NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

For reasons too numerous to mention, the 72nd Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals could be considered the race of the year in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. NHRA’s oldest and most prestigious event, produced so many great storylines that it’s hard to digest them all but we’ve managed to narrow the list to five important things that we learned from the “Big Go”.

PART-TIMERS SHINE ON NHRA’S BIGGEST STAGE

It began on Friday night when Jake Sanders, who operates a small machine shop less than two miles from Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, made an impressive 3.8-sceond, 306 mph run in his Menace Top Fuel dragster. Sanders didn’t made the field in his NHRA debut, but by the end of the weekend, several other part timers secured their spots in the stout nitro fields.

Julie Nataas came into the final session not qualified in Funny Car, but fixed that with a 4.08 in Del Worsham’s Toyota. John Smith also raced on Monday after wheeling his family’s entry to a 4.089. Jeff Arend isn’t a part-timer, but he was able to honor car owner “Big Jim” Dunn with a 4.076 to qualify 14th. Arend also topped 320, a milestone for Dunn.

In Top Fuel, Ida Zetterström made the most of her opportunity with the Bandero team as a teammate to Shawn Reed with a top half qualifying berth while T.J. Zizzo, Jasmine Salinas, and Tripp Tatum also made the field, which included 21 entries and a 3.844-second bump. There isn’t anyone who doesn’t agree that full and competitive nitro fields were a highlight of this year’s Indy.

THE LONG-AWAITED 3-SECOND FUNNY CAR FIELD WILL HAVE TO WAIT

As Tom Petty once famously noted, the waiting is indeed the hardest part, and the three-second Funny Car field that many had expected this year at Indy never seemed to materialize as the final bump spot bump rested at 4.089 with a total of just 10 cars in the threes.

The initial numbers were there with 23 cars on the pre-entry list and the quality of those entries was never in doubt. What spoiled the party was the weather, with several days of 90-plus degree temperatures and high humidity to start the event. That was certainly the case during Friday night’s lone qualifying session. That’s usually the money run, but this year trying conditions stifled performances setting up a competitive field, but not a record bump.

Chad and Hunter Green, Paul Lee, Jeff Arend, Julie Nataas, and John Smith all qualified and all have three second potential, but it simply was not meant to be. There will come a day when it takes a three second run in Funny Car in order to compete on race day, and with car counts on the rise, it may happen sooner rather than later, but it wasn’t Indy ’26.

DRAG RACING HISTORY, HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE

The U.S. Nationals is all about nostalgia and with this being NHRA’s 75th diamond anniversary, there was an extra emphasis on celebrating NHRA’s long heritage of speed, and recognizing those who made it happen, particularly the pioneers who are thankfully still with us.

The list of honored guests included many of the sport’s greatest legends, including “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, Joe Amato, Kenny Bernstein, Richard Tharp, Terry McMillen, Herb McCandless, and many more.

Also honored during the event were drivers named to various lists including the Top 75 Drivers, Top 50 Sportsman Racers, and Top 25 Alcohol Racers.

Additionally, there was Hot Rod Junction, featuring a wide variety of vintage race cars, street rods, and muscle cars, as well as a pair of “Cacklefest” celebrations highlighting a number of vintage nitro burning race cars. In order to continue moving forward, it’s important to remember where you came from and the 2026 edition of the U.S. Nationals did much to reinforce that notion.

INDY GIVETH AND INDY TAKETH AWAY

With 10 U.S. Nationals victories, Tony Schumacher is the undisputed king of Top Fuel at the Big Go, but the eight time world champion never got a chance to compete for Indy win No. 11 as he suffered a rare DNQ. Schumacher’s team surprised him with a throwback paint scheme to honor the Peek Bros. car he first drove in 1999, but Schumacher’s best of 3.883 was well off the 3.844 bump by his teammate, Clay Millican.

Dan Mercier, who has made great strides forward in recent years, also missed the cut, as did Jake Sanders, Krista Baldwin, Lex Joon, and Jacob Opartney.

Funny Car was even more competitive with seven drivers missing the cut including Bobby Bode, Chris King, Blake Alexander, Dylan Winefsky, Justin Schriefer, Dave Richards, and Terry Haddock. Bode and Richard are perhaps the biggest surprises since both have recently been in the thick of the battle at other events.

THE REGULAR SEASON TITLES DELIVER ADDED DRAMA

NHRA’s crowning of regular season champions is relatively new, as this is just the second year that post Indy points leaders have been rewarded with a generous cash bonus, but by all accounts, the program is a big success with both the racers, and the fans.

In Top Fuel, teammate Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon traded the lead back and forth several times this season and even though Langdon won Indy, Kalitta was crowned the regular season champ by a margin of just eight points.

Funny Car was even more competitive with five drivers in the mix coming into the event. Ultimately, Matt Hagan’s final round appearance sealed the deal as he managed to outpoint previous leader Ron Capps by just 27 markers with race winner Jack Beckman in third, just 40 points behind.

The Pro Stock title was decided in the final as Dallas Glenn’s victory was just enough to secure the top spot over KB Titan teammate Greg Anderson, who was the incoming leader. Glenn needed every round win and qualifying bonus point as he topped Anderson by just five points.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle Richard Gadson clinched the title in round two, and even though Matt Smith went on to win the race, his final margin was a robust (by comparison) 69 points.