INDIANAPOLIS — Shawn Langdon finished off an impressive weekend with a victory on Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, defeating Tony Stewart in the final round of the prestigious 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won the 14th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Langdon went 3.804-seconds at 333.99 mph in his 12,000-horsepower SealMaster dragster for Kalitta Motorsports to hold off Stewart’s 3.904 at 315.27, earning his fifth victory in what’s been a standout season for the past world champion.
After qualifying No. 1, Langdon defeated Clay Millican, Justin Ashley and Leah Pruett to reach the final round before picking up his third U.S. Nationals victory. It is Langdon’s 27th career win and he will enter the Countdown to the Championship playoffs second in points, also handing Brian Husen his first Indy win as a crew chief.
Stewart reached the finals at Indy for the second straight year, defeating T.J. Zizzo, Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta, but couldn’t track down Langdon, who posted a strong .048 reaction time and led wire-to-wire to win the biggest race of the season.
“It’s Indy, so it’s exciting for sure,” Langdon said. “For Brian to win his first U.S. Nationals and to step out from working with Alan Johnson the last couple of years and really make his mark makes me happy to be his driver and that I get the opportunity to be a small piece of his success.
“Also, on top of that, a few of the crew guys – it was their first Indy win, so it was special for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. These are hard to come by and the competition is so good. It’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle and it’s always great to win Indy.”
Langdon’s teammate, reigning world champion Kalitta, clinched the regular season championship and the $150,000 prize on Monday, opening the Countdown to the Championship as the points leader.
Funny Car’s Jack Beckman finished off a spectacular two days, following Sunday’s victory in the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout with a Monday victory at The Big Go, taking down regular season world champion Matt Hagan in the championship round with a standout run of 3.965 at 327.35 in his 12,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet SS for John Force Racing.
Beckman was dominant on Monday, posting the best run of each session and reaching the finals by defeating Jeff Arend, teammate Alexis DeJoria and Austin Prock, who was looking to become the first driver in Funny Car history to win the U.S. Nationals three straight years.
But Beckman, sporting an epic John Force throwback look from his incredible 1996 championship season, couldn’t be denied the past two days, going 3.962 at 327.35 in the semifinals en route to getting his second victory of the 2026 campaign and the 39th of his career.
It’s also his third victory at the U.S. Nationals and following his double-up on Sunday and Monday, it will be a weekend Beckman, who moved to third in points, won’t soon forget.
“I could truthfully tell you this is the greatest weekend I’ve ever had holding the steering wheel,” Beckman said. “This was just a phenomenal weekend. This one might be more significant because we did it in John Force’s tribute car. The car ran once and won once, and then yesterday we did the All-Star Callout, and it ran twice and won twice, and then today we start clicking off the round wins.
“We didn’t really benefit from any luck today. We went out there and we dominated every session. In the final round, it was 127 degrees. I rolled in shallow so the car would have run a 3.96. That’s an exclamation point. Nobody gave us anything this weekend. We went out, and we earned every single win, and it’s the same trophy, but we know how much we kicked butt today.”
Hagan reached the final round for the fourth time this season by defeating Hunter Green, Paul Lee and Ron Capps. The semifinal round against Capps was pivotal, as it handed Hagan the regular season championship and the $150,000 prize, as well as the points lead heading into the Countdown to the Championship.
Pro Stock’s Dallas Glenn knows about winner-take-all dramatics and the reigning world champion delivered yet again on a big stage, winning Indy for the first time and capturing the regular season championship in the process after going 6.599 at 207.56 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro to knock off Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round.
Glenn needed an early exit by Greg Anderson and a victory at The Big Go to win the regular season championship for the second straight year and it all went his way, as Anderson lost in the second round to Coughlin. That laid the groundwork for Glenn, who then knocked off defending event winner Erica Enders to reach the final round.
He quickly tracked down Coughlin, erasing previous Indy disappointments to win the U.S. Nationals and claim the $55,000 prize as the points leader at the end of the regular season. It also gave Glenn his fourth victory of the season and the 25th in his career, as he takes the points lead into the playoffs for a second straight year.
“It’s been a roller coaster because we’ve been fighting the car a little bit and picking away at it. I was just trying to make sure everything was good going into Indy, and I was just coming in here just trying to win the race. I wasn’t thinking about points until Jeg eliminated Greg there in the second round, and I was like, OK, well now the pressure’s on to win the regular season championship,” Glenn said.
“To go into the final round and make another good run to make up for when I went red against Greg Anderson a few years before that, it definitely took a huge weight off my shoulders to be able to check Indy off the list.”
Coughlin reached the finals for the first time this season by defeating Chris Vang, Anderson and No. 1 qualifier Matt Hartford.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, a dominant weekend for Matt Smith Racing finished in fitting fashion, as six-time world champion Matt Smith defeated his wife, Angie, in the final round with a run of 6.791 at 198.58 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell.
It marks Smith’s fourth career win at Indy and third since the 2022 campaign, as the longtime standout also won for the third time this season. After qualifying No. 1, Smith defeated Chris Bostick, Clayton Howey and reigning world champion Richard Gadson to set up a thrilling matchup with his wife.
Angie advanced to her third final round of the year thanks to round wins against Kelly Clontz, Geno Scali and Gaige Herrera, who had won two straight in Indy. She slowed to a 6.834 at 194.80 in the final round against her husband, as M. Smith earned his 45th career win. As the weekend proved, Smith and his entire team are peaking at a perfect time and he was thrilled to pick up a win on drag racing’s grandest stage.
“We wanted to come up here and win. We wanted to show how good we were and that we’re ready for this Countdown, and I think we put a point on that,” Smith said. “It’s awesome, man. You know, we worked really hard to get back here.
“We did a lot of testing since Norwalk. We did a lot of tests in Rockingham in these hot, humid conditions. We spent two days down there, just nonstop in 100-degree temperatures, and we learned a lot. We learned stuff with the clutches and it made us better for here because I was consistent.”
Gadson claimed the regular season world champion by advancing to the semifinal round, winning the $15,000 prize and taking the points lead into the Countdown to the Championship, where he will try to win back-to-back world titles.
The NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin with the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR, which takes place Sept. 18-20 at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park at Martin, Mich.
