The U.S. Nationals has never cared much about what a driver has done lately. Indianapolis demands something more, and Monday, Shawn Langdon, Jack Beckman, Dallas Glenn and Matt Smith had enough when the sport’s biggest race came looking for winners.
Langdon won Top Fuel, Beckman completed a remarkable Funny Car double, Glenn finally crossed Indy off his list in Pro Stock, and Smith turned a husband-wife final into his fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle victory at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.
Langdon put the finishing touch on a weekend that began with the No. 1 qualifying position, running 3.804 seconds at 333.99 mph to defeat Tony Stewart’s 3.904 at 315.27. The victory was Langdon’s fifth of the season, 27th of his career and third at Indianapolis.
The Kalitta Motorsports driver beat Clay Millican, Justin Ashley, and Leah Pruett before meeting Stewart, who was making his second consecutive U.S. Nationals final-round appearance. Langdon left first with a .048-second reaction time and never surrendered the lead.
“It’s Indy, so it’s exciting for sure,” Langdon said. “For Brian [crew chief Husen] to win his first U.S. Nationals and to step out from working with Alan Johnson the last couple of years and really make his mark makes me happy to be his driver, and that I get the opportunity to be a small piece of his success.
“Also, on top of that, a few of the crew guys, it was their first Indy win, so it was special for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. These are hard to come by and the competition is so good. It’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle, and it’s always great to win Indy.”
Stewart reached the final by beating T.J. Zizzo, Antron Brown, and Langdon’s teammate, Doug Kalitta. Kalitta still left Indianapolis with a sizable consolation prize, securing the regular-season championship, the $150,000 bonus and the No. 1 position entering the Countdown to the Championship.
Langdon owned Monday in Top Fuel, but Beckman owned the weekend in Funny Car.
One day after winning the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout, Beckman returned and ran the table in eliminations. He defeated Jeff Arend, John Force Racing teammate Alexis DeJoria, and two-time defending Indy winner Austin Prock before stopping Matt Hagan in the final.
Beckman ran 3.965 at 327.35 mph in the PEAK Chevrolet SS to beat Hagan, and there wasn’t much mystery about how he got there. Beckman produced the quickest run of every round Monday, including a 3.962 at 327.35 against Prock in the semis.
The weekend also came with a considerable dose of John Force history. Beckman drove a throwback scheme honoring Force’s 1996 championship season.
It was Beckman’s second victory of 2026, 39th of his career and third at the U.S. Nationals. He also climbed to third in the standings heading into the playoffs.
“I could truthfully tell you this is the greatest weekend I’ve ever had holding the steering wheel,” Beckman said. “This was just a phenomenal weekend. This one might be more significant because we did it in John Force’s tribute car. The car ran once and won once, and then yesterday we did the All-Star Callout, and it ran twice and won twice, and then today we start clicking off the round wins.
“We didn’t really benefit from any luck today. We went out there and we dominated every session. In the final round, it was 127 degrees. I rolled in shallow, so the car would have run a 3.96. That’s an exclamation point. Nobody gave us anything this weekend. We went out, and we earned every single win, and it’s the same trophy, but we know how much we kicked butt today.”
Hagan’s trip to the final wasn’t wasted. His semifinal victory over Ron Capps clinched the Funny Car regular-season championship, its $150,000 bonus and the points lead when the Countdown begins in two weeks.
Dallas Glenn arrived at Indianapolis trying to win the U.S. Nationals. By the time he left, he had won considerably more.
Glenn defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock final with a 6.599 at 207.56 mph, earning his first U.S. Nationals victory and, almost as a package deal, his second consecutive regular-season championship.
The scenario changed dramatically when Coughlin eliminated Greg Anderson in the second round. Glenn suddenly controlled his own fate, provided he could finish the job.
He did.
Glenn eliminated defending U.S. Nationals winner Erica Enders to reach the final, then chased down Coughlin for his fourth victory of the season and 25th of his career. The win also delivered the $55,000 regular-season championship bonus and erased one of the more stubborn omissions from Glenn’s résumé.
“It’s been a roller coaster because we’ve been fighting the car a little bit and picking away at it. I was just trying to make sure everything was good going into Indy, and I was just coming in here just trying to win the race,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about points until Jeg eliminated Greg there in the second round, and I was like, ‘OK, well now the pressure’s on to win the regular season championship,’” Glenn said.
“To go into the final round and make another good run to make up for when I went red against Greg Anderson a few years before that, it definitely took a huge weight off my shoulders to be able to check Indy off the list.”
Coughlin reached his first final of the season by defeating Chris Vang, Anderson, and No. 1 qualifier Matt Hartford.
Matt Smith Racing didn’t have to wonder where the Pro Stock Motorcycle trophy was going. By the time Matt and Angie Smith rolled toward the starting line for the final, it was already headed home with the couple.
Matt Smith decided which side of the trailer would claim it.
Smith ran 6.791 at 198.58 mph aboard his Denso Auto Parts Buell to defeat Angie’s 6.834, 194.80. It gave the six-time champion his fourth U.S. Nationals victory, third win of the season and 45th of his career.
Smith qualified No. 1 and eliminated Chris Bostick, Clayton Howey, and reigning NHRA champion Richard Gadson. Angie Smith reached her third final of the season after defeating Kelly Clontz, Geno Scali, and two-time defending Indy winner Gaige Herrera.
The husband-and-wife final was the capper to a weekend in which Matt Smith Racing showed it had found something at precisely the right point of the season.
“We wanted to come up here and win. We wanted to show how good we were, and that we’re ready for this Countdown, and I think we put a point on that,” Matt Smith said. “It’s awesome, man. You know, we worked really hard to get back here.
“We did a lot of testing since Norwalk. We did a lot of tests in Rockingham in these hot, humid conditions. We spent two days down there, just nonstop in 100-degree temperatures, and we learned a lot. We learned stuff with the clutches, and it made us better for here because I was consistent.”
Gadson didn’t get the U.S. Nationals trophy, but his semifinal finish secured the Pro Stock Motorcycle regular-season championship and a $15,000 bonus. The defending points champion will start the Countdown atop the standings as he begins his bid for consecutive titles.
The six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship begins Sept. 18-20 with the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich.
