NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It’s been a perfect weekend at Brainerd International Raceway through two days for Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta, as the reigning world champion won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in front of a huge crowd on Saturday and also clinched the No. 1 qualifier for the 70th time in his career at this weekend’s NHRA Brainerd Nationals.

J.R. Todd (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Jordan Vandergriff (Funny Car) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) qualified No. 1 in Brainerd at the 13th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. 

Kalitta made the quickest run in all four qualifying sessions, including a blistering pass of 3.673-seconds at 332.26 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster to open Saturday and qualify No. 1 for the fourth time in 2026. He finished the day with his fifth victory of 2026 in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, defeating Josh Hart in the final round of the bonus race with an impressive run of 3.726 at 329.50.

Following back-to-back wins in Sonoma and Seattle, Kalitta, the defending event winner in Brainerd, has stayed red-hot at a key point, earning all the bonus qualifying points in Brainerd and slipping past teammate Shawn Langdon to move into the Top Fuel points lead. He’ll start eliminations against Cam Ferre, looking to keep up this incredible pace at the perfect point in the season.

“The guys got me running well and I couldn’t be prouder,” Kalitta said. “We’re digging hard. This place is really special. My family has done really well here over the years and I’d definitely like to keep it going.

“Getting the win here last year, the expectations are high to try to do it again. With the momentum we’ve got going, hopefully we can just keep it rolling. Brainerd’s been good to us so far. Alan (Johnson, crew chief) has got my car running well, and all my guys are working their tails off. We’re hungry to do as well as we can, and I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow.”

Rookie Maddi Gordon qualified second with a 3.695 at 336.99, and Langdon took third with a 3.730 at 331.20. In Funny Car, J.R. Todd ensured a Kalitta Motorsports double-up in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday in Brainerd, defeating back-to-back world champion Austin Prock on a holeshot and a run of 3.938 at 321.88 in his 12,000-horsepower DHL Toyota GR Supra.

That comes just weeks after Todd and Kalitta both won in Seattle, as both continued to roll in Brainerd. Prock, the defending event winner, went 3.933 at 323.81, but Todd used a strong .051 reaction time to his advantage, winning the specialty race for the second time this season. With the regular season championship still in play for the past world champion, Todd is thrilled with how his team is performing at a key juncture of the year.

“I always say my mindset is different on Saturday than Sunday, but clearly I need to take that mindset into race day,” Todd said. “I just went up there and tried to hit the Tree as hard as I could. “I don’t want to let my guys down. I say it all the time: They bust their butts and work really hard, and the only way you can pay them back is by turning on win lights.

“Hopefully I can do that again tomorrow when it really counts.”

Jordan Vandergriff made a huge move to close out qualifying, powering all the way to the No. 1 spot with a stout 3.879 at 323.50 in his 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS. Vandergriff continues to flourish in his first year in Funny and his debut season with John Force Racing, with Saturday’s run giving the rising star his third No. 1 qualifier of the season. 

“I stepped on the gas and thought, ‘This thing is going pretty good.’ When I got to the finish line, I knew it felt quicker than anything I’d run all weekend. Turns out it was quicker than everybody,” Vandergriff said.

“That’s a credit to my guys — Chris Cunningham, Jason Bunker and this Cornwell Quality Tools team. They worked hard last night. I don’t know what changes they made because I just drive it, but whatever they did worked, and now we’ve got this yellow hat.” Prock qualified second with a 3.881 at 327.19 and Matt Hagan took the third position after going 3.899 at 326.40.

Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson squeaked past Dallas Glenn in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge thanks to a 6.555 at 209.04 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. That gives the six-time world champion three wins in the bonus race this year and one more thing to celebrate at the facility where he grew up racing. Next up is trying to defend last year’s Brainerd victory.

“I definitely felt like the underdog going up there. He’d been just a tick faster all weekend and I figured he was going to outrun me,” Anderson said. “I thought I was going to have to make the best run I’d made all weekend and I probably made the worst run I’d made all weekend. I did not expect that win light to come on.

“Anytime you get around Dallas Glenn, that just makes you better. I know what he is. I know what that guy is capable of every time he goes to the starting line. We’re very proud of the day we had today.”

Glenn finished in the No. 1 spot in qualifying for the second time in 2026, going 6.535 at 208.10 in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro to open Saturday. Anderson took second and Greg Stanfield qualified third with a 6.550 at 208.55. Glenn will open eliminations against Jeg Coughlin Jr. and the reigning world champion is after his third Brainerd win in the past four years.

“The Q3 run was a really, really nice run. It felt fantastic all the way through,” Glenn said. “I definitely wanted Q4 to feel like that, too, but I think they were trying some stuff and probably need to go back the other direction. I’m sure they’ll look at everything and we’ll make a good run tomorrow.”

Eliminations for the NHRA Brainerd Nationals begin at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway.