which, with a 15-car entry field, is worth a first-round bye Sunday.

Vandergriff is halfway to what would be his first career No. 1 qualifying position in just his third race in Funny Car after replacing two-time world champ Austin Prock in the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevy this season. The second-generation nitro racer, who grew up in Brea, Calif., not far from the track, is looking for a spectacular outing in his hometown race and the hometrack for the John Force Racing operation.

His 3.951 clocking led the way ahead of teammate Alexis DeJoria as the field’s only three-second qualifiers, but that will undoubtedly change Saturday at a place where the track record is 3.80, set by Prock, whose Tasca Racing Ford is showing signs of life after a slow start to the season.

Anderson, who has won Pro Stock a staggering 16 times at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, had the best run of both qualifying sessions on Friday but guarantees that the field will be shaken up from top to bottom in the kind of conditions that the Pro Stock cars love.

Anderson and his KB Titan teammate, world champ Dallas Glenn, are 1-2 in the field, but Greg and Aaron Stanfield, the father-son duo from the rival Elite camp, are nipping at their heels.

The day will also feature the second Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, rematching semifinalists from the NHRA Arizona Nationals with the winners of the initial pairing then squaring off for points and bonus money.

Top Fuel
Shawn Langdon vs. Maddi Gordon
Leah Pruett vs. Doug Kalitta

Funny Car
Ron Capps vs. Paul Lee
Spencer Hyde vs. Matt Hagan

Pro Stock
Dallas Glenn vs. Greg Stanfield
Aaron Stanfield vs.  Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Stanfield replacing Cody Coughlin)

2025 EVENT WINNERS: Clay Millican, Top Fuel; Jack Beckman, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock

MOST EVENT VICTORIES: Don Garlits, 6, TF; Doug Kalitta, 4, TF (active driver); John Force, 8, FC; Matt Hagan and Ron Capps, 4 (active drivers) Bob Glidden, 7, PS; Greg Anderson, 7, PS (active driver).

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, April 11
Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8:30 a.m.
Top Alcohol qualifying at 2:10 p.m. and eliminations TAD at 5:20 p.m.
Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Pro Stock qualifying at 1:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, April 12 
Pre-race ceremony, 9:45 a.m.
Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at 11:00 a.m.

TELEVISION

SUNDAY, April 12: FS1 will televise one and half hours of qualifying highlights at 11:30 a.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, April 12: FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.628 seconds by Clay Millican, Feb. '18; 338.94 mph by Brittany Force, Nov. ‘22.
Funny Car - 3.804 seconds by Austin Prock, Nov. '24; 341.68 mph by Prock, Nov. '24
Pro Stock - 6.476 seconds by Greg Anderson, March '25; 213.84 mph by Drew Skillman, Nov. '15.

NATIONAL RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading, Pa.; 343.51 mph by B. Force, Sept. ‘25, Indy
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd, Minn.; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona, Calif.
Pro Stock - 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, Mar. ’25, Gainesville, Fla.; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14, Englishtown N.J.