Photos by Alex Owens, Auto Imagery
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – KALITTA METHODICALLY GOES ON A TOP FUEL TEAR; VANDERGRIFF INSPIRED THIS WEEKEND IN FUNNY CAR; GLENN, ANDERSON SPLIT LAURELS IN PRO STOCK; TODD STILL ON A ROLL; WORSHAM MOVE CAN HELP PRESERVE TALENT PIPELINE
1 – KALITTA DOES IT ALL IN TOP FUEL – Doug Kalitta is nothing if not efficient.
In about 15 seconds worth of work during two days of Top Fuel qualifying at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals at Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway, he led every qualifying session for the maximum bonus points, won his fourth Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for cash and Countdown points, and regained the lead in the standings, nudging aside teammate Shawn Langdon.
“This place is real special. My family has done really well over the years here, and just definitely would like to keep it going,” he said Saturday after qualifying closed.
Kalitta, last year’s Top Fuel winner here, has three victories in five Brainerd final-round appearances, along with five No. 1 starts.
The Mac Tools dragster driver said, “Getting a win here last year, the expectations are high to try to do it again. But with the momentum we’ve got going on and just hopefully whatever mojo we got going on, we can just keep it rolling. The more you get going, the more real momentum and everything else that happens along with that with your guys. So we kind of feed on one another.”
Kalitta is seeking a third straight victory and the 63rd of his career, hoping to break a third-place tie with Larry Dixon on the class’ all-time-wins list. That would put him within two of second-ranked Antron Brown. Tony Schumacher – Kalitta’s on-track nemesis in the early 2000s when his current crew chief, Alan Johnson, was tuning Schumacher to an astounding number of championships and records – heads the list with 88 victories. Kalitta was nonchalant Saturday about any pursuit of Schumacher’s marks.
“That might be a stretch,” Kalitta said. “That’s a feat. He’s done a hell of a job over the years. It would be cool to be even close to where he’s at, for sure.”
Before he was paired with tuning genius Alan Johnson, there were rumors that Kalitta had considered retiring, weary of the label “best driver to have never won a championship.” But with two titles in the past three seasons, Kalitta’s career is being rejuvenated.
He said he “only dreamt about the opportunity” to be in the position he’s in today: “When Alan first started with us the first year, we kind of struggled. I got about halfway through that season thinking, ‘Hadn’t won a race.’ I’m like, ‘I’d hate to be the driver that didn’t even win a race with Alan Johnson.’ And then it seemed like after about halfway through that season, we started getting things figured out, started winning some races, and then we were able to get that championship in ’23. That was a huge relief. That definitely weighed on me a lot.”
Kalitta added, “It’s one of those deals. Right now, it’s a hell of an opportunity for me. It’s taken a while. I’m one of the older guys out there, and we’re still running good and still trying to get these wins and championships. Another great opportunity this year – we just got to stay cool. It’s a mental game out here. And as long as everything around me that I’ve got going on in my life stays, I’d like to be able to keep going as long as this thing’s going well,” he said.
It’s going super-well at the moment. But he said he’s the “same driver. With this kind of opportunity, you just don’t want to screw it up. That’s been the motto of the last few years. And really, all my guys, we’re all in this together. The pressure’s the same. We were always content and right there, second, second. But it’s certainly been nice to get a car that Alan’s tuning and that thing runs like it does. It’s pretty incredible.”
2 – INSPIRED VANDERGRIFF SHINES – Jordan Vandergriff, completing qualifying at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals within 96 hours of his drag-racing industry-leader grandfather Bob Vandergriff Sr.’s passing Wednesday, marched convincingly to the top of the charts Saturday.
He captured the No. 1 starting position with his fourth and final qualifying attempt and said he just might have had some divine intervention. Maybe his grandpa, an automotive aftermarket leader for several decades, did it with a wink, as the Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro driver for John Force Racing earned a bye run into the quarterfinals in Sunday’s eliminations.
Earlier in the day, when he registered his 3.789-second elapsed time, the Funny Car rookie for John Force Racing said, “My grandfather passed away a few days ago, Bob Vandergriff Sr. He meant a lot to my family. I wouldn’t be here in the NHRA if it wasn’t for him. So thank you to the NHRA for taking such good care of my entire family for so long. And hopefully I can make him proud and honor the name.
“Let me tell you, I did not earn that. My guys earned that. Chris Cunningham, Jason Bunker and my crew, the Cornwall Quality Tools Boys. We struggled yesterday. We made some changes last night, and we came out today. We had two fantastic runs. So that’s all thank you to them,” Vandergriff said.
He added that, in “going through old things this week,” he found the original contract his grandfather signed to work selling advertising for NHRA on Feb. 14, 1970.
