Under cloudy, and at times rainy, desert skies and in front of a passionate crowd of nitro fans at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, some of the biggest names in drag racing battled for critical championship points during the Dodge NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, staged Oct. 29 through Nov. 2.
Fans were treated to a long weekend of side-by-side racing, dramatic upsets, and blistering speeds as competitors in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle chased victories at one of the final two stops on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule.
In Top Fuel competition, Doug Kalitta powered his Mac Tools dragster to victory after a string of consistently quick 3.6-second passes throughout eliminations. The final round matchup against Leah Pruett produced one of the quickest runs of the day. Kalitta posted a winning pass of 3.658 seconds at 338.60 mph, defeating Pruett, whose dragster lost traction and slowed to a 5.751 at 123.89 mph.
The victory marked Kalitta’s 64th career NHRA win and his fifth victory of the 2026 season. With one race remaining, Kalitta sits 107 points behind teammate Shawn Langdon as the title fight heads to the season finale in Pomona, California.
Funny Car action delivered plenty of excitement as rookie sensation Jordan Vandergriff and his Cornwell Tools team captured their third Wally trophy of the season by defeating three-time world champion Ron Capps in the final round.
Capps held a slight starting-line advantage with a .053 reaction time to Vandergriff’s .069, but Vandergriff’s Chevy Camaro powered past before the finish line, recording a 3.873 at 331.36 mph to edge Capps’ 3.921 at 335.15 mph.
Entering the event, Vandergriff trailed points leader Matt Hagan by 99 points in the championship standings. After Hagan suffered a second-round defeat at the hands of J.R. Todd, Vandergriff capitalized by advancing through eliminations and gaining valuable ground. With only one race remaining and points and a half on the line at Pomona, Vandergriff’s title hopes remain very much alive, trailing by just over one round of points.
One of the weekend’s most dramatic moments came during Saturday’s third Funny Car qualifying session. Daniel Wilkerson’s SCAG Ford Mustang suffered a catastrophic engine explosion shortly before the halftrack point of the run, destroying much of the carbon-fiber body and sending the car into the retaining wall.
Despite the violent crash, Wilkerson emerged uninjured. Demonstrating the determination commonly found throughout the NHRA pits, the SCAG racing team prepared a backup car, allowing Wilkerson to return just hours later and make a qualifying attempt during the fourth and final session.
Pro Stock competition featured some of the closest racing of the weekend. Dallas Glenn emerged victorious after a hard-fought final-round battle against Troy Coughlin Jr., moving one step closer to securing his second Pro Stock world championship.
The Pro Stock Motorcycle category experienced its own share of drama. Championship contenders Gaige Herrera and teammate Richard Gadson advanced to the final round, but not before battling some of the most challenging weather conditions of the weekend.
During the semifinal round, strong winds pushed motorcycles across the racing surface as riders fought to maintain control. While both Herrera and Gadson managed to secure round victories, neither run reflected the performance level capable of being produced by their championship-caliber machines.
Following discussions between NHRA officials and the competing teams, the decision was made to postpone the final round until the season-ending event in Pomona. The delayed final will be contested during Saturday’s third qualifying session at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
As the sun set over the Nevada desert and the final winners celebrated in victory lane, the Dodge NHRA Las Vegas Nationals once again proved why it remains one of the premier events on the NHRA schedule. With championships still undecided across multiple classes, competitors now turn their attention to the season finale at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, where world titles will be won, lost, and forever remembered.
