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.

Heading into the event, Doug Kalitta, Matt Hagan, Greg Anderson, and Richard Gadson are the leaders in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle respectively. Each is in line for a generous bonus should they hold on to the points lead this weekend.

Last year, Justin Ashley, Austin Prock, Erica Enders, and Gaige Herrera experienced one of the greatest thrills in the sport with wins at Indy. This year, the event might just be even more prestigious as part of NHRA’s 75th anniversary, event winners receive a special edition diamond NHRA Wally trophy.

The Top Fuel class is wide open with seven drivers already visiting the winner’s circle this season. In addition to Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, Tony Stewart, Josh Hart, Antron Brown, Leah Pruett, and  rookie Maddi Gordon have won at least one of the season’s first 13 races. There are plenty of other candidates to join that group including Justin Ashley, Shawn Reed, Clay Millican, Tony Schumacher, Jasmine Salinas, and Billy Torrence.

There are 21 Top Fuel dragsters entered for this event so it will take a maximum effort just to qualify for Monday’s final eliminations.

The Funny Car class features nearly the same level of parity as 2026 winners include Ron Capps, Chad Green, Matt Hagan, Austin Prock, Jack Beckman, and first-time winner Jordan Vandergriff. Once again, there are many qualified candidates who hope to join that group including Daniel Wilkerson, J.R. Todd, Spencer Hyde, Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon, Dave Richards, and Hunter Green.  

The Funny car class features a massive field of 23 drivers, meaning that qualifying, particularly during Friday’s lone evening session, will be of the upmost importance.

KB Titan teammates Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn are once again leading the way in Pro Stock, and they’ve built a sizable advantage in the Mission Foods standings.

Anderson and Glenn have won the bulk of the races, but Greg Stanfield and Matt Hartford have also enjoyed success.

Much like the nitro classes, there is a full field in Pro Stock with 21 drivers expected to compete for just 16 spots and one miscue could be disastrous for a team that expects to be in the Top 10.

With the execption of the special Callout event in Sonoma, the Pro Stock Motorcycle class has not raced since Norwalk in June so they are well rested heading into Indy and the final six races of the Playoffs.

Richard Gadson, the reigning world champion, is the incoming leader, but he’s being chased by his Vance & Hines teammate, Gaige Herrera, who is 83 points behind. That’s a big number but since the Indy event offers an enhanced points-and-a-half format, its possible that there is a change at the top.

Another highlight of Friday is the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge, a special event featuring 16 of the best factory Plymouth Barracuda and Dodge Dart factory race cars from 1968. The event is a throwback to the days of the factory muscle car wars.

The U.S. Nationals also features the JBS Pro Mod Series, the FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown, the Right Trailers Outlaw Street class, and a complete roster of Lucas Oil Drag Racing series categories.

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
Friday, September 4
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series eliminations at 9:30 a.m.
Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge 1 p.m.
Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying at 6:15 p.m.
Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 7:30 p.m.

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
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).