“He really pioneered our love for this sport, and he gave us all an opportunity, not just me,” he said. “My uncle, Bob Vandergriff Jr., driving for a long time … my father, Kevin … my aunt Elfie and my uncle Chris, who also has passed. But he provided us with so much. He worked hard. He came from nothing from Missouri and he built a life for himself and a life for us. So I’m very fortunate to have him as my grandfather, and we’ll miss him dearly,” Vandergriff said. “And hopefully I can honor the name.
“His health has been bad for the last few years, and I always wanted to do this with him, and even when I was driving in my rookie year, I wanted him to be a part of this, because he meant so much to what we do out here. And now that I’m with John Force, and John and he had a relationship and a friendship, John would tell me stories about how they used to hang out. I just wish he could be a part of this, and I think if I could say anything to him right now, [it would be] that I love him and just that I wish he was here.”
3 – GLENN, ANDERSON SPLIT THE PRO STOCK HONORS – By 63/10,000ths of a second, Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson eked out a victory in his HendrickCars.com Chevy Camaro, downing KB Titan teammate Dallas Glenn in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.
It was Anderson’s third victory in the bonus race this year and one more thing for the Duluth, Minn., native to celebrate at the facility where he grew up racing. His task Sunday will be to see if he can score back-to-back event victories here.
“I definitely felt like the underdog going up there,” said Anderson, the six-time series champion and 115-time race winner. “[Glenn had] been just a tick faster all weekend, and I figured he was going to outrun me. 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,” Anderson said. “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’s consolation was recording his second No. starting berth of the year. Anderson took the No. 2 slot, and Greg Stanfield qualified third. Glenn will open eliminations against surprising No. 16 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr., a multi-time champion, as he seeks his third Brainerd victory 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.”
4 – FUNNY CAR BONUS RACE VICTORY GOES TO TODD – For the second straight race weekend, Funny Car driver J.R. Todd shared the spotlight with his Top Fuel teammate Doug Kalitta. They were in the winners circle together at Seattle. On Saturday, Doug Kalitta made a clean sweep in qualifying and won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty bonus event, and Todd won the Mission Challenge.
Todd defeated fellow Funny Car series champions Matt Hagan and then Austin Prock to claim the bonus money and Countdown points. And he said afterward, “I always say my mindset is different on Saturday than Sunday, but clearly I need to take that mindset into race day on Sunday. But yeah, I just go up there and try to hit the [Christmas] tree as hard as I could today. I mean, those are two great leavers, and we were fortunate enough to turn on the win light against both of them. There in Q4, it spun pretty good down track, and I did not expect the win light to come on. I figured he [Prock] smoked the tires or something.
“Dickie and Todd [crew chiefs Venables and Smith] are doing a good job adjusting to the conditions. And I’m sure we’re trying to run better than that. It spun pretty good out there. So we know there’s more left in the tank and got some good notes today to work on for tomorrow.”
The Kalitta Motorsports organization has established the pace in Top Fuel, for sure, this season. And Todd is starting to hit his stride in the DHL Toyota Supra. But Todd indicated he’s not borrowing a whole lot of data and strategy from his Top Fuel counterparts.
“All three teams do work together,” he said, “but the dragsters are not necessarily the same as what we run. So there’s only so much data that we can share between the three cars. But yeah, I’ve been very envious of those two cars winning pretty much every Saturday and then a lot on Sunday. So we’re starting to make up our ground and hold up our end, and hopefully we can parlay this into something tomorrow and the rest of the season.”
Todd said, “I don’t want to let my guys down, because they bust their butts. They work really hard, and the only way that you can pay them back is turning on win lights. I don’t really try to go out there and get holeshot wins on Saturdays. I kind of downplay the whole Mission Foods challenges, it being a race. I mean, we’re still qualifying. You’re not staging like you would on Sunday. So it’s just a totally different, for me, driving style. But hopefully I can do that again tomorrow when it really counts.
“It’s kind of situational awareness on Sunday. If you need lane choice, who you’re racing, just got to know what’s going on. Qualifying, you’re trying to stay as shallow as possible so that way you can get as much ET as you can to move up and qualify. Sunday, you’re not worried about that. You kind of just pluck it in there and stage where … it lands where it lands. I’m not trying to dump it in and rob two or three hundredths from the team, but if it’s five thousandths or a hundredth, so be it. And they’re OK with that.”
Todd said, “I’ve had confidence in this team all season long. We just had some minor hiccups there in the middle of the season. We started out really strong at the beginning of the year, probably should have had a couple race wins under our belt. But yeah, I never count ourselves out. I kind of like when no one is talking about us or picking us to win, just to fly under the radar – and here we are.
“If we keep running well, I guess we’re going to have to be in the conversation. But either way, that’s not up to me. That’s up to you guys to decide that. So I just got to do my job behind the wheel, and I know that those guys are going to give me a great car. And my goal coming in this weekend was to win this deal on Saturday, because I knew that if we won this, I think there might be a mathematical shot to win the overall thing going into Indy. So if we can win that one, that’d be cool to get that trophy. I don’t have one of those yet. So yeah, I’d like to get that done. Then maybe try to win three races in one weekend there in Indy.”
