The NHRA regular season is running out of racetrack, and John Force Racing has plenty to play for when the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series returns to Brainerd International Raceway August 20-23.
Funny Car drivers Jordan Vandergriff, Jack Beckman, and Alexis DeJoria all arrive at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals with opportunities to improve their championship positions. On the Top Fuel side, Josh Hart and the Speedmaster team are chasing a top-five spot before the points are reset for the Countdown to the Championship.
Jordan Vandergriff Returns To Where His Comeback Started
It’s hard to imagine Jordan Vandergriff’s 2026 season going much better.
The Funny Car rookie has already won twice behind the wheel of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS and enters Brainerd just 54 points out of first place. He’s gone from rookie with potential to legitimate contender for both the NHRA regular-season and world championships.
None of that might have happened without what Vandergriff accomplished at Brainerd one year ago.
Vandergriff hadn’t competed since 2019 when he was called upon to substitute for injured Top Fuel driver Shawn Reed at the 2025 Brainerd event. After spending more than five years away from competition, including time working as a trackside reporter for NHRA on FOX, Vandergriff climbed back into a Top Fuel dragster and immediately delivered.
He qualified third and defeated Kyle Satenstein in the opening round with a 3.778-second pass before falling to Clay Millican in a close second-round race, 3.715 to 3.726.
That performance, along with another opportunity at the U.S. Nationals, helped open the door to his current Funny Car ride at John Force Racing.
“I think, maybe delusionally, I did. I had confidence in myself, in Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker (crew chiefs) and this entire Cornwell Quality Tools Funny Car team. I knew if we hit the ground running, like we did in pre-season testing, we were going to have a good shot at it. Being at John Force Racing, we have everything we need to win and be competitive, so I think I knew that we’d be near the top. Now that we’re here, within striking distance of first place, I think it’s a little more real now. I think we’re exactly where we should be. We’ve won two races, and I think we are a top contender for not just the regular season championship, but the overall championship as well.”
Vandergriff Is Ready To Get Back After Night Under Fire
While most NHRA competitors have been away from competition for several weeks, Vandergriff did get some additional seat time during the Night Under Fire event. That didn’t do much to satisfy his desire to race.
“I was ready to get back behind the seat as soon as Night Under Fire ended. I was leaving the track Saturday, and I was like, ‘We don’t race tomorrow?’ I was ready to get back in the race car then, so these past weeks off have been slow. They felt so slow. I’m ready to get back in the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevy.”
With just 54 points separating Vandergriff from first place, there’s a lot more at stake at Brainerd this time around. A year ago, he was simply trying to prove he still belonged behind the wheel. Now he’s trying to prove he belongs at the top of the Funny Car standings.
Jack Beckman’s Brainerd Return Has A Different Meaning
Jack Beckman has plenty of good reasons to like Brainerd International Raceway.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car world champion won there in 2018, finished runner-up in 2008 and 2010, and has qualified No. 1 four times at the facility. But those aren’t the memories that make Brainerd especially significant for Beckman today.
Two years ago, Brainerd was where Beckman made his John Force Racing debut after stepping into the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car previously driven by team owner John Force. Beckman had been out of a nitro Funny Car for more than three and a half years when the opportunity arrived.
After reacquiring his license during Night Under Fire at Norwalk, Beckman headed directly into NHRA competition at Brainerd.
“People use the analogy ‘it’s like riding a bike’. It’s not. It’s like riding a terrifyingly fast fire-breathing monster. I hadn’t driven a nitro Funny Car for three and a half years, so we used Night Under Fire at Norwalk to re-up my license. It was hot there, and we had the car backed off quite a bit so everything went surprisingly smooth, which was a confidence builder coming into Brainerd with a couple of runs to the finish line under my belt. The potential pressure at Norwalk was really inconsequential. I knew I could drive the car, and we weren’t racing for points, so it was all kind of laid back. Then we come to Brainerd and go right into qualifying. We got through it (qualified sixth), and when the national anthem plays Sunday, now it’s for keeps. A lot of people thought it was a lot of pressure, which it was, but it sure beats sitting on the sidelines for three years and nine months.”
