FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — After a 2025 season that saw Austin Vincent finish second in the PDRA Super Street points standings, the 22-year-old young gun came back with a vengeance in 2026, winning three events and going to five final rounds in six races to capture the 2026 world championship in 1320 Fabrication Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling.
Vincent and his team overcame the offseason challenges of learning on the fly after converting their nitrous-powered Vincent Performance ’88 Mustang to a FuelTech EFI setup, and midseason rule changes to their combination, remaining incredibly consistent all season long. In addition to his success in eliminations, Vincent never qualified lower than third throughout the entire season.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Vincent said in the winner’s circle during his championship celebration at Virginia Motorsports Park. “To get to drive my dad’s car that I watched him race for many years that got me into racing…it took a ton of hard work over the offseason, and to come back and compete is one thing; to come out and win a championship in it is absolutely amazing.
“I have to thank my mom and dad – they’re my biggest supporters,” added Vincent. “We travel the country racing together and to get to do it with them, it’s absolutely amazing. My best friend Cody comes to every race he can and always helps out. ‘Cheeseburger,’ he came in this year and helped us figure out the EFI stuff and he’s been killing it.”
Vincent also thanked Vincent Performance/Vincent Racing Engines, FuelTech, Nitrous Express, Maxima Racing Oils, Diamond Pistons, Davis Technologies, Jesel, and all the team’s other partners that help “keep us running up front.”
Vincent opened the PDRA season in Darlington at the KTR Carolina Nationals with a strong showing that would also prove to be his worst performance of the year – qualifying third and making it to the semifinals, where he fell to 2025 Super Street champion Connor McGee. Following Darlington, Vincent never qualified lower than second and reached the final round of every event the rest of the year.
His first win came at the Summit Racing Equipment East Coast Nationals at Galot Motorsports Park, the second stop on the PDRA tour. Vincent earned a bit of payback from Darlington, defeating McGee in the final round with a 4.517 at 167.01 mph to McGee’s 4.569 at 156.35. The friendly rivalry between the two young stars would be a common occurrence throughout the entire season.
At the next event, the Hoosier North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway, it was once again Vincent and McGee in the finals, with McGee coming out on top this time. But the bigger story following the race centered around rules changes regarding weight and nitrous adjustments that directly affected both Vincent and McGee.
With the Thunder Valley Throwdown up next at the legendary Bristol Dragway, all eyes were on the two drivers to see how they would respond. Vincent quickly proved he and his team were up to the challenge, as he won his second race of the year, defeating Troy Hill in the final round.
“A lot of testing,” Vincent said when asked about adjusting to the rule revisions. “It’s just gonna take the same dedication we’ve had the whole season. Of course, none of this comes easy for anyone. Everyone works hard out here, and we just got to try to work a little bit harder and stay out front.”
Vincent wasted little time backing up his Bristol performance, capturing his second consecutive win – and third of the year – at the following race, PDRA Drag Wars at Galot. His 4.512 at 167.91 mph was enough to once again take down Hill, who ran 4.583 at 158.35.
Those back-to-back wins perfectly set Vincent up to clinch his first Super Street championship at the ProLine Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger at VMP, and he did just that by defeating Frank Saffelle III and Dan Whetstine in the first two rounds of competition. Although he would eventually fall short in a great final-round matchup to McGee, it didn’t dampen the excitement for the newly crowned world champion.
“I mean, it absolutely takes a ton of work,” said Vincent. “We go test and test, come back to shop, we work, and test some more. To come out here and just be consistent was the biggest thing. Every race we went 4.50s, and we went bottom .50s at most races. To keep that consistency through the whole season and finish off the championship, it’s fantastic. We really do put in a lot of work, and it just shows it’s paying off.”