Venables said immediately after Todd’s triumphant run, “He saved us. We made decent runs, but he won on a holeshot both runs today. Right now points are super-critical, so we figured we’d need to back off a little bit. We’re not to a point to where we can run 87 or 8 [a 3.87- or 3.88-second elapsed time] right now. We’re just trying to stay within our window and make some runs and learn, but we’re happy.”
Todd said he took some time away from drag-racing mode during the NHRA calendar’s idle time: “I went to Knoxville, Iowa, and celebrated all week long with my buddies out there at the sprint car race. So having three weeks off feels like three months off – t’s too long, in my opinion. But it’s good to be back at the track and still kind of riding that wave, I guess. But overall qualifying, I think we won the run better than what we did. But we made a good run there in Q3. I mean, you can win from anywhere on the ladder, but it’s definitely not easy. And I’m glad that we got one under our belt and hopefully we can get a few more because that’s what it’s going to take to win the regular season championship and the overall championship.”
5 – TESTING THE WATERS, WORSHAM STYLE – Del Worsham showed up at Brainerd with a nitro Funny Car that wasn’t supposed to run like a nitro Funny Car. That was exactly the point.
But in the end, it did run like a nitro Funny Car.
The former NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car champion brought NHRA’s new blown-nitro Top Alcohol Funny Car combination into competition with longtime crewman Jacob Slater driving. What Worsham has parked in the Top Alcohol pits is less about creating another combination and more about rebuilding a ladder into professional Funny Car racing.
“We finally brought this car that we’ve been working on for a couple of years into competition,” Worsham said. “We started this whole thing back in 2024 with some testing and then did some more testing last year with it. And finally this year with the break on our schedule, we were able to bring it out.
“It’s a legal Top Alcohol Funny Car built around a nitro Funny Car spec, a blown nitro Funny Car. It would pass tech right now and I could run an NHRA Funny Car with it. It just wouldn’t be very fast.”
NHRA announced the combination in 2025 for introduction this season. Worsham helped develop it as a way for racers to learn nitro Funny Car equipment and procedures without immediately taking on the cost of professional competition.
The concept reminds Worsham of his family’s move from Top Alcohol Funny Car into nitro racing in the late 1980s. Back then, much of their existing equipment could make the move with them, something no longer practical with a conventional Top Alcohol Funny Car.
“So it’s a gateway car. Still expensive, but still a blown nitro car,” Worsham said. “I would say if you don’t ever plan on going to the big show, this wouldn’t be the car you’d build for this class. But if your end goal is to be a big show car, that’s a hell of a way to get going.”
The combination is limited to 85 percent nitromethane, one magneto and a four-disc clutch without clutch management. The chassis, body and many of its systems, however, are based on current nitro Funny Car specifications. Worsham said the reduced maintenance also makes the car a less-expensive classroom. After 13 runs, he said the engine was still using the same eight pistons.
Slater became the first driver to compete with the combination in Top Alcohol Funny Car, running 5.58 seconds at 282 mph at Brainerd. For a longtime crewman who once considered driving at this level a distant possibility, the gateway has already opened.
When Slater ran a 5.458, 279.96, he blew Worsham’s gateway off the hinges, earning a No. 1 spot and a first-round bye.
“Money runs the world, and I’m just a crew guy, but I’m here doing it in Top Alcohol with the new combo, the first one to ever drive one in the class,” Slater said. “So that’s pretty neat.” – Bobby Bennett
6 – NO BAD JU-JU, NO WAY – The only thing worse than losing is winning and creating bad juju in the pits. Just ask Ron Capps.
Capps won the King of Nitro title at the Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, and he is perfectly content if his fellow nitro racers stick to reading about it. Walking through the Brainerd International Raceway pits wearing the crown and carrying a 70-pound scepter is apparently where he draws the line.
“The crown is actually up in my lounge,” Capps said. “Sometimes you win something or you win a race and you keep the trophy in there, but you sometimes feel like it might jinx you at the next race. But the crown I think is appropriate. The scepter, a lot of people don’t understand. That scepter was pretty cool and it weighed about 70 pounds. That was a legit scepter.”
There might be another reason Capps treasures that crown.
He had to beat teammate Maddi Gordon in the Night Under Fire’s winner-take-all Top Fuel-versus-Funny Car finale. Losing would have given Gordon something considerably more valuable than the crown; that is, bragging rights over the boss for the next 12 months.
“Thank God we beat Maddie or she would have rubbed it in every day for the whole year,” Capps said. “So, yeah, pretty cool.”
Capps doesn’t need much evidence to support that theory. Gordon offered some Friday night at Brainerd after Doug Kalitta beat her on the final run of the Battle for the Axe competition.
Gordon later raised the axe in Kalitta’s direction.
It was in jest – at least everyone assumes it was.
