Scott Libersher Takes Down Factory Stock’s Best To Win The Big Go

Sometimes a race car decides to cooperate at exactly the right time.

Scott Libersher entered the 72nd Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals without a Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown victory in 2026 and with a Chevrolet COPO Camaro that had been fighting him throughout the season. Six days later, the veteran racer was standing in the winner’s circle at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park holding a special 75th anniversary Diamond Wally.

Libersher, the No. 5 qualifier, completed his unlikely run through the biggest Factory Stock race of the season by defeating points leader and No. 1 qualifier Jonathan Allegrucci in a classic Chevrolet-versus-Ford final. Libersher’s COPO Camaro got to the stripe first with a 7.770-second pass at 178.05 mph. Allegrucci followed with an 8.403 at 176.44 mph.

Even Libersher had a hard time believing what had just happened.

“I am having an out-of-body experience,” said Libersher from the top end of Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis immediately after his win. “I’m the most surprised guy on the property that I won this. I work hard. The car just hasn’t worked this year, and between runs yesterday, we changed three different things and something worked. We don’t know what. I’m almost speechless and that is very rare for me.”

Libersher and his team certainly didn’t take an easy path to the U.S. Nationals winner’s circle.

The Factory Stock eliminations stretched across two days, with Libersher beginning his march Sunday against Mike Lloyd. He turned on another win light against Ricky Hord to advance to the quarterfinals. That set up an important matchup against Taylor Dietsch. Dietsch entered Indy as the defending U.S. Nationals winner and carried the $1,000 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown bounty after winning at Norwalk.

His COPO Camaro ran 7.650 seconds to defeat Dietsch’s 7.693 and send Libersher into the semifinals. After struggling with the car throughout the season, the changes Libersher’s team made during the weekend were finally producing results.

Winning Indy is supposed to be difficult, and Libersher’s experience certainly lived up to that reputation. His team dealt with 100-degree temperatures, late nights, a car that required constant attention, and an event that had already stretched across nearly a week.

“I got about two hours of sleep last night,” said Libersher. “We ran until 11 o’clock, and I was up until 2:30 am. We have battled 100-degree temperatures, and we are not quitting. We are doing our best, gathering data, and the race is just a blur. We’ve been here for six days, and this is amazing. Sometimes the last horse in the race shows up first. I’m just gonna do my best and keep doing what I do. The support of my family and all my sponsors makes this all possible.”

Allegrucci arrived at Indy with control of the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown championship battle, and nothing he did during the U.S. Nationals changed that. The Scott Township, Pennsylvania, racer qualified No. 1 and advanced to his fifth consecutive final round.

Making the performance even more impressive, this was only Allegrucci’s second U.S. Nationals appearance.

“To race on Monday was the goal,” said Allegrucci. “To win it would have been the absolute cherry on top for this season. There’s nothing to be ashamed of at this race. I can’t thank my guys enough. I probably shouldn’t have been racing in round three, but we got a little luck on our side round two when Lee Hartman’s car sputtered at top end.”

That break kept Allegrucci’s Indy run alive, and he took advantage of it by racing all the way to Monday’s final.

Allegrucci didn’t get the U.S. Nationals victory, but his championship position became even stronger. His fifth consecutive final-round appearance helped him extend his Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown points lead to 194 over second-place Raymond Nash. Only three races remain in the season. That puts Allegrucci in an enviable position as the championship battle enters its final stretch, even if he wasn’t the racer celebrating in the Indy winner’s circle.