Shawn Langdon did his work Friday night. Ron Capps waited until Saturday to make his move, and by the time qualifying ended Sunday at Indianapolis, Capps had more than a No. 1 qualifier to show for it.
Capps moved into the Funny Car points lead while Langdon (Top Fuel), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined him as No. 1 qualifiers for Monday’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals eliminations at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Langdon’s 3.727-second run at 334.98 mph from Friday night survived all five qualifying sessions, giving the former champion his sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season in the Kalitta Motorsports SealMaster dragster.
Nobody found a way around him, although Tony Stewart came closest with a 3.744 at 328.22. Points leader Doug Kalitta qualified third at 3.746 and 335.82.
Langdon enters Monday 68 points behind Kalitta in the battle for the regular-season championship and its $150,000 payout. He needs to make up three rounds and will open eliminations against Clay Millican while chasing 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.”
Funny Car qualifying came with a little more meaning than a yellow No. 1 qualifier hat.
Capps’ 3.914 at 332.18 in the Carlyle Tools/NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra held for the top spot and helped push the three-time world champion past Matt Hagan in the standings.
Capps will take a three-point advantage over Hagan into Monday. Jordan Vandergriff is 12 points behind Capps and J.R. Todd sits 30 back, putting four drivers within striking distance of the regular-season championship.
Austin Prock qualified second with a 3.921 at 317.87, while Jack Beckman was third with a 3.937 at 326.79.
“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.”
Capps has another prize in front of him Monday. He will be trying to win the U.S. Nationals for the third time.
Hartford saved his best work for the back half of Pro Stock qualifying.
The veteran made the quickest run of each of the final three sessions and closed with a 6.572 at 208.97 in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro. It was Hartford’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season.
Hartford, who already has three victories in 2026, will open eliminations against Kenny Delco as he pursues his second Indianapolis victory. He won the U.S. Nationals in 2023.
“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 qualified second with a 6.574 at 208.01. Rookie Cody Anderson also ran 6.574, but his slower 207.91 speed gave the edge to Glenn.
Smith opened the weekend as the rider to beat in Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying, lost the top spot along the way, then reclaimed it when he had his final chance.
The six-time NHRA champion went 6.757 at 200.98 in Q5 to secure his third No. 1 qualifier of the season. Smith will face Chris Bostick in Monday’s first round while chasing his fourth U.S. Nationals victory.
His Matt Smith Racing operation also has numbers on its side. Three of its motorcycles qualified in the top eight, including Angie Smith in the No. 3 position, and Michael Ray also made the lineup while pinch-hitting for Jianna Evaristo.
“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 qualified second with a 6.781 at 198.79, while Angie Smith was third with a 6.787 at 198.50.
Five qualifying sessions settled the ladders. Monday settles everything else, including the U.S. Nationals winners and the regular-season titleists, before the Countdown to the Championship begins in two weeks at Martin, Mich.
Eliminations begin at 10 a.m. EDT Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
SUNDAY FUNNY CAR CALLOUT – BECKMAN ADDS FIFTH INDY SHOOTOUT CROWN WITH FUNNY CAR CALLOUT VICTORY
Jack Beckman already had more than his share of success in Indianapolis’ Funny Car specialty races. On Sunday, he found room for another trophy.
Beckman won the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, defeating Matt Hagan in the final round of the eight-car bonus event during the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.
The John Force Racing driver covered the track in 3.980 seconds at 323.19 mph in his PEAK Chevrolet SS, pulling away after Hagan encountered trouble near the finish. The victory gave Beckman his fifth win in an Indy Funny Car bonus race.
It also kept alive the possibility of an Indianapolis double. Beckman, a two-time U.S. Nationals winner, will return Monday looking for his third victory in drag racing’s biggest event.
Beckman’s day carried an extra connection to John Force. His Chevrolet is adorned with a tribute scheme patterned after Force’s 1996 championship Funny Car, a season in which Force won 13 of 19 races and claimed his sixth NHRA championship.
Beckman made sure the throwback colors were around for all three rounds Sunday.
He opened the Callout by defeating Chad Green, then advanced past J.R. Todd in the semifinals to earn his shot at Hagan. When Hagan faltered in the final, Beckman finished the job.
“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,’” Beckman said. “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.
“We just treated it like race day, and it worked out.”
There is still another race day waiting.
Beckman knows Sunday’s trophy guarantees nothing when eliminations begin Monday. At Indianapolis, where five qualifying sessions and a bonus race precede the U.S. Nationals eliminations, managing the long weekend can be every bit as important as surviving one quick run.
“It’s a long race, and if you can’t handle the ups and downs of that, you’re in the wrong sport,” Beckman said. “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.”
