It felt like the old Southern Nationals had been gone just long enough to make people miss it properly.
Then Jordan Vandergriff won his first NHRA national event, jumped out of his Funny Car, and sprinted back up the racetrack in a firesuit while a sellout crowd roared at South Georgia Motorsports Park. If anyone wondered whether Georgia still cared about drag racing after Atlanta Dragway’s demise, Sunday answered with volume.
Vandergriff’s breakthrough victory in Funny Car highlighted a packed closing day at the NHRA Southern Nationals, where Shawn Langdon won in Top Fuel, Dallas Glenn survived a wild Pro Stock slugfest, and Matt Smith finished off a dominant weekend in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
The first-year return of NHRA racing to Georgia – some 270 miles from the site of Atlanta Dragway – did not need help from nostalgia by sunset. It had made fresh memories of its own.
Vandergriff defeated top qualifier J.R. Todd in the final round with a 4.007 at 314.17 mph in the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS. Then came the celebration that instantly entered family lore.
Much like uncle Bob Vandergriff Jr. once did after a win, Jordan ran from the shutdown area toward the starting line, where teammates and disbelief were waiting. It was joy, exhaustion, tribute, and theater rolled into one sprint.
“I’m still kind of taking in just how special this is,” Vandergriff said. “This moment is something I thought of for a very long time. Running up the track was something I always thought about doing because my uncle did it out of pure joy when he won his first, and I just had to do it.”
Driving in only his fifth Funny Car event for John Force Racing, Vandergriff also had the steadiest car in the category all day, beating Jeff Arend, Spencer Hyde and Hunter Green before toppling Todd.
Todd reached his first final of the season and the 50th of his career. He also moved into the Funny Car points lead, three ahead of Ron Capps.
If Vandergriff delivered the emotional moment, Langdon delivered the exclamation point to a weekend already stamped into the record book.
Two days after blasting to a record 345.00 mph, Langdon defeated teammate Doug Kalitta in the Top Fuel final with a 3.808 at 333.16 mph in the Kalitta Air dragster. The win was Langdon’s second of the season and 24th of his career.
He beat Cam Ferre, Antron Brown, and Clay Millican to reach the final. There were no giant speed headlines Sunday, just the kind that matter more – four win lights.
“This is very satisfying,” Langdon said. “You get a little taste of 345 and then today it was different. You had to check your ego a bit and understand that you have to make changes and take what the racetrack gives you.”
Kalitta, the reigning champion, reached his third final of 2026 and now trails Langdon by four points.
Pro Stock looked less like precision engineering and more like controlled disarray. Glenn was the man who handled it best.
The reigning NHRA champion beat Troy Coughlin Jr. in the final with a 6.642 at 211.39 mph in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro for his second win of the season and 23rd career victory. He survived a first-round pedal-fest against Jeg Coughlin Jr., then beat Matt Latino, and Greg Stanfield before closing the deal.
“Today was definitely pretty weird,” Glenn said. “This is probably the weirdest elimination day of Pro Stock car that I can remember. It was not a good day to be a crew chief.”
Coughlin, the No. 15 qualifier, reached his first final of the season by beating Eric Latino, Deric Kramer, and Erica Enders.
Smith spent the first three races of the Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule proving he had speed. Sunday, he proved he still knows how to finish.
The six-time NHRA champion beat reigning titlist Richard Gadson in the final with a 6.724 at 202.06 mph on his Denso Auto Parts Buell. It was Smith’s first win of the season and the 43rd of his career.
He also beat Chase Van Sant and wife Angie Smith during eliminations after qualifying No. 1.
“This is not only rewarding for me, but rewarding for our team, because we worked so hard this winter to find a little bit of power,” Smith said. “We just hadn’t shown up on Sunday and I’m glad we showed up today.”
Gadson remained the points leader after defeating Geno Scali, Clayton Howey, and Gaige Herrera.
