- Defending Event Winners, World Champions Headline 2026 Summit Racing PDRA ProStars Lineups
- KALITTA MOTORSPORTS COMPLETES STELLAR REGULAR SEASON WITH 10 WINS, PREPARES FOR PLAYOFFSfs
- FOURTH ANNUAL FALL KING OF THE CREEK SET FOR SEPTEMBER 10-13 AT MARYLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
- Gladiator Makes a Statement: 3.619 at 207 MPH on Just the Sixth Pass
- CHAD AND HUNTER GREEN FALL IN FIRST ROUND AT NHRA U.S. NATIONALS
- HYDE AND HEAD RACING MAKE IMPROVEMENTS COMING OUT OF INDY
- TSR Dodge Driver Hagan Wins Funny Car Regular Season Title & Takes Runner-up at U.S. Nationals, Pruett Scores Mission Top Fuel Qualifying Win & Semifinals Showing
Defending Event Winners, World Champions Headline 2026 Summit Racing PDRA ProStars Lineups
DINWIDDIE, Va. – Each year, the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series rewards its most consistent racers with a free-entry-fee, race-within-a-race shootout with big prize money and custom trophies on the line. This year’s Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance fields will feature some of the biggest names in the series, including defending ProStars winners and world champions, on Thursday, Sept. 17. For the second consecutive year, ProStars serves as the lead-in to the Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger, Sept. 17-20, at Virginia Motorsports Park.
New for 2026, Thursday’s ProStars activities are completely free to attend for fans – no parking fees and no admission fees at the gate.
“ProStars is PDRA’s version of the all-star game,” said Tyler Crossnoe, series director, PDRA. “Racers earn their spot in the ProStars show through strong, consistent performances throughout the year leading up to the race. The program started as a way to thank the racers who show up and support us week in and week out. We decided to build on that by thanking the fans who support us throughout the season by making this one-day show completely free to attend. We encourage all of our fans to come out to the track and enjoy the show as PDRA’s best battle it out for the ProStars titles, all while preparing for the season-ending World Finals.”
The ProStars schedule will feature two sessions of pre-race testing, driver introductions, and the old-school, Quick 8-style ProStars all-star race.
Drivers are awarded 40 points for attending each national event on the Red Line Oil PDRA Series tour, 10 points per round win, and two points for an event win. In the pro classes, a holeshot round win comes with one bonus point. In the sportsman ranks, drivers who run dead-on their dial-ins pick up one bonus point. Drivers started earning points at the 2025 Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway and ended the standings at the 2026 edition in early August.
Drivers on the ProStars entry lists include two-time and reigning event winner Fredy Scriba and defending world champion Marcus Butner in Pro Nitrous, reigning ProStars winner Melanie Salemi and reigning world champion Ty Tutterow in Pro Boost, defending ProStars winner Ron Green in Pro Street, points leader JC Beattie Jr. in Pro 632, and 2024 ProStars winner and world champion Dan Whetstine in Super Street.
Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars
Marcus Butner, Tommy Franklin, Fredy Scriba, Dane Wood, Tim Paap, Billy Albert, Amber Denton, and Buddy Perkinson
WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive
Ty Tutterow, Jason Harris, Johnny Camp, Melanie Salemi, Kurt Steding, Randy Weatherford, Raymond Matos, and Don Tolley
Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by KTR Drag Racing
Richard Reagan, Blake Denton, Scott Kincaid, Ron Green, Jerry Morgano, Joel Wensley Jr., Mikey Sasina, and JR Webb
PDRA Pro 632 presented my Mark Williams Enterprises
Jeff Pittman, JC Beattie Jr., Carson Hoyle, Jason Ventura, David Cook Jr., Gary Hood, Ed McLemore, and Brian Clauss
1320 Fabrication Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling
Austin Vincent, Connor McGee, Dan Whetstine, Matt Schalow, Frank Saffelle III, Kenny Fox, Brooks McMath, and Troy Hill
MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines
Scott Duggins, Bryan LaFlam, Jamie Fowler, Ron Whitlock, Bruce Thrift, Dewayne Silance, Randy Perkinson, and Tim Lawrence
Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Elite Top Dragster presented by American Race Cars
Steve Furr, Josh Duggins, Linzie Coleman, Gray Kimble, Brian Anderson, Russ Whitlock, Chaz Silance, Will Creasman
MagnaFuel Top Sportsman
Joe Roubicek, Seth Garrison, Ronnie Proctor, David Weedon, Jeff Talvacchio, Mark Payne, Stacy Hall, and Robbie Steward
ATI Performance Products Top Dragster presented by TBM Brakes
Joe Gary, JB Donati, Clayton Roberts, Ashley Franklin, Brooke Hall Gary, Dave Petrofske, James Albertson, and TJ Harper
PDRA Pro Jr. Dragster
Katelyn Page, Alyssa Rabon, Ashton Halas, Sofie Cooper, Chloe Geryes, Alyssa Tilghman, Donald O’Meara III, and James Beattie III
Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster
Wyatt Piercey, Abbie Lynn McCafferty, Jayden Hogan, Korbin Helms, Connor Boyd, Mason Dudley, Will O’Brien, and Acelynn Christian
ProStars testing will begin Thursday at 9 a.m. Driver introductions and pre-race ceremonies at 4:30 will lead into ProStars eliminations at 6 p.m.
PDRA fans around the world can catch all the action live on the official event live stream through www.FloRacing.com.
Photos by Tara Bowker
KALITTA MOTORSPORTS COMPLETES STELLAR REGULAR SEASON WITH 10 WINS, PREPARES FOR PLAYOFFSfs
YPSILANTI, Mich. — To say the NHRA regular season was stellar for Kalitta Motorsports would be quite an understatement. Collectively, the team won 10 times in 14 races, and all three individual teams led the point standings. The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes next weekend with the opening race of the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by Mopar in Martin, Mich.
The Team Kalitta Top Fuel teams dominated the class, winning nine of the 14 regular season races and competing in 53 of the 55 rounds of racing. The team did not reach the final round at Pomona, Calif., and Norwalk, Ohio.
Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools Top Fuel team won the regular season championship, winning four times including three-straight races at Sonoma, Calif., Seattle and Brainerd, Minn., in addition to the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in April. The reigning and two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge five times and won the season championship for the second-straight year. His regular season included four wins, three runners-up, four semifinals, four No. 1 qualifiers and five Mission Foods Challenge wins.
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FOURTH ANNUAL FALL KING OF THE CREEK SET FOR SEPTEMBER 10-13 AT MARYLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
MECHANICSVILLE, MD — No Limit Promotions returns to Maryland International Raceway September 10-13 for the fourth annual Fall King of the Creek, a four-day bracket racing showcase presented by McCarty Auto Parts that will pay out guaranteed purses across Super Pro, Pro and Jr. Dragster on the eighth-mile facility.
The event opens Thursday with gates at 10 a.m. and Test & Tune running from 5 to 11 p.m., followed by the King of Kings Ultimate Gamblers program, with time trials at 6 p.m. and eliminations at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday each carry a Super Pro purse that pays $25,000 to win, $5,000 to the runner-up and $2,000 for a semifinal finish, with round money paid back to the second round if entries top 300 cars. Sunday’s Super Pro final pays $10,000 to win and is free of charge to anyone holding a paid Friday-Saturday weekend entry, which is set at $600 at the gate. Pro racers compete for $3,000-to-win purses all three days, Friday through Sunday, with a $250 weekend entry option, while Jr. Dragster runs Saturday and Sunday for $1,500 to win with a 40-car field cap and pre-entry required through TheFOAT.com.
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Gladiator Makes a Statement: 3.619 at 207 MPH on Just the Sixth Pass
Rising Sun, MD – The 2026 Yellow Bullet Nationals marked the competition debut of Keith Haney Racing’s newest weapon, **The Gladiator**, a brand-new **Quarter-Max Race Cars** build, and the new combination showed its potential right out of the gate.
The weekend went extremely well for a brand-new car and combination. The only issue the team encountered came during Q2, when the engine wasn’t oiling properly, causing the car to slow down. Rather than take any chances, the KHR team went to work and **swapped engines before Q3**, getting The Gladiator back and ready to make another run.
When eliminations began, Haney and The Gladiator were ready.
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CHAD AND HUNTER GREEN FALL IN FIRST ROUND AT NHRA U.S. NATIONALS
BROWNSBURG, Ind. — The father-son duo of Chad and Hunter Green posted strong qualifying runs through brutal heat and humidity at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, but both saw their weekends end in the first round of Monday’s eliminations at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The only father-son pairing in the Funny Car field this weekend, the Greens qualified their 12,000-horsepower CGM Bond-Coat Funny Cars into a tough 22-car lineup despite temperatures reaching 97 degrees, with Chad taking the 11th spot and Hunter 12th. Cooler conditions arrived for Monday’s eliminations, but the matchups didn’t break the Greens’ way.
Hunter Green, in the CGM Bond-Coat Dodge//SRT Hellcat, drew four-time world champion Matt Hagan in the opening round. Green’s 4.002-second run wasn’t enough to catch Hagan’s 3.917, and Hagan went on to finish runner-up in Funny Car while capturing the regular season championship.
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HYDE AND HEAD RACING MAKE IMPROVEMENTS COMING OUT OF INDY
INDIANAPOLIS – Coming into the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, the Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car team led by Jim Head and piloted by Spencer Hyde made significant changes to the car by upgrading several parts. Those changes were reflected positively on the track almost immediately, when Hyde qualified in the No. 4 position in a competitive field of 23 Funny Cars.
“We knew coming into this weekend with such a large field that we were going to have to bring our A-game,” said Hyde. “We upgraded a few parts and changed some things related to our clutch, and I was happy to see that it really made a difference. Now that we know we are moving in the right direction, we can head into the Countdown a lot more confidently.”