“I can’t even imagine if we had an alternate universe like Marvel or one of those movies where she won, because she would legit, out of the side of her eye, rub it into me every single day,” Capps said. “I guarantee it. And I also couldn’t imagine the crowd noise that would have happened if she would have beat me on that run. So thankfully [crew chief] Guido [Antonelli] had his … He was on it and he threw down, so I was able to get the crown at least for a year.”
Capps admitted a rematch might produce a different result. Gordon ran 3.73 seconds at nearly 340 mph while trying to chase him down, but the staggered start and unfamiliar sound of Capps’ Funny Car launching alongside her worked in his favor.
“So if we did it again, I promise you she would be figuring out a way to leave better and probably would have whooped my ass, honestly,” Capps said.
For now, Capps remains King of Nitro. Just don’t expect him to dress like one.
“I feel like it makes me hungrier to keep and not be reminded of what we have already,” Capps said. “So you would not find me walking around that crown. Definitely not.” – Bobby Bennett
7 – STILL CONNECTED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS – Antron Brown and Justin Ashley have been connected almost from the time Brown arrived in Top Fuel. It was Justin’s father, Mike Ashley, who bought the Matco Tools team and paired Brown with crew chief Brian Corradi when he moved from Pro Stock Motorcycle in 2008.
Years later, Brown returned the favor when Justin Ashley decided to go Top Fuel racing, loaning him the dragster he used to earn his license. Now their lives have crossed paths again, only this time there isn’t a race car involved.
Ashley is a first-time father. Brown is a first-time grandfather.
Ashley and his wife, Ginamarie, welcomed Oliver Bennett Ashley on Aug. 9. Brown’s daughter Arianna and Josiah King recently welcomed Lejynn Reighn King, with Lejynn pronounced much like “Legend.”
For a four-time NHRA Top Fuel champion, the name almost sounds too perfect. Brown insists Grandpa had nothing to do with it.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no. She ain’t Lejynn after me,” Brown said. “It ain’t Lejynn after me. But the thing about it is that it’s a very unique name. And my daughter Arianna and Josiah, they came up with that unique name because they wanted a name that could go for a girl or a boy. So I don’t know if it would’ve been spelled different if it was a boy, but it’s spelled on the feminine side for a girl now. And shoot, man, it’s very, very unique. And the Reighn King, I said, ‘That’s a pretty deal, she’s already a movie star and she ain’t even old enough yet.’”
Brown is also discovering the advantages of his new position.
“I am a proud member of the granddaddy’s club,” Brown said. “It’s one of those days that you don’t forget that little baby girl is so pretty, so precious, and it’s got that different feel. I’m on that granddaddy’s side. I can spoil them and send them back.”
Ashley, meanwhile, spent nearly two weeks at home before returning to the NHRA tour at Brainerd. He said becoming a father has already altered his perspective.
“It’s been such a blessing,” Ashley said. “Just having the opportunity to spend some time with my wife Gina and my son Oliver over the last few weeks already has shifted my perspective. People talk a lot about what it means to have a child and how it’s a difficult thing to explain, and I never really fully understood that until now.”
Ashley figures Oliver will eventually make his first trip to an NHRA race, possibly in 2027. Whether another Ashley eventually finds his way into a race car is another question.
“Probably keep him out of it if I’m being honest, but my dad tried to do the same thing with me, and it didn’t exactly work out,” Ashley said. “But the bottom line is this: As long as it’s reasonable, whatever makes him happy, whether that’s racing or something else, it’s really all we care about.” – Bobby Bennett
8 – I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE, MAN – Top Fuel drivers Leah Pruett and husband Tony Stewart have been on the go since the July 26 Seattle race.
“We may have had three weeks away from racing, but there hasn’t been any downtime,” Pruett said. “Since Seattle, we’ve been to Dodge’s Roadkill Nights in Pontiac, Michigan, where we took part in the Top Fuel and Funny Car burnouts on Woodward Avenue. I also tested a pavement midget, spent last week in Knoxville, Iowa, supporting TSR’s sprint car team at the Knoxville Nationals, and then headed [to Indianapolis] to help Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield kick off Top Fuel testing.”
Pruett, a 13-time Top Fuel winner and 2023 championship runner-up, is back at Brainerd, Minn, where she won in 2019 and was No. 1 qualifier in 2017. Her 2026 season highlights include a victory at the postponed New England Nationals at Bristol, Tenn., a runner-up finish at the Arizona Nationals, two No. 1 qualifying positions (Arizona and Bristol), qualifying in the top half of the field in nearly every event, and consistent race-day execution (she has only one first-round loss).
“Honestly, securing a spot in the Countdown just reinforces our focus on the next two races,” Pruett said. “They are all we have left to be able to get into the best points position available come the start of the Countdown to the Championship at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR in Martin, Michigan,” she said.
After three busy weeks away from competition, Pruett is looking to continue the momentum her Top Fuel team has carried throughout the first 12 races.
