ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps secured his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season on Saturday at the inaugural NHRA Nationals at The Rock during the conclusion of qualifying at Rockingham Dragway.
Capps, driver of the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car, and the rest of the drivers of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continued the NHRA Nationals at The Rock in front of a soldout crowd at Rockingham Dragway. It gave NHRA its tenth sellout of its 75th anniversary season.
Capps’ 3.870-second pass at 330.40 mph held up as best of the field at Rockingham, marking his 41st career No. 1.
“We were praying that nobody would outdo us because that first-round bye is huge,” said Capps. “The points are still pretty bunched up. We gave up some ground in Martin. We’re just trying to forget about it, put it behind us.”
Capps will have a bye during the opening session of eliminations. He will be aiming for his fourth win of the 2026 season and 81st of his career.
“I was just so proud of ‘Guido’ (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and our guys,” Capps said. “I understand those points are monumental. We have a chance to run [points leader] Matt Hagan in round two, which would be huge, but you can’t look that far ahead. I’m going to have to race them all, and we’re going to win a championship.”
Alexis DeJoria finished second with her 3.892 at 334.82 and will take on John Smith while two-time and reigning world champ Austin Prock finished third with his 3.892 at 326.80 and will face Capps’ brother, Jon Capps.
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also earned No. 1 qualifiers in Rockingham at the 16th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the second of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Reigning Top Fuel world champion Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools dragster, locked up his sixth No. 1 of the year and 72nd of his career, thanks to his 3.682 at 338.09. It gave Kalitta his sixth No. 1 of the year and 72nd of his career. Kalitta will face Rit Pustari during the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
Kalitta currently sits second in the standings behind his teammate Shawn Langdon, who has six wins on the year, including the first race of the Countdown in Martin.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can have some luck here,” said Kalitta. “Shawn and Brian (Husen, crew chief) are tough. Brian and Alan Johnson (Kalitta’s crew chief) have been working really closely together still. They probably both still have some secrets up their sleeves that they’re not sharing but it’s a cool rivalry to watch because you know Brian and Alan have won a lot of races, a lot of championships together, and Brian was definitely paying attention because he’s having a good year for sure. I’ve always been really impressed with Shawn. He’s always been good on the tree. You have to be up on the wheel when you’re racing him.”
Tony Stewart took the second qualifier position in Rockingham with his 3.704 at 336.83 and will take on Clay Millican in round one. Langdon finished third a 3.732 at 334.08 and will meet Cameron Ferre.
Pro Stock’s “Hartford secured his third consecutive No. 1 of the season thanks to his 6.476 at 212.87 in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro.
“It’s real important in the Countdown that we get to the finals and win some races,” said Hartford. “We want the championship. We want it as bad as anybody out there. But the only way you do that is get points, and the only way you get points is win rounds. So, we’re focused tomorrow to go four rounds, and if we can do that for this race and the next four after it, then the points will line up how they should.”
Hartford will have a bye in the opening round of eliminations. He has back-to-back runner-up finishes in Indianapolis and Martin and will be looking for his fourth win of the season.
Reigning world champion Dallas Glenn finished second with his 6.478 at 212.06 and will face Shane Tucker. Matt Latino finished third with a 6.479 at 211.67 and will take on Kenny Delco.
Smith earned her fourth No. 1 of 2026 on her Denso Auto Parts Buell after her 6.674 at 201.61 stayed best of the field. She will have bye run during the opening round and will be on the hunt for her second win of the season.
“A bye run [in round one] is everything to us in the Countdown because it’s one more test run that we have,” said Smith. “You can go up there and test your reaction time, you can maybe test something that you think might work, and you get one pass at the track where there’s nobody else in the other lane, so that means everything to us, especially in the Countdown.”
Two-time world champion Gaige Herrera finished second with a 6.680 at 202.07 and will race Lance Bonham while six-time world champion Matt Smith, Angie’s husband, finished third with a 6.681 at 204.17 and will face Marcus Hylton.
