Temperatures have stayed cool, the sun is shrouded by sumptuous layers of cloud, and the racing surface is prepared to offer teams as much or more than it did during Friday’s opening sessions. 

Throughout the professional pits, crew chiefs are adjusting fuel systems, clutch settings, and power levels to take advantage of conditions that could produce the quickest runs of the weekend. 

Friday’s provisional leaders—Doug Kalitta in Top Fuel, Austin Prock in Funny Car, and Matt Latino in Pro Stock—set formidable standards, but none of their positions feels secure. With two qualifying sessions remaining, every team has a chance to climb the order, collect valuable bonus points, and improve its place on Sunday’s eliminations ladder. The clouds have changed the character of this racetrack, the teams are responding, and Brainerd is poised to get very fast.

Kalitta delivers a 3.673 blast to lead Top Fuel Q3 at Brainerd

Doug Kalitta advanced to the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge final against Josh Hart and Maddi Gordon unlocked the right lane with a strong 3.695-second run.

Saturday’s third Top Fuel qualifying session at Brainerd International Raceway looked increasingly like a preview of race day. Racers delivered solid side-by-side performances, reaction times sharpened, and the consistency throughout the field suggested that teams were already preparing for Sunday’s eliminations.

Justin Ashley arrived with one of the session’s most visible changes, removing the canopy from his dragster as his team searched for an improvement in performance through possible weight reduction. Ashley responded with a clean 3.772-second pass at 329.67 mph, adding another competitive run to his weekend.

Tony Stewart opened the quicker portion of the session with a 3.758 at 331.45 mph, while Tony Schumacher followed with a 3.768 at 330.07. Will Smith also made a representative run with a 3.777 at 328.30 mph.

Maddi Gordon became the first racer to fully figure out the right lane. Gordon left nearly alongside Shawn Langdon and powered to a strong 3.695 at 336.99 mph, outrunning Langdon’s solid 3.730 at 331.20. Her run briefly stood as the quickest performance of the session and moved her firmly into the conversation among Brainerd’s leading contenders.

Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge 

The Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge added genuine race-day pressure to the closing pairs. Leah Pruett gained the starting-line advantage over Josh Hart with a .090 reaction time to Hart’s .111, but Hart’s dragster quickly made up the difference. Hart powered past Pruett with a 3.774 at 327.35 mph after Pruett slowed to a 4.786, advancing to the Challenge final.

In the second Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge semifinal, Antron Brown left first with a .049 reaction time against Doug Kalitta’s .054, but Kalitta held all the power to the ground. The reigning world champion stormed through the right lane with a 3.673 at 332.26 mph, one of the quickest Top Fuel runs of the season and a significant improvement over his Friday-leading 3.705. Brown slowed to a 5.910.

Kalitta’s exceptional run gives him lane choice over Hart when the two return for the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge final during Q4. It also sent a clear message: The Kalitta Motorsports dragster that led Friday qualifying has found even more performance on Saturday.

Prock delivers weekend-best 3.881 to win thrilling Funny Car Q3 matchup

Austin Prock defeated Jack Beckman in a marquee Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge race and will meet holeshot winner J.R. Todd in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty final.

Funny Car’s third qualifying session at Brainerd International Raceway began with Jim Campbell making a solid solo run, recording a 4.297-second pass at 215.93 mph as Saturday’s cooler conditions offered teams an opportunity to prepare for race day.

The performances soon began to quicken. Daniel Wilkerson powered to a 3.902 at 322.81 mph, although he left the starting line early with a red-light. In the opposite lane, Bobby Bode completed a clean 3.994 at 308.14.

Cruz Pedregon then delivered his best run of the season, charging through the right lane with a 3.906 at 320.51 mph after Spencer Hyde encountered trouble early and slowed to a 10.796.

Jordan Vandergriff followed with his best performance of the weekend alongside points leader Ron Capps. The two Funny Cars moved around as they traveled down the track, but Vandergriff kept his machine under control and crossed the finish line in 3.917 seconds at 320.05 mph. Smoke appeared to be coming from beneath Vandergriff’s body after the run, while Capps slowed to a 5.958.

Alexis DeJoria and Dave Richards completed their burnouts with 16-time world champion John Force standing near the starting line and watching the pair stage. Both drivers delivered solid, stable runs that looked ready for Sunday eliminations. Richards recorded a 3.927 at 324.05 mph, just ahead of DeJoria’s 3.943 at 324.44.

Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge

The Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge then brought race-day intensity to the final two pairs.

Matt Hagan and J.R. Todd staged for the opening semifinal, and Todd rose to the occasion with a brilliant .030 reaction time. Hagan made the quicker run with a 3.899 at 326.40 mph, but Todd’s starting-line advantage allowed his 3.903 at 327.66 to produce a .0039-second holeshot victory.

The final pair brought together Jack Beckman and Austin Prock, the drivers of two of the quickest Funny Cars of the season. They lined up with the intensity of a championship-deciding final, and then delivered exactly the kind of side-by-side show every race fan wants to see.

Prock grabbed the starting-line advantage with a .059 reaction time and never surrendered it, powering to his quickest run of the weekend—a 3.881 at 327.19 mph. Beckman made a strong 3.926 at 323.81, but Prock’s exceptional pass secured the victory and strengthened his hold on the No. 1 qualifying position.

Prock will face Todd in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge final during Q4. With his 3.881 to Todd’s 3.903, Prock will carry lane choice into the final qualifying session.