“Brainerd International Raceway is ultimately one of the most fun places to race. With clear cool weather, cars can really turn up the heat and lay down killer passes, which makes for great racing,” Pruett said. “There are drivers and teams who partake in the Zoo Campground and celebrate great racing with the fans throughout the weekend. As for me, I’ve been on the go so much, I can’t fathom ‘Zoo-ing it’. I truly only care about getting this Rush Truck Centers dragster in the winners circle and celebrating with the awesome fans after we accomplish that.”
9 – HAGAN READY TO GO TO WAR – Matt Hagan is knuckling down to business, knowing that entering the Countdown to the Championship is a process, and so is the six-race grind itself.
“Securing your spot in the Countdown is always great, however and whenever it comes. That’s what we do this for, to run for a championship. At the end of the day, no one remembers how many races you won. They remember who the champion is,” the TSR nitro Funny Car driver said. “Getting into the Countdown is step one of being able to put yourself in a situation to fight for a championship. It’s time to hone in, especially with points and a half at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. The Funny Car points are tight, especially at the top. A lot can change in one race. We’ve got some work ahead of us, but it’s within our reach.”
He’s fifth in the standings and qualified third behind Jordan Vandergriff and Austin Prock for Sunday’s eliminations that start at 11 a.m. CDT.
10 – THEY SAID IT – “We’re digging hard. We’re just trying to stay running with Shawn [Langdon]. He’s been kicking our butts for a while, but it’s what it’s all about. – Doug Kalitta
“The Mission Foods race is just great, to be able to race somebody on Saturday, and the fans love seeing the competition. So that was a great idea. I don’t know who – I’d definitely take claim to that one. Mission, they do a hell of a job out here. I hope it’s working for them, because we sure appreciate what they do for the series and all of us here. And the chips are good. It’s one of my weaknesses in life, chips and salsa, so they’re perfect for me. – Doug Kalitta
Bobby Lagana: “I wasn’t in The Zoo, I promise. I love you guys. I got the best friends, the guys on the car, Torrence’s and Hoagie and Cupcake and Brooks. Aaron Brooks maybe got a flashlight on my cane. I fell off my BMX bike, a 48-year-old, overweight man riding a bike … I’m an idiot, but God bless – and I love The Zoo. I love this whole place.”
Announcer: “What about the run, though [Billy Torrences’s pass]? Low of the session so far.”
Lagana: “Oh, yeah. I mean, that was spectacular. We’re kind of just throwing darts right now and seeing what sticks.” – Torrence Racing crew chief Bobby Lagana, whose bike chain broke, causing an accident and leaving him hobbling this weekend.
“I want to give a shoutout [about] Bob Vandergriff Sr. Our memory is with him. He supported me for years. May he rest in peace.” – Cruz Pedregon
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – NHRA EXPERIENCE THIS WEEKEND ‘UNMISTAKABLY BRAINERD’; KALITTA, PROCK, MATT LATINO WIN BATTLE OF THE AXE COMPETITIONS
1 – ‘OUR LITTLE PIECE OF PARADISE’ – Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway (BIR) really wasn’t the inspiration for the late Toby Keith’s catchy song that declared, “It’s our little piece of paradise way out here in the woods. There’s always something going on down in the trailerhood.” But it fits.
For this 44th year the NHRA has visited the Minnesota Northwoods, BIR has boasted some non-traditional features. Its storied Zoo campgrounds are a corral of chaos. Most recent Funny Car winner J.R. Todd called the fans who congregate there “some of, if not the, rowdiest fans on the tour. They’re really passionate about us coming there, and it’s a way cool environment. You know they’ll be energetic.”
And what’s more iconic than summertime in Minnesota than … snowmobiles? Yep, BIR has that, too, right on the racetrack to the eighth-mile. For its eight-car field, it drew 10 sleds, for an overflow of entries, which the Funny Car class can’t say this weekend. And these machines with wheeled skis can really go – Anthony Mini of Cottrellville, Mich., got his methanol-fueled, turbocharged, four-cylinder race engine to crank out 163.47 mph in his first run Friday. Then he ratcheted the competition at 168.14 in the second session, about 16 mph faster than his closest challenger. These babies aren’t as slick and quick and Top Fuel dragsters, but they’re no joke.
Oh, and just for fun … What could go wrong with giving adrenaline-hyped race-car drivers an axe? But for the second straight year, the Friday Night Frenzy at Brainerd was about who would get to take home a custom chainsaw-carved axe trophy. The Battle for the Axe was back Friday night. And birthday boy Austin Prock (Funny Car) got one for himself, as did Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Matt Latino (Pro Stock).
During Friday’s second qualifying session, thanks to the tourism organization Visit Brainerd & Baxter, the low qualifiers of the round in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock earned a special cash bonus, plus the fashioned-on-site axe from local woodcarving company “I Saw It In MN.” Fans got to watch the artists work their rustic magic in the Manufacturers Midway throughout the day Friday. The woodcarvers also built a custom NHRA bench at the track, providing a place for the rotating provisional No. 1 qualifiers to sit at the end of the track until they’re replaced.
