Fast Jack Beckman – NHRA Photo
BECKMAN TAKES PLAYNHRA FUNNY CAR ALL-STAR CALLOUT AT CORNWELL QUALITY
TOOLS NHRA U.S. NATIONALS
Langdon, Capps, Hartford and M. Smith secure No. 1 spots at The Big Go
INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 6, 2026) – Funny Car’s Jack Beckman won the
PlayNHRA All-Star Callout on Sunday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway
Park for John Force Racing, defeating Matt Hagan in the final round of
the bonus race as part of this weekend’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA
U.S. Nationals.
Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro
Stock) and Matt Smith (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.
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.
Sporting a John Force tribute car this weekend in Indy from his dominant
1996 championship season, the past world champion defeated Chad Green
and J.R. Todd earlier in the day before meeting Hagan in the final
round. Beckman will attempt to sweep the weekend and win the U.S.
Nationals for the third time in his career.
“Our first shootout win was special to get one, and then when you get
two, you’re like, ‘This is awesome,’ and then when I got four, and
then I was done driving [after the 2020 season], I thought, ‘Still
pretty good amount of trophies, more than I ever thought or dreamed I
was going to get in here,’ and to come back into a competitive car
right away, and then to get to close the deal on a day like today is
incredible,” Beckman said. “We just treated it like race day, and it
worked out.
“It’s a long race and if you can’t handle the ups and downs of that,
you’re in the wrong sport. Our performance is measured in thousandths of
a second, so I’m going to try to get a good night’s rest and hopefully
come back a little bit closer to normal tomorrow because I know we’ve
got a car that can repeat.”
Seeking his third career U.S. Nationals victory, Capps jumped to the
provisional No. 1 spot in his 12,000-horsepower Carlye 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
Hagan, 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? You get the four points here instead of three
and yesterday I was like, ‘Wow, we’re already technically at that
point where Hagan was. We had passed him just in qualifying,’ and I’m
not sure I’d ever done that.”
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.
“So the last run we really had to slow everything down, get everything
back in check and get some information for tomorrow. We were able to do
that and feel very confident for tomorrow.”
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, 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. When we went low in Q4,
we knew it wasn’t remotely safe, and that E.T. would probably be in the
bottom half by the time we got done with Q5. I’m just really, really
thankful for my team and how hard they’ve worked to allow this to
happen.”
Dallas Glenn’s 6.574 at 208.01 put him second, while rookie Cody
Anderson took third after going 6.574 at 207.91.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith started qualifying in the No. 1 spot
and finished there five sessions later, moving back into the top
position to close out Sunday with a run of 6.757 at 200.98.
The six-time world champion earned his third No. 1 qualifier of the
season and will open raceday at Indy against Chris Bostick. A three-time
winner at Indy, Smith has a great opportunity to win again at The Big
Go, and with the way the team has performed thus far, an all-Matt Smith
Racing final round is the goal for Monday.
“You know, I’ve won this race three times. I’d like to get a fourth
one,” Smith said. “If I can’t do it, then I want one of the other
three bikes that we have on our camp to do it, and I think we have a
really good shot at doing it. I mean, we have three bikes in the top
eight.
“We came back in Q5 and put it all together. I made a little axle
adjustment and it went right down the track and took the top spot. I’m
totally confident with how we tested at Rockingham coming here with this
kind of weather. I felt good. I’ve felt good all weekend. We’ve just
got to turn on four win lights tomorrow.”
Gaige Herrera took second with a 6.781 at 198.79 and Angie Smith
qualified third after going 6.787 at 198.50.
Eliminations for the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals begin at
10 a.m. ET on Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
INDIANAPOLIS — Monday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the
72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil
Indianapolis Raceway Park, the 14th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission
Foods Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which
ended Sunday. DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel — 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.727 seconds, 334.98 mph vs. 16. Clay
Millican, 3.844, 327.11; 2. Tony Stewart, 3.744, 328.22 vs. 15. T.J.
Zizzo, 3.836, 328.62; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.746, 335.82 vs. 14. Will Smith,
3.828, 325.45; 4. Billy Torrence, 3.767, 329.34 vs. 13. Maddi Gordon,
3.818, 324.67; 5. Leah Pruett, 3.772, 326.24 vs. 12. Josh Hart, 3.812,
323.50; 6. Jasmine Salinas, 3.776, 329.91 vs. 11. Tripp Tatum, 3.805,
308.43; 7. Ida Zetterstrom, 3.778, 330.88 vs. 10. Antron Brown, 3.797,
330.07; 8. Justin Ashley, 3.781, 331.12 vs. 9. Shawn Reed, 3.784,
331.28.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Jake Sanders, 3.862, 306.26; 18. Dan Mercier,
3.873, 314.75; 19. Tony Schumacher, 3.883, 323.19; 20. Krista Baldwin,
3.887, 321.65; 21. Lex Joon, 4.823, 162.53; 22. Jacob Opatrny, 11.406,
74.57.
Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Toyota GR Supra, 3.914, 332.18 vs. 16. John
Smith, Dodge Charger, 4.089, 305.36; 2. Austin Prock, Ford Mustang,
3.921, 317.87 vs. 15. Julie Nataas, GR Supra, 4.089, 309.70; 3. Jack
Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 3.937, 326.79 vs. 14. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.076,
303.78; 4. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.944, 319.45 vs. 13. Paul Lee,
Charger, 4.037, 324.05; 5. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.947, 331.77 vs. 12.
Hunter Green, Charger, 4.024, 313.95; 6. Alexis DeJoria, Camaro, 3.947,
329.26 vs. 11. Chad Green, Mustang, 4.002, 317.87; 7. Jordan
Vandergriff, Camaro, 3.948, 327.59 vs. 10.
J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.981, 327.74; 8. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.970,
319.98 vs. 9. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.974, 321.96.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Bobby Bode, 4.098, 278.58; 18. Chris King, 4.112,
287.96; 19. Blake Alexander, 4.115, 275.39; 20. Dylan Winefsky, 4.119,
308.43; 21. Justin Schriefer, 4.124, 292.46; 22. Dave Richards, 4.130,
312.42; 23. Terry Haddock, 4.922, 162.22.
Pro Stock — 1. Matt Hartford, Chevy Camaro, 6.572, 208.97 vs. 16. Kenny
Delco, Camaro, 6.646, 205.98; 2. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.574, 208.01 vs.
15. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.625, 208.14; 3. Cody Anderson, Camaro,
6.574, 207.91 vs. 14. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.623, 206.51; 4. Chris
Vang, Camaro, 6.583, 206.86 vs. 13. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.618, 207.66;
5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.585, 206.67 vs. 12. Shane Tucker, Camaro,
6.614, 208.52; 6. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.588, 209.36 vs. 11. Jerry
Tucker, Camaro, 6.613, 207.02; 7. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.590, 207.85 vs.
10. Troy Coughlin
Jr., Camaro, 6.604, 208.39; 8. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.590, 207.46 vs. 9.
Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.593, 206.57.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Deric Kramer, 6.661, 206.45; 18. Alan Prusiensky,
6.783, 202.12; 19. David Vaseloff, 6.863, 199.20.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.757, 200.98 vs. 16.
Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.982, 193.24; 2. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.781,
198.79 vs. 15. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.967, 194.04; 3. Angie Smith,
Buell, 6.787, 198.50 vs. 14. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.933, 195.45; 4.
Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.818, 197.86 vs. 13. Marc Ingwersen, EBR,
6.928, 193.54; 5. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.825, 197.57 vs. 12. Malcolm
Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 6.925, 195.08; 6. John Hall, Beull, 6.830, 198.03
vs. 11. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.925, 195.65; 7. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki,
6.861, 196.67 vs. 10. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.893, 196.67; 8. Clayton
Howey, Suzuki, 6.865, 194.77 vs. 9. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.876,
194.30.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Wesley Wells, 7.085, 187.60; 18. Hector Arana,
7.091, 192.17; 19. Mark Paquette, 7.158, 179.83.
INDIANAPOLIS — Sunday’s final results from the PLAYNHRA Funny Car
All-Star Callout at the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S.
Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
PLAYNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout — Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro,
3.980, 323.19 def. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.290, 227.19.
INDIANAPOLIS — Final round-by-round results from the PLAYNHRA Funny Car
All-Star Callout at the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S.
Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
PLAYNHRA FUNNY CAR ALL-STAR CALLOUT:
ROUND ONE — J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 3.981, 327.74 def. Austin
Prock, Ford Mustang, 4.054, 285.17; Alexis DeJoria, Chevy Camaro, 3.971,
330.15 def. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 6.820, 99.19; Jack Beckman, Camaro,
4.253, 252.14 def. Chad Green, Mustang, 6.931, 98.97; Matt Hagan, Dodge
Charger, 3.947, 331.77 def. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.976, 325.22;
SEMIFINALS — J. Beckman, 3.963, 327.43 def. J. Todd, 4.044, 316.97; M.
Hagan, 3.979, 328.78 def. A. DeJoria, 4.530, 191.97;
FINAL — J. Beckman, 3.980, 323.19 def. M. Hagan, 4.290, 227.19.
-NHRA-