Kalitta Motorsports delivered one of the biggest statements of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season Sunday at Pacific Raceways.
J.R. Todd snapped a 23-race winless streak with his first Funny Car victory of the season, while reigning Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta backed up last weekend’s Sonoma triumph with another dominant performance to complete a rare nitro sweep for Kalitta Motorsports at the 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals.
In Pro Stock, six-time world champion Greg Anderson returned to victory lane and reclaimed the championship points lead, setting up an intense finish to the regular season with only two races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship.
J.R. Todd Breaks Through With First Victory Of 2026
After knocking on the door throughout the season, J.R. Todd finally kicked it open in Seattle.
Driving the DHL Toyota GR Supra, Todd qualified No. 1 and put together one of the strongest race-day performances of the season. He defeated Jeff Arend, rising star Jordan Vandergriff, and Matt Hagan before meeting defending Funny Car world champion Austin Prock in the final round.
The championship showdown ended before it truly began.
Prock left the starting line .005-second too soon, handing Todd his first NHRA 75th Anniversary Diamond Wally. Todd still made a strong pass of 3.941 seconds at 334.90 mph, earning his 23rd career Funny Car victory and first-ever Seattle win.
The victory couldn’t have come at a better time.
Todd entered the weekend still searching for his first win of the season despite consistently fielding one of the quickest Funny Cars on tour. His breakthrough vaulted him to third in the Funny Car standings, placing him firmly in the hunt for the regular season championship.
“Dickie [Venables] and Todd [Smith, crew chiefs] did a really good job of racing smart today, not throwing down every run, just racing the conditions on the track,” Todd said. “I thought for sure we were in trouble there in the semis. I missed the Tree, which you can’t do against Matt Hagan because they’ll make you pay for it, and then I hit the gas and the thing is just out of control, but the win light came on. In the final, I saw Austin out front, and I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I thought that I was late and then the win light is on our side. It’s crazy, but I’m just so happy for my guys because they’ve been working their butts off.
“It’s definitely a big weight off our shoulders. I feel like we let a couple slip through the cracks there earlier in the year. Then we struggled the summer with some clutch disc issues. Now, I think that we’re getting back to where we need to be.”
Prock advanced to his second final round of the season after defeating Daniel Wilkerson, Dave Richards, and Jack Beckman.
Despite another first-round exit, Ron Capps maintained the Funny Car points lead, although his advantage has narrowed considerably. Capps now leads Beckman by just 37 points and Todd by only 42 heading into the final two races of the regular season.
Doug Kalitta Goes Back-To-Back
Doug Kalitta continues to look every bit like the reigning Top Fuel world champion.
One week after winning at Sonoma Raceway, Kalitta rolled into Seattle and produced another dominant performance, posting three runs in the 3.60-second zone before defeating Leah Pruett in the final with a spectacular 3.677 at 338.43 mph.
Pruett responded with a solid 3.689 at 333.49 mph, but Kalitta never trailed from the hit.
The Mac Tools dragster was one of the quickest cars on the property all weekend. After qualifying third, Kalitta opened eliminations with a blistering 3.669-second run, the quickest pass of the event, before defeating Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas, and Antron Brown to reach the championship round.
The victory marked Kalitta’s third win of the season, the 62nd of his Hall of Fame career, and his second career Seattle triumph, which came 12 years after his first Pacific Raceways victory.
Perhaps most importantly, Kalitta has dramatically tightened the Top Fuel championship race. He’s now just five points behind teammate Shawn Langdon in the battle for the regular season title.
“Getting this double, I’m just so happy for Connie (Kalitta),” Kalitta said. “He’s given us everything we need, and obviously all the crew chiefs, everybody’s pulling together trying to help one another, and today’s a good result of that. I’m just real proud of our whole effort. I tell you, Connie’s had my back for years.