BIR owner Kristi Copham said, “We are incredibly grateful to Visit Brainerd & Baxter for providing the purse and helping us continue a special Friday night with the Battle for the Axe. It is a fun way to reward outstanding performances on the racetrack while celebrating the community that welcomes us all weekend.”
And of course, every northern Minnesota event would be incomplete without – in this case courtesy of the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce – an appearance by Babe the Blue Ox, the legendary companion of Paul Bunyan. Naturally, it was only appropriate that BIR’s own Nitro Babe would show up.
In Copham’s words, it’s “unmistakably Brainerd.”
3 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME – Tentative No. 1 Funny Car qualifier Austin Prock reminded everyone that he is the current and two-time class champion, despite his shaky start to the 2026 season. And now that he and crew chief father Jimmy Prock are starting to understand their Bob Tasca-owned Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang, Prock’s confidence is starting to return. He used a 3.893-second blast at 329.91 mph to win the Battle for the Axe. He won at BIR last season, and naturally, he would like to capture a second Brainerd victory for his second victory of the year for his new team.
He focused on how far he and the team have come since he began the season in 17th place.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished this season,” he said.
After a breakout semifinal finish at Chicago, Prock won at Maryland. He followed those outings with consecutive semifinal showings at Bristol, Norwalk, and Sonoma, and capped it with a runner-up performance at Seattle.
“Now we’re creeping up on fifth going into the Countdown. A lot of progress has been made,” he said. As for Friday’s performance, Prock said, “We figured if we ran between an .87 and an .89, we’d have a pretty good shot at being the No. 1 qualifier, and we did that. It was a good way to end my birthday here in Brainerd.”
4 – LATINO REBOUNDS FROM Q1 TROUBLE – Matt Latino is the top Pro Stock qualifier overnight, but it was no breeze. He was unable to make a run after his burnout in the first session, because, he said, he had no left front brake. In the second session, he posted a 6.588-second elapsed time and had to stew through six more pairings to learn whether that would be enough to win the Battle for the Axe and the tentative No. 1 spot in the order. Current class champion Dallas Glenn matched Latino’s time, but Latino was faster, at 207.21 mph to Glenn’s 206.29.
“The car was darting to the right. Played it safe. Shut the car off. Backed it out. Live to fight another day,” he said. “And to sit here for the entire session, my heart rate was up-down, up-down. Praying for this axe, and we got it.
“KB Titan Racing [is] getting this thing dialed right in, running straight to the top. Couldn’t be more excited,” he said. “Got my family back at home, watching. I hope they’re proud.”
4A – SCARY MOMENT – Matt Hartford is 13th in the Pro Stock order, but he’s just happy to be in the order at all – or in the race car at all, for that matter. Hartford suffered a medical emergency, reportedly a scare with food stuck in his throat, Friday, but he was cleared to race. He missed the first qualifying session but made a pass in the evening session.
5 – TOP FUEL LEFT THEM WANTING MORE – Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield finally made their first hits in a Top Fuel car earlier this week during a private test session at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Both dyed-in-the-wool Pro Stock racers left the experience wanting more.
For Enders, the six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion, the biggest surprise wasn’t what happened when she stepped on the throttle. It was what happened farther down the racetrack when the clutch began applying and the dragster kept accelerating.
“It’s definitely a really big learning curve,” Enders said. “I’m super fortunate to have Tony [Stewart] and Leah [Pruett] in my corner, helping teach Aaron and me how to drive and getting to work with people like Mike Green and Joe Barlam and the guys that work on the car. They made it way more comforting, but I will say there’s nothing comforting about feeling like you’re getting in a bomb – but it was very cool,” Enders said.
The test was the latest step in a Top Fuel plan Elite Motorsports owner Richard Freeman first floated publicly in June 2024. During an appearance on Joe Castello’s WFO Radio, Freeman said he intended to field a Top Fuel dragster with Enders as the driver, news Enders learned about along with everybody else.
She laughed it off then. Freeman, however, wasn’t joking.
By September 2025, Freeman announced Tony Stewart would join Elite’s newly formed Top Fuel operation for 2026, with Enders and Stanfield expected to begin testing during the summer.
This week, summer testing became reality.
Enders has driven dragsters before, including five years in Super Comp and what was then known as Quick 32 before Top Dragster became an established category. Nothing in those cars, or her years in Pro Stock and Pro Mod, quite prepared her for what happened after the Top Fuel car was already moving.
“It’s when the clutch comes in,” Enders explained. “Then it just keeps pulling from that point on. And it takes your breath, your vision changes. We both joked and said that they totally undersold how fast it is out there. Not on the starting line, but out there.”
