NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Four-wide drag racing returns to zMAX Dragway outside of Charlotte, N.C., for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, the fourth race of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the only four-wide event of the season.

The event will mark the 24th time that NHRA drag racers have competed four across since the inaugural event at zMAX in 2010. A large enough sample size to understand who has mastered the subtleties of the format that advances the top two finishers of each four-car “quad” into the next round, but requires laser-like focus during a sometimes-confusing staging system.

With four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence, the undisputed king of the format with six wins, not competing this season, the favorite’s role could fall to another four-time world champ, Antron Brown, who has reached the final quad a class-record 13 times in the first 23 four-wide events in Charlotte and Las Vegas and has collected three wins and a pair of runner-ups. The event could be just the salve that Brown and the Matco Tools team need after a pair of first-round losses at the last two events.

Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel teammates Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon, who sit 1-2 in the points standings, have also enjoyed four-wide success. Kalitta has been to the final quad 11 times, while defending event champ Langdon has been there six times and is one of just two drivers to win the four-wide competition in Funny Car (2019) and Top Fuel.

Two-time and reigning NHRA Funny Car world champ Austin Prock — with Langdon the only driver to win the four-wide event in both nitro classes — swept all three four-wide races last season — two in Charlotte and one in Las Vegas — and, like Brown in Top Fuel, could use a get-well weekend after failing to qualify at the season opener and losing in round one in Phoenix and Pomona.

Prock’s trio of four-wide Funny Car wins are matched by Matt Hagan, who is the class leader in final-quad appearances with 13, while reigning points leader Ron Capps has conquered the four-wide format twice in 10 final-quad showings.

Like Prock, reigning Pro Stock world champ Dallas Glenn swept all three four-wide races last year, owns a class-record five four-wide wins overall, and the current points leader has been in the final quad in eight of the last nine four-wide races.

Glenn’s KB Titan teammate, six-time world champion Greg Anderson, has three four-wide wins in 10 final-quad appearances, while his fellow six-time champ, Erica Enders, also has three wins and finished third last season behind Glenn and Anderson at the fall four-wide event in Charlotte.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class returns to competition for the first time since the season-opening event in Florida, which was won by points leader and reigning world champ Richard Gadson. Gadson has been in the final quad of all three four-wide races in his young career and won the most recent, last fall at zMAX, en route to the championship. He was also runner-up at the spring four-wide event there.

Home-state favorite Matt Smith has a pair of four-wide wins, including the inaugural in 2010 and last year’s spring event, while two-time world champ Gaige Herrera also has a pair of four-wide wins, scoring back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.

Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Pro Mod, and the Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown will also compete in the four-wide format this weekend.

The Right Trailers Outlaw Street Series debuts alongside NHRA competition, bringing Street Outlaws stars Shawn Ellington, Ryan Martin, Scott Taylor, and Jeff Lutz to the track for qualifying and eliminations. This brand-new series brings a stacked field of 10 elite drivers, all going head-to-head through three rounds of qualifying on Friday and Saturday, setting the stage for a must-see Sunday showdown.

2025 EVENT WINNERS: Shawn Langdon, Top Fuel; Austin Prock, Funny Car; Dallas Glenn, Pro Stock; Matt Smith, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST EVENT VICTORIES: (current drivers) Antron Brown, 2, TF, Shawn Langdon, 2, TF; Ron Capps, 2, FC, Matt Hagan, 2, FC, Jack
Beckman, 2, FC; Greg Anderson, 3, PS; Gaige Herrera, 2, PSM; Steve Johnson, 2 PSM, Matt Smith, 2, PSM.

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, April 24
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series qualifying at 8:00 a.m. and eliminations 12:00 p.m.
Factory Stock Showdown qualifying at 3:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.
Top Alcohol qualifying at 3:00 pm and 5:45 p.m.
Pro Mod qualifying at 3:40 p.m. and 6:25 p.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 4:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, April 25
NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Top Alcohol qualifying at 11:15 a.m. and 1:50 p.m., eliminations 4:40 p.m.
Pro Mod qualifying at 11:55 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Factory Stock Showdown qualifying at 11:45 a.m. and 2:20 p.m., eliminations 5:15 p.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, April 26
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at noon

TELEVISION

Friday, April 24, FOX Sports 1 (FS1), will televise one and a half hours of qualifying coverage at 7:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 26, FOX Sports 1 (FS1), will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at 11:00 a.m. ET
Sunday, April 27, FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will televise three hours of finals coverage at 7:00 p.m. ET

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.646 seconds by Doug Kalitta, April '25; 341.59 mph by Brittany Force, April '25.
Funny Car - 3.820 seconds by John Force, April. '24; 338.34 mph by Bob Tasca III, April '24.
Pro Stock - 6.455 seconds by Jason Line, Mar. '15; 215.48 mph by Greg Anderson, Mar. '15.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.671 seconds by Gaige Herrera, April '24; 203.49 mph by Eddie Krawiec, May '21.

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.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. ‘23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July ‘21, Sonoma, Calif.