Politixia
(Photos by Kim Fuller & Gary Nastase) • Shawn Langdon in Top Fuel, Ron Capps in Funny Car, Matt Hartford in Pro Stock and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle all qualified No. 1 in Indianapolis at the 14th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD won today’s PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Call Out and all four John Force Racing teams qualified solidly for Monday’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Beckman, driving the PEAK Chevrolet sporting the black-and-white flame job special paint scheme honoring John Force’s dominant 1996 championship, defeated Matt Hagan in the Call Out final round with a run of 3.980 seconds at 323.19 mph to Hagan’s 4.290-second run at 227.19 mph. It was Beckman’s fifth career Funny Car All-Star race victory at Indy (2007, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2026). The PEAK SQUAD defeated Chad Green in Round 1 and J.R. Todd in the semifinal of the Call Out.
Beckman went 3.980-seconds at 323.19 mph in the final round of the Callout in his 12,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet SS, powering past Hagan, who slowed at the finish line. Remarkably, it also gives the veteran his fifth victory in the Indy Funny Car bonus race.
Seeking his third career U.S. Nationals victory, Capps jumped to the provisional No. 1 spot in his 12,000-horsepower Carlyle Tools/NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra with a 3.914 at 332.18. It sent Capps back into the points lead on what could be a wild Monday at The Big Go. Austin Prock took second with a 3.921 at 317.87 and Beckman took third with a 3.937 at 326.79.
Monday will also determine the regular season championship and the $150,000 payout, with Capps currently holding a three-point lead over Matt Hagan (above), with Jordan Vandergriff and Todd 12 and 30 points back, respectively.
“In our book, we felt like we should win the regular season,” Capps said. “Our plan coming into qualifying was absolutely to try to get those little points. But who does it ever? Not very often. I promise you that if you walked into anyone’s trailer and they had that written as their goals – every crew chief, driver, team member had that thought. Like, but could you do it?”
In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon’s Friday run proved to be the best of all five sessions as the past world champion took the No. 1 spot for the sixth time this season thanks to his run of 3.727 at 334.98 in his 12,000-horsepower SealMaster dragster for Kalitta Motorsports.
Langdon will enter raceday 68 points behind teammate Doug Kalitta, needing to make up three rounds on Monday at The Big Go to win the $150,000 and the regular season championship. A victory at Indy would help his chances and he’ll open raceday against Clay Millican, looking for his third U.S. Nationals victory.
“Yes and no that I thought the No. 1 would hold,” Langdon said. “I thought there could be an opportunity for someone else to take it. It was a good run for Friday night, but we weren’t really satisfied with that. We obviously wanted to do a little bit more, but we were just trying to see what we could get away with, and we weren’t able to do that Saturday.”
Tony Stewart clinched the second spot with a 3.744 at 328.22 and Kalitta took third after going 3.746 at 335.82.
Pro Stock’s Matt Hartford came on strong to close out qualifying at Indy, making the quickest run over the final three sessions, including a strong 6.572 at 208.97 to end the day in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro.
It’s the first No. 1 qualifier of the season for Hartford, (near lane) who is after his second Indy victory after winning in 2023. He’s on a strong pace to be in contention on Monday and will open raceday Kenny Delco. Hartford already has three wins in 2026, but an Indy win during NHRA’s 75th anniversary season would certainly be special.
“It just feels great that our entire team is making some good decisions in the trailer before we roll up,” Hartford said. “The weather conditions that we started with from Friday to today are completely different, but we knew that when we got here that Sunday Q4 and Q5 were going to be the two best sessions.”
Dallas Glenn’s 6.574 at 208.01 put him second, while rookie Cody Anderson took third after going 6.574 at 207.91.
Eliminations for the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals begin at 10 a.m. ET on Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Television coverage includes eliminations at 12 p.m. on FS1 on Monday, shifting to FOX at 2 p.m Eastern Time.
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