Stanfield came away with much the same assessment.
His first target was roughly 300 feet, enough to begin learning the procedure without trying to digest an entire Top Fuel run at once. The real education started as the clutch came in.
“You can be as prepared as you want, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for that. You just got to go feel it and not screw up in the process of feeling it,” Stanfield said.
Stanfield progressed quickly enough that one more successful run could have completed his licensing requirements. Instead, he smoked the tires on his fourth attempt.
The unfinished business didn’t diminish his appetite.
“Oh, man, it would be something special to get to do this,” Stanfield said. “Believe it or not, I’m not a spoiled rich kid. I do work for a living at our family’s engine shop, and I’ve grown up around racing and in an engine shop, so I know what hard work’s all about. So for somebody like me to have the opportunity to get to drive a Top Fuel car is pretty special.”
More testing will depend on Stewart’s racing schedule, available parts, and opportunities around the NHRA Countdown.
“We’re not in any sort of a rush, but we definitely … Aaron and I definitely want to make some runs,” Enders said. – Bobby Bennett
6 – ‘YEAH, WE’RE COMIN’ – Elite Motorsports crew chief Chase Freeman has signaled that the Pro Stock quintet of Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Aaron Stanfield, Troy Coughlin Jr., are ready to help teammate Greg Stanfield use their new Jarry Haas chassis to disrupt the KB Titan Racing team’s comfort zone. Greg Stanfield has been racing the chassis all season, and he is 1-1 in back-to-back finals at the past two events (Sonoma, Seattle). With just two first-round losses, Greg Stanfield also has scored a No. 1 qualifier, six semifinal finishes, and a Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory.
“Testing was successful. We absolutely have race cars that can qualify in the top half and win on race day,” Freeman said. “Plus, paired with our driver line up? Yeah, we’re coming.”
KB Titan won the first five races this season and six of the first seven. Elite has made a comeback, winning two of the past three, thanks to the father-son duo of Aaron and Greg Stanfield.
Elite Motorsports used the three-week break in the schedule to prepare the new chassis and conduct a promising test session at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Jerry Haas earned his reputation as a top-rate chassis builder through his own driving career and receiving feedback from his clients. And Jerry Haas Race Cars has earned an unprecedented 12 Car Craft Magazine All-Star Drag Racing Pro Stock Team Chassis Builder Awards in the past 40 years, dating back to 1986. He’s known for his state-of-the-art four-link rear suspensions and other innovations.
7 – GREEN DROPS TO ONE CAR FOR THIS RACE – Chad Green Motorsports usually fields two Funny Car entries, with Blake Alexander and Hunter Green sharing the second car. But this weekend, with an eye toward September’s U.S. Nationals and the start of the six-race Countdown to the Championship, team owner Chad Green decided to pare the operation to one car this weekend.
Chad Green, who has been relatively quiet since winning the season-opening Gatornationals in March and the Joliet race in May (defeating Alexis DeJoria in the final round both times), said, “We thought running one car at Brainerd would help us as we collect parts for the Countdown. We’ll test on Monday to try some additional parts for the U.S. Nationals. We have been running some consistent times lately, but we haven’t gotten to the final round recently. That is our plan at Brainerd – looking for that third 2026 win now.”
He has lost in the opening round at the past two races, both times to Paul Lee.
His son, Hunter Green, is expected to drive the second entry – the Bond Coat Dodge Hellcat – at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.
8 – CHANGING IT UP – Thirteen races into the season, Top Fuel driver Justin Ashley and crew chief Tommy DeLago were not satisfied with where their SCAG Top Fuel dragster stood. With the Countdown to the Championship closing in, they have started changing variables in search of better results.
This weekend, the cockpit became the first significant change.
Ashley arrived at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals driving an open-cockpit dragster for the first time in his Top Fuel career. He had not raced without a canopy since his days in Top Alcohol Dragster.
The move isn’t being sold as a cure for everything that has frustrated the team this season. Ashley and DeLago see it as one less variable to fight, particularly when every pound and its location on a Top Fuel dragster can influence what crew chiefs can do with the tune-up.
“This is not the answer or the end all/be all, but I think for us it eliminates another variable,” Ashley said. “When you look across the field, I think it provides data and information, and you see the cars that I believe – and we believe – are running the best are the open cockpit cars. And then the canopy cars that are running better not always, but generally have lighter drivers in the seat. So I do think that matters.”
The change removes approximately 20 to 25 pounds from an area Ashley said he believes is especially important. In a class where teams search for small advantages with the championship approaching, carrying less weight around the driver’s compartment gives DeLago another option.
“You talk about eliminating 20 to 25 pounds and how much that means for a race car, but it eliminates that 20 to 25 pounds right in the middle of the race car where the driver is, which is the most important area where you want to do that. So this is not an end all, be all. It’s not the answer, but we believe that it’s another way of eliminating a variable that should help. And we want all the variables that we can to be in our favor as we get toward the Countdown and compete for championship.”
