Antron Brown finally put an end to Shawn Langdon’s domination of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship on Sunday at Texas Motorplex. And while Brown was busy ending one winning streak, J.R. Todd was keeping his Funny Car championship hopes alive by taking down the man everyone is chasing.
Brown, Todd, Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) emerged as winners at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, the fourth of six Countdown events. With two races remaining, Glenn produced a shakeup in Pro Stock and gave several championship contenders reason to believe their title hopes aren’t finished.
Brown’s second victory of 2026 came with a 3.706-second pass at 335.75 mph after rookie Maddi Gordon red-lighted in the Top Fuel final. It was Brown’s 83rd career victory and fourth at Texas Motorplex, but his most significant accomplishment came one round earlier.
That’s when Brown eliminated Langdon, ending the points leader’s four-race winning streak and perfect run through the Countdown. Brown also defeated Dan Mercier and Leah Pruett, while Gordon reached her third final of the season after eliminating Shawn Reed, Doug Kalitta, and Justin Ashley.
“This class is really intense right now, and we know we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Brown said. “The class was dropping bombs out there today, but that Matco Tools horsepower came through, and we went 301 mph to half-track in Round 2, so we’re definitely getting the combination figured out.
“I like where we are, I like where we’re heading, and we’ve got to keep going. Our main focus is that we go into these races with confidence, and we know that we can compete, and we know we can win. Once this team gets a little motivation and drive and gets some confidence, we’re a tough competitor to compete with.”
Langdon still holds a 139-point advantage over Kalitta, with Brown third, 224 points behind. The streak is over, but Langdon remains firmly in control of the championship race.
Todd made his own statement in Funny Car, defeating points leader Matt Hagan with a 3.931 at 331.76 mph to earn his 24th career victory. The Kalitta Motorsports driver eliminated Spencer Hyde, Alexis DeJoria, and Ron Capps before denying Hagan his latest opportunity to extend an already substantial championship advantage.
“This is special in so many ways. It’s tough to get a win, period, especially in the Countdown, and Matt Hagan’s been making it really hard for everybody in the category,” Todd said.
“Those guys are hard to get by, and to do it here, in Dickie [crew chief Venables] home state, and running [against his previous team] means a lot to me to beat them in the final. I’m proud of my guys, and now we’ve got to execute in these last two races, but either way we’re going to enjoy this.”
Todd moved into third place, 119 points behind Hagan, while Jordan Vandergriff remained second, 98 points back. Todd also joined Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, and Mike Dunn as the only drivers to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at Texas Motorplex.
In Pro Stock, Glenn turned a record-setting qualifying performance into his fifth victory of the season and reclaimed the championship lead. After establishing a national elapsed-time record of 6.434 seconds Saturday, Glenn defeated Stephen Bell, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and teammate Greg Anderson on Sunday before stopping Matt Hartford with a 6.478 at 212.30 mph.
“Matt Hartford’s an extremely tough competitor, but I knew my car was fantastic,” Glenn said. “I knew that we had a little bit left in it from the semis, and even if I did lose, it’s still going to be a fantastic day with points. It’s basically what I had planned on doing coming into the day, and I’d only going to be six points back. [Points leader Greg Stanfield’s first-round loss] was huge. When he does well and you know that you’re going to have to race him the next round, it adds a different pressure, but when a mistake happens like that, you know you have to capitalize.
“Anytime you win a Countdown race, it definitely sticks with you. To go up there and know that you’re going to have the opportunity in the weather conditions to be able to set a national record, to make a fantastic run in the right conditions and have the fastest car every single run.”
Glenn’s second consecutive Dallas victory moved him 14 points ahead of Greg Stanfield, while Hartford remained third, 41 points behind. With two races remaining, Pro Stock has become the tightest championship battle among the four professional categories.
Matt Smith delivered Sunday’s closest championship statement in Pro Stock Motorcycle, beating points leader Richard Gadson on a holeshot. Smith’s .006 reaction time allowed his 6.660 at 203.08 mph to hold off Gadson’s quicker 6.654 at 203.79. Gadson’s reaction time was .033.
“When you’re running that other camp like that, you’ve got to get up on the wheel and go,” Smith said. “I knew in Q4 I went .008 against Richard, so I set my clutch and my switch right back to that, and it went up there and went .006, so I knew where I needed to be. I just didn’t know if I had the bike to beat them. I made one little tune-up change from the semifinals, and she was trucking and went 6.66, so it all paid off.”
Smith’s fourth victory of the season and 46th of his career moved him into third place, 85 points behind Gadson. The reigning champion leads teammate Gaige Herrera by 58 points heading into Las Vegas.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Oct. 29-Nov. 1 with the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
