NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The regular season for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series concludes this weekend with the running of the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, the sport’s biggest and most prestigious  drag race.

The event is No. 14 of 20 races this year in the Mission Foods NHRA pro series, and it will include racing in 18 separate classes including the professional categories of Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle where the regular season champions will be crowned.

A U.S. Nationals victory is a life-changing event for most racers and there are more than 800 hopefuls who will spend the better part of a week at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in the hopes of clutching a coveted Wally trophy on Monday afternoon.

Not only will the U.S. Nationals decide the regular season champs and set the field for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, there will also be additional opportunities with the Play NHRA Funny Car Allstar Callout and the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which will pit the semifinal finishers from the recent Brainerd event.

In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon is the incoming leader in Top Fuel but his advantage over Tony Stewart and Doug Kalitta is slim. Langdon leads Stewart by 45 points and Kalitta by 51 points at the Indy event, which features a structure of points-and-a-half for pro competitors.

The points battle in Funny Car is not so close as Austin Prock holds a nearly insurmountable 242 point lead over JFR teammate Jack Beckman.

The battle for the top spot in Pro Stock is between KB Titan teammates Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn, who have separated themselves from the rest of the field. Glenn is just 9 points clear of Anderson, which means the regular season title could be decided by qualifying points.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, two-time and reigning champ Gaige Herrera leads the way with a 70 point lead over Vance & Hines teammate Richard Gadson while six-time champ Matt Smith is third, 122 points back.

2024 EVENT WINNERS
Clay Millican, Top Fuel; Austin Prock, Funny Car; Aaron Stanfield, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST VICTORIES
Tony Schumacher, 10, TF; John Force and Ed McCulloch, 5, FC; Ron Capps, Matt Hagan; Bob Glidden, 9, PS; Greg Anderson; Dave Schultz, 6, PSM.

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.640 seconds by Brittany Force, Sept. '22; 337.75 mph by B. Force, Sept. '22.
Funny Car - 3.799 seconds by Matt Hagan, Sept. '17; 338.77 mph by Hagan, Sept. '17.
Pro Stock - 6.529 seconds by Erica Enders, Sept. '24; 211.13 mph by Mike Edwards, Sept. '12.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.746 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Sept. '23; 201.16 mph by Matt Smith, Sept. '22.

NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading; 343.16 mph by Brittany Force, July ‘25, Sonoma
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona
Pro Stock – 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March ’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 ‘22, Sonoma.

EVENT SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, August 29
NHRA Lucas Oil Series Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8:30 a.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 6:15 p.m.

SATURDAY, August 30
NHRA Lucas Oil Series Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m. and 7:15 p.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 12:30 and 3:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, August 31
NHRA Lucas Oil Series Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
Play NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout eliminations at 12:45, 2:15 and 3:55 p.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying at 12:00 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.

MONDAY, September 1
Pre-race Ceremonies at 9:00 a.m.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at 10:00 a.m.

TELEVISON SCHEDULE
SUNDAY, August 31 FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 9:30 a.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, August 31 Fox will televise one and half hours of the Play NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout at 5:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, August 31 FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

MONDAY, September 1 FS1 will televise two hours of round 1 finals coverage at 12:00 p.m. (ET)

MONDAY, September 1 Fox will televise three hours of finals coverage at 2:00 p.m. (ET)