Jordan Vandergriff didn’t just leave Sonoma Raceway atop the Funny Car qualifying order Friday. He left with the quickest Funny Car pass of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Vandergriff powered his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to a track-shaking 3.849-second pass at 332.43 mph during the opening pair of the evening session, a run none of the remaining Funny Car field could touch before qualifying ended at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge.
The performance also earned the John Force Racing rookie the $4,000 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus and put him in position for what would be the second No. 1 qualifier of his young Funny Car career.
“To be the quickest Funny Car of the year so far is a huge accomplishment, especially with how competitive this class is. And I’m a rookie—I don’t even know what I’m doing yet,” Vandergriff said. “We fumbled a little in Q1, but I knew we had something figured out. The early numbers looked really good, so I believed we were going to run quick no matter when we went down the track.
“I knew the team wanted to push a little. We’ve run well this year, we’ve won a race, we’ve qualified No. 1 before, but we hadn’t really leaned on it. Tonight we did. I knew we were going to run well. I just didn’t know we were going to run that good.”
Jack Beckman gave John Force Racing two of the top three positions with a 3.873 at 333.16, while Daniel Wilkerson closed Friday third after a 3.899-second effort.
Top Fuel qualifying turned into a one-shot affair after an oildown during the second session forced NHRA officials to end racing because of Sonoma Raceway’s curfew. That left reigning world champion Doug Kalitta’s opening-session blast of 3.714 seconds at 337.07 mph standing as the provisional No. 1 effort.
Kalitta also claimed the $4,000 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus for the second consecutive season at Sonoma, though he admitted his Kalitta Motorsports team believed an even quicker run was waiting had the second session been completed.
“That first run was definitely a close one. At the time, you don’t realize it’s going to hold up, but it was enough to get us the No. 1 spot,” Kalitta said. “It was disappointing not to get the second session in. Alan Johnson definitely didn’t have that car tuned to run a 3.71 — we were planning to throw down something even quicker.
“Tomorrow’s conditions should be just as good, maybe even better. I think we’ll have a chance to improve on those numbers. It’s Sonoma, one of my favorite tracks. Every time we go up there, we’re trying to do the best job we can.”
Points leader Shawn Langdon matched Kalitta’s elapsed time with a 3.714 but settled for second after crossing the finish line at 336.49 mph compared with Kalitta’s 337.07. Tony Stewart rounded out the top three at 3.736 seconds.
Chris Vang may have produced its biggest surprise.
The second-year Pro Stock racer outran a field packed with world champions and national event winners, driving his Prestige Trailers Chevrolet Camaro to a career-best 6.498-second pass at 209.04 mph for his first provisional No. 1 qualifier.
The run earned Vang the $2,500 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus and positioned him to chase the $2,000 GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award on Saturday. For a driver making only his fourth start of the season, it represented another milestone in a rapidly developing career.
“It’s exciting. Pretty amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it. We came in here just hoping to qualify, and now we’re sitting No. 1,” Vang said. “We knew we had something to work with after the first session. We threw a little more at it, hoping to run in the 6.50s or maybe the high .49s, and we ended up right where we wanted.
“This bonus helps a lot. We’re trying to run about seven more races this season, and every little bit matters for a team like ours. We didn’t get everything out of that run. It was really good, but there’s still more in it.”
Rookie Cody Anderson narrowly missed stealing the top spot with a 6.499 at 210.54, while Erica Enders qualified third at 6.503.
Friday also finalized the opening-round matchups for Saturday’s GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout. Top seed Gaige Herrera selected Steve Johnson, Richard Gadson called out Chase Van Sant, defending Callout winner Matt Smith chose Jianna Evaristo, leaving Angie Smith to square off with John Hall.
Matt Smith also collected the $1,500 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus after posting Friday night’s quickest Pro Stock Motorcycle run.
Qualifying resumes Saturday with two more sessions, while the opening round of the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout begins before the final qualifying runs as teams continue chasing the top spots heading into Sunday’s eliminations.
 Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 38th annual DENSO Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge at Sonoma Raceway, 11th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.714 seconds, 337.07 mph; 2. Shawn Langdon, 3.714, 336.49; 3. Tony Stewart, 3.736, 333.91; 4. Tony Schumacher, 3.744, 293.73; 5. Maddi Gordon, 3.751, 336.49; 6. Jasmine Salinas, 3.751, 331.77; 7. Josh Hart, 3.763, 336.82; 8. Leah Pruett, 3.772, 327.98; 9. Antron Brown, 3.784, 324.59; 10. Billy Torrence, 3.803, 328.06; 11. Shawn Reed, 3.850, 315.34; 12. Will Smith, 3.893, 275.73; 13. Justin Ashley, 4.122, 225.82; 14. Clay Millican, 4.203, 206.16.
Funny Car — 1. Jordan Vandergriff, Chevy Camaro, 3.849, 332.43; 2. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.873, 333.16; 3. Daniel Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 3.899, 327.66; 4. Ron Capps, Toyota GR Supra, 3.900, 330.07; 5. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.903, 321.12; 6. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.915, 325.92; 7. Alexis DeJoria, Camaro, 3.917, 329.26; 8. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.934, 321.81; 9. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.939, 332.10; 10. Dave Richards, Mustang, 3.966, 329.50; 11. Hunter Green, Charger, 4.006, 320.97; 12. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.019, 315.27; 13. Jason Rupert, Mustang, 4.048, 316.67; 14. Austin Prock, Mustang, 4.050, 316.52; 15. Tim Gibbons, Charger, 4.081, 297.55; 16. Paul Lee, Charger, 4.208, 219.79.Â
Not Qualified: 17. Dylan Winefsky, 4.450, 196.93; 18. Cruz Pedregon, 4.452, 191.35.
Pro Stock — 1. Chris Vang, Chevy Camaro, 6.498, 209.30; 2. Cody Anderson, Camaro, 6.499, 210.54; 3. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.503, 211.33; 4. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.511, 211.30; 5. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.516, 212.16; 6. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.516, 210.18; 7. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.517, 210.97; 8. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.520, 211.00; 9. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.520, 210.21; 10. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.520, 210.18; 11. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.522, 210.21; 12. Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.530, 210.54; 13. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.533, 210.21; 14. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.549, 210.14; 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.570, 209.82; 16. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.583, 210.57.Â
Not Qualified: 17. Joey Grose, 6.609, 208.62; 18. Alan Prusiensky, 6.749, 204.26.
