ENNIS, Texas — Top Fuel points leader Shawn Langdon made the quickest run of his career during JEGS Friday Night Live at Texas Motorplex, rolling to the provisional No. 1 qualifier to win the Battle for the Saddle to kick off this weekend’s NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 18th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Due to changing weather conditions, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle made one qualifying session on Friday and will have three qualifying sessions on Saturday, including their Battle for the Saddle bonus money session.
For Top Fuel and Funny Car, that came during JEGS Friday Night Live, as Langdon claimed the $15,000 bonus check after a spectacular run of 3.648-seconds at 340.39 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Kalitta Air dragster. It is also the quickest Top Fuel run of the year during NHRA’s 75th anniversary season.
Langdon’s latest standout run puts the points leader in position to clinch his eighth No. 1 qualifier of the season for Kalitta Motorsports and 30th in his career. The past champion also stayed red-hot as he looks to win his fifth straight race this weekend and fourth in a row during the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
“We were actually trying to run a little bit better than that, but in these conditions, you have to have everything perfect to do it — too much you’ll smoke, and not enough you’ll shake,” Langdon said. “So it’s a fine line. You have to hit it right, and, fortunately, we were able to.
“I’ve been a big advocate for night runs. I love racing at night and being able to make qualifying runs is awesome. Obviously, the track’s good here. You have good conditions. You know, with a little bit of incentivized money, those things are going to happen.”
Tony Stewart took second with a 3.668 at 343.70, setting the track speed record, and defending event winner Doug Kalitta is third after going 3.668 at 338.80.
Funny Car’s Jack Beckman won the $15,000 bonus check and the Battle for the Saddle during JEGS Friday Night Live at Texas Motorplex, delivering an epic pass of 3.852 at 330.13 in his 12,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet SS for John Force Racing to move closer to his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season.
Beckman, who entered the weekend fourth in points, needs a big weekend to stay in the championship conversation, but he was thrilled with the way things started. He’ll need more of that on Saturday and Sunday in the loaded Funny Car ranks, especially with the epic conditions expected. Beckman, though, has a head start on everyone after Friday’s fantastic start.
“We were sixth pair, and there’s 10 pairs here with a huge Funny Car turnout here. So we ran well, but then we’ve got to watch eight quality cars behind us, any one of which could have exceeded our run, and [Matt] Hagan came closest, but nobody exceeded us,” Beckman said. “So, it’s 15 grand from the Texas Motorplex, and then JEGS sweetened the pot with another 1,000 bucks. I just thought that was fantastic.
“We were pushing hard. I could feel it, but I had my hands full. The car started going right, and when you’re pushing that hard, any steering input is detrimental to performance, and too much steering input is going to upset the rear tires. So I moved it back into the groove. I thought I did a reasonable job, straightened it out and started going to the right again.”
Points leader Matt Hagan went 3.855 at 334.80 to take second and Cruz Pedregon sits third after his run of 3.855 at 323.83.
Pro Stock’s Greg Stanfield opened the weekend’s pivotal playoff race with a strong statement on Friday in his Janac Brothers Racing car for Elite Motorsports, going 6.460 at 212.80 to take the No. 1 spot with three sessions left on Saturday at Texas Motorplex.
The points leader is after his second top qualifier of the year and continues to approach his success and the Countdown to the Championship in workmanlike fashion. The team has been consistent all year, made strong strides in the playoffs and Stanfield is poised to have a big finish to the year. As for this weekend, he knows big runs are possible as he looks to make the most of the opportunity in Dallas.
“This says a lot for our team. Things are going well for us, and we’re just trying to keep that momentum going,” Stanfield said. “We haven’t made any mistakes, and we’re just trying to build off of that. We did a little testing last week, and we’re working hard to try to keep this thing up front.
“We felt like we needed to go a .45 to be what I call a ‘perfect pass,’ so there was a little bit left there. We were just trying to pick it apart as best as we can and trying to get those little points.”
Troy Coughlin Jr. is right behind in second with a 6.464 at 212.74 and Greg Anderson is third after going 6.468 at 210.51.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Gaige Herrera kept the quick times running during the lone session for the category on Friday, ripping off a stout 6.676 at 202.22 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki to take the top spot.
Should that hold through Saturday’s three sessions, Herrera, a two-time world champion, would pick up his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the year. Herrera threw down in a major way in St. Louis to get back in the championship conversation, winning that race and pulling to within 32 points of teammate and reigning world champion Richard Gadson. That continued at Texas Motorplex, as Herrera put together a huge run and he’s expecting plenty of opportunities to replicate that over the course of the weekend.
“My bike’s been phenomenal lately. I don’t think Andrew [Hines] touched it since St. Louis. He said it was good. He put the cover on it and headed to Dallas,” Herrera said.
“Today we were battling with the weather and the wind. For me to go up there and go a nice straight run, I was very happy with that. I didn’t feel the wind much at all. So we’re off to a good start here in Dallas. This track has been good to me and I hope to keep it going throughout the weekend.”
Matt Smith is currently qualified second with a 6.709 at 201.86 and Angie Smith went 6.725 at 202.28 to sit third.