The early returns at Brainerd didn’t hurt the argument. Ashley was fourth quickest after Friday’s two qualifying sessions, running 3.743 seconds at 333.99 mph. – Bobby Bennett
9 – WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES – A year ago at Brainerd, Jordan Vandergriff was stepping back into the seat of a Top Fuel dragster for the first time in more than five years, substituting for the injured Shawn Reed. Just to be asked to drive again, to race again, was monumental. But when he won his Round 1 match-up against Kyle Satenstein, it was a pivotal moment in his career.
“It was a long time out of the seat, and I was just so honored and excited to get back in the seat at Brainerd. I had never driven at Brainerd before and, looking back on it, it was the best weekend of my life up to that point. I was getting the opportunity to drive again. I still thank Shawn Reed and Shawn Reed Racing for the opportunity,” Vandergriff said. “I think it opened a lot of eyes when I won that first round in Brainerd. I think people realized, ‘Hey, maybe he can do this still’ – and I proved to myself that I can still do it. Deep down, I knew I could, but you never know until you get back in. So, winning that first round proved to a lot of people and to myself that I still had it.”
He said since then, “my life has changed drastically in an extremely positive way. Last year in Brainerd was good. Now, coming into Brainerd with John Force Racing, our goal is to make this year even better by coming home with the Wally.”
Vandergriff took to the track Friday just two days following the passing of his 84-year-old grandfather, automotive aftermarket titan Bob Vandergriff Sr. Though racing through such a tough time, he has tried to stay focused for his team.
He’s ranked No. 4 in the standings, 54 points off leader Ron Capps’ pace but only 12 points out of third place and 17 out of second – optimistic about the points-and-a-half U.S. Nationals (which is sponsored by his sponsor, Cornwell Tools) coming up Sept. 4-7. Vandergriff said he has trusted he would be in the championship conversation since the beginning of the year.
“I think, maybe delusionally, I did. I had confidence in myself, in Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker and this entire Cornwell Quality Tools Funny Car team. I knew if we hit the ground running, like we did in preseason testing, we were going to have a good shot at it,” Vandergriff said. “At John Force Racing, we have everything we need to win and be competitive, so I think I knew that we’d be near the top. Now that we’re here, within striking distance of first place, I think it’s a little more real now. I think we’re exactly where we should be. We’ve won two races and I think we are a top contender for not just the regular-season championship, but the overall championship, as well.”
10 – STEWART BECOMES ADVISOR – As if Tony Stewart, a two-car nitro team owner and Top Fuel driver for another operation, needed more work, he has taken on yet another task. He has agreed to be a special advisor to third-generation racer Matt Seymour.
The Marlborough, Mass.-based Seymour, whose multi-car team has made its mark in the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA), wants to take his program to the next level, with particular emphasis on next January’s 41st annual Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa, Okla.
“I have a ton of respect for people who build something from the ground up and keep pushing to make it better, and that’s exactly what Matt has done with his race team,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of ambition there, but also a willingness to listen, learn, and put in the work. I’ve been fortunate to see racing from a lot of different angles, and if some of those experiences can help Matt and his guys take the next step, I’m happy to be a resource for them.”
Stewart, a two-time Chili Bowl winner (2002, 2007), has 12 A-Main starts in 14 career Chili Bowl appearances, and three podium finishes, four top-fives, and seven top 10s. In recent years, Stewart has helped with track preparation inside the SageNet Center, turning laps on a tractor instead of a midget.
Seymour said Stewart “brings unique perspectives backed by an incredible amount of experience, and what’s really valuable to us is how he thinks about racing and how he prepares. He sees things we might not see and asks questions we might not think to ask. That’s especially important with the Chili Bowl, because there are so many variables and so many things that have to come together over the course of that week. Having Tony look at our program from the outside and challenge us on where we can be better is an incredible opportunity for our team.”
Seymour, 29, is the son of 1987 NEMA champion Bobby Seymour and the grandson of legendary car owner “Boston Louie” Seymour, a 2004 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee. His uncle, Mike Seymour, was the 1994 NEMA champion.
Stewart raced against both Louie and Mike Seymour as he began his climb up the racing ladder. In a full-circle moment, Stewart drove for Matt Seymour Racing in the inaugural Bentley Warren Classic All-Star National Pavement Midget Series race Aug. 6 at Plymouth (Ind.) Motor Speedway.
“I’ve known the Seymour family for a long time, and I’ve had the privilege of driving for them in the past, so to get in one of Matt’s cars all these years later was pretty cool,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of history behind this team, but Matt isn’t just relying on the family name. He’s putting his own stamp on it and trying to take it somewhere it hasn’t been before. I respect that. Racing has given me a lot over the years, and being able to share some of what I’ve learned with somebody who cares about it as much as Matt does is a great opportunity for me, too. It’s an honor to work with Matt and his team.”