“Alan [Johnson, crew chief] has got the car dialed in. I feel very fortunate he’s working on my car. It took us a little bit to get it going this season. We obviously made a lot of changes, and it’s coming together, and when you get down towards the end of the year, Alan’s got a lot of championships. This is really the time of the year he really focuses on, and he always seems to be able to pull it off, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Pruett reached her third final round of the season after defeating Will Smith, Justin Ashley, and No. 1 qualifier Josh Hart.
Greg Anderson Reclaims Pro Stock Points Lead
Greg Anderson arrived in Seattle looking to stop the momentum that had slipped away over the previous two races.
He accomplished exactly that.
After consecutive first-round exits entering the Northwest Nationals, Anderson put together a championship-caliber performance in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, defeating Stephen Bell, Matt Latino, Erica Enders, and Greg Stanfield to earn his third victory of the season.
The final round ended on the starting line when Stanfield left .008-second too early, allowing Anderson to cruise to victory with a 6.508 at 211.00 mph.
The win was Anderson’s 115th career NHRA victory and his fourth at Pacific Raceways.
More importantly, it moved him back into the Pro Stock points lead with only two races remaining before the Countdown begins.
“I certainly didn’t have a lot of confidence when I came here today. We ran a lot better this weekend,” Anderson said. “My car was definitely better, but I could see, as everybody could see, Dallas Glenn had the car to beat, so to get by Dallas and everybody else out here, like Greg Stanfield, who’s on a roll, is really great.
“It’s just a cool class right now. The rest of the year is going to be cool. It’s going to be a real dogfight. I just feel fortunate to be part of it. I’m still alive. I apparently, somehow, took the [points] lead from Dallas today, so that’s pretty damn cool, and it just shows what can happen in this class.”
Stanfield’s runner-up finish came one week after his Sonoma victory. He advanced by defeating Aaron Stanfield, Cody Anderson, and defending Seattle winner Dallas Glenn before the costly red-light in the final.
The championship battle couldn’t be much tighter. Anderson now leads reigning world champion Glenn by only eight points entering the final two regular-season races.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns Aug. 20-23 for the 44th annual NHRA Brainerd Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, where the fight for regular-season championships will continue before the Countdown officially begins.
Top Fuel — Doug Kalitta, 3.677 seconds, 338.43 mph def. Leah Pruett, 3.689 seconds, 333.49 mph.
Funny Car — J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 3.941, 334.90 def. Austin Prock, Ford Mustang, Foul – Red Light.
Pro Stock — Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.508, 211.00 def. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, Foul – Red Light.
Top Alcohol Dragster — Shawn Cowie, 5.207, 277.72 def. Joey Severance, 5.276, 272.34.
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.420, 267.75 def. Brian Hough, Camaro, Broke.
Competition Eliminator — Ryan Warter, Pontiac Sunfire, 8.501, 153.53 def. Dustin Lee, Dragster, 7.056, 187.70.
Super Stock — Ty Gaynor, Chevy Cobalt, 9.150, 141.59 def. Brad Burton, Pontiac Firebird, 9.359, 136.34.
Stock Eliminator — Gary Gandee, Ford Mustang, 14.108, 91.64 def. Brad Burton, Pontiac Firebird, 10.663, 115.07.
Super Comp — Paul Nero, Dragster, 8.875, 180.67 def. Zach Meziere, Dragster, 8.874, 167.66.
Super Gas — Cooper Chun, Roadster, 9.889, 144.07 def. Steve Lowe, Pontiac Firebird, 9.876, 167.43.
Super Street — Dana Glenn, Truck, 10.938, 125.80 def. Dustin Ward, Dodge Dart, 10.955, 121.56.
Top Sportsman — Bryan Warr, Chevy Camaro, 6.758, 198.76 def. David Cook, Ford Mustang, 6.752, 200.95.
Top Dragster — Ty Gaynor, Dragster, 7.203, 170.45 def. Don Sefton, Dragster, 6.975, 187.18.
Junior Dragster Shootout — Zach Standeven, Mike Bos, 8.188, 73.30 def. Jaxson Gonzales, Halfscale, 9.005, 72.18.
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