There were five qualifying sessions held over the course of three days at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Hyde’s best run of qualifying came during the third session, with a 3.944 second, 319.45 mph pass. It was the third quickest run of the round, which earned him two bonus points. He ended up earning a total of five bonus points by also having the third quickest run of the fourth qualifying session and the fourth quickest run of the fifth qualifying session.
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TSR Dodge Driver Hagan Wins Funny Car Regular Season Title & Takes Runner-up at U.S. Nationals, Pruett Scores Mission Top Fuel Qualifying Win & Semifinals Showing
Auburn Hills, Mich. – Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge Funny Car driver Matt Hagan drove his TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat to the NHRA regular season points championship Monday in a spectacular duel with Ron Capps at the 72nd NHRA U.S Nationals drag races, while TSR Dodge teammate Leah Pruett took her Top Fuel dragster to the semifinals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Hagan, the four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion with 58 career wins, all with Dodge, had to fight his way into the semifinals Monday with wins over Hunter Green and Paul Lee, as the Virginia driver matched up against Capps in the semifinals, with the two only three points apart.
Driving his 12,000-horsepower, nitro-burning monster, Hagan turned a sensational starting line reaction time (.040 seconds) to jump to the advantage over his longtime rival and never looked back. Capps’ mount smoked the tires early in the semifinal run and Hagan cruised to a 4.020, advancing to the final to take on Jack Beckman in the John Force Racing machine. Despite not having lane choice, Hagan held close to Beckman in the run for the coveted U.S. Nationals crown, but the TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat’s 4.030 wasn’t enough to match Beckman’s 3.965.
BECKMAN GETS ‘PINCH ME’ MOMENT HE WANTED WITH THIRD U.S. NATIONALS WIN
Vandergriff and DeJoria bow out in Round 2, Hart in Round 1
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Jack Beckman was under the weather with cold symptoms throughout the week at Indianapolis Raceway Park but he and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car, carrying the 1996 John Force championship flame job tribute paint scheme, were the hottest combo on the track as they swept the weekend by winning Sunday’s PlayNHRA All-Star Call Out and today’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.
Beckman earned his second win of the season, 39th of his Funny Car career and third U.S. Nationals title with the final round victory against Matt Hagan. The PEAK Chevy left the starting line ahead by just one thousandth of a second (.055 to .056) and never looked back, running 3.965 seconds at 327.35 mph to Hagan’s 4.030 seconds at 318.84 mph. It was also the second time Beckman has doubled up at Indy, winning both the All-Star event and the U.S. Nationals in 2015.
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RON CAPPS WRAPS UP REGULAR SEASON WITH SEMIFINAL FINISH AT U.S. NATIONALS
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Ron Capps capped a strong NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season with a semifinal finish Monday at the 72nd Annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park. After leading the Funny Car standings for much of the season, Capps entered the finale just 12 points out of first, reclaimed the lead during qualifying, and advanced to a semifinal showdown with Matt Hagan that ultimately decided the regular season championship. Capps finished the regular season second in points and heads into the Countdown to the Championship in solid title contention.
Capps and the Carlyle Tools Funny Car rolled into Indianapolis ranked third in points with a deficit that could be erased through qualifying points alone. Led by crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli, the NAPA Auto Care team went to work Friday with the second-quickest pass of the session, a 3.938-second run at 329.10 mph, for three bonus points. Capps added four more points with the quickest pass of Saturday’s second session, a 4.003 at 315.64 mph, then moved to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 3.914-second pass at 332.18 mph in the third session, putting him one point behind Hagan heading into Sunday. The fourth session doubled as the first round of the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout — Capps’ 20th career specialty event appearance and fifth Callout — where he smoked the tires for the first time all weekend, allowing Alexis DeJoria to advance. He closed out qualifying with the low E.T. of the final session, a 3.936 at 329.34 mph, to reclaim the points lead.
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MADDI GORDON REACHES QUARTERFINALS IN FIRST NHRA U.S. NATIONALS TOP FUEL APPEARANCE
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Competing at the NHRA U.S. Nationals for the first time as a Top Fuel driver, Maddi Gordon took her Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster to the quarterfinals Monday at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Riding momentum from a runner-up finish at the most recent tour stop, Gordon found consistency in qualifying and threw down a strong opening-round pass before hazing the tires in round two. The NHRA Rookie of the Year contender wrapped up the regular season sixth in points and now heads into the six-race Countdown to the Championship with her first-year Ron Capps Motorsports team.
Led by crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching, the Carlyle Tools team took a methodical approach to qualifying, opening with a smooth 3.818-second pass at 324.67 mph Friday evening to sit ninth. Saturday qualifying began with the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season, which Gordon earned her way into with her final-round appearance at the Brainerd Nationals. In her fourth #2Fast2Tasty appearance of the year, Gordon smoked the tires and lost to Leah Pruett, running into similar issues in the third qualifying session. She returned to form Sunday with a 3.826 at 332.84 mph in the fourth session, followed by a consistent 3.825 at 332.18 mph in the fifth and final session, good for one bonus point as the fourth-quickest pass.
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