Beckman And The PEAK Squad Have Charged Into The Title Fight
Beckman’s PEAK team has been one of the biggest movers in Funny Car during the second half of the regular season. Over the past seven races, Beckman has climbed from eighth to second in the standings. He enters Brainerd only 38 points out of first place, meaning less than two rounds of racing separate him from the top spot.
The turnaround hasn’t been an accident.
“When we were eighth in the points, we had lost a couple of close first-rounders, one in Gainesville, one in Phoenix when we were driving to low ET of the meet, and the car shut off. I knew we were better than an eighth-place car. The changes that Tim Fabrisi and Dan Hood (crew chiefs) made in the bell housing gave us a wide, predictable tune-up window on an exceptionally fast race car, and now we’re one of the top two cars. Things ebb and flow in nitro Funny Car. Nobody stays on top forever, and good teams don’t struggle for extended periods of time. I’m so confident where we are right now. Dan and Tim make good calls. The PEAK SQUAD has been exceptional in preparing a car consistently each run, and now the onus is on me to drive the thing the best that I can. I thought I drove a good race at Seattle and yet I got beat on a holeshot in the semifinals. I’m not gonna hang my head too low, but I’m also going to be honest. I have to admit that it stings so, as the car gets better, the expectations of winning go up and, because these races can be so close, what I do in the cockpit makes more of a difference because our car is consistently so good.”
Alexis DeJoria Has Already Made History At Brainerd
Alexis DeJoria also has unfinished business at Brainerd, but she knows exactly what it feels like to leave Minnesota carrying a Wally. The six-time NHRA Funny Car winner earned her fifth career victory at the 2017 Brainerd Nationals. DeJoria defeated Tim Wilkerson, Cruz Pedregon, current team owner John Force, and Tommy Johnson Jr. on her way to the winner’s circle.
The victory was significant for more than just DeJoria’s career statistics. It represented the 250th NHRA national-event victory by a woman. DeJoria and Top Fuel winner Leah Pruett also became the first two women to win the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes at the same NHRA event.
“Sealing the deal that day was gratifying on many levels. Brainerd has always been one of my top tracks. In 2014, our team was the first nitro Funny Car to record a sub-four second pass for the track record. The 2017 victory was also the “250th Race Win for Women”. Leah and I made NHRA history that day, as well: it was the first time two women won in Funny Car & Top Fuel at the same event.”
DeJoria Needs Round Wins Before The Countdown
DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team enter Brainerd just 18 points behind sixth place. With only two regular-season events remaining, Sunday’s elimination rounds take on additional importance.
There isn’t a complicated strategy.
“Consistency is the key, especially on race day. It’s imperative we go rounds on Sunday. Now’s not the time to lose that consistency, so that’s our focus.”
After spending the three-week break catching up with friends and family, DeJoria is also ready to get back to work.
“I’m definitely ready to get back on track in the Bandero Café Chevrolet. We’ve got some catching up to do, but I have no doubt we will see some great progress to get us back in the winner’s circle sooner rather than later.”
A Brainerd victory would accomplish that in a hurry while giving DeJoria’s team valuable momentum heading into Indianapolis and the Countdown.
Josh Hart Wants To Build On Seattle Breakthrough
John Force Racing’s Top Fuel program has a similar opportunity with Josh Hart.
Hart and the Speedmaster team produced an encouraging weekend at the most recent NHRA event in Seattle. They captured their second No. 1 qualifying position of the season before advancing to the semifinals. Hart remained seventh in the Top Fuel standings, but he’s only 27 points behind Tony Stewart in fifth place. That’s a manageable gap with two races remaining, especially with the U.S. Nationals awarding 1.5 times the normal points.
Rather than viewing the three-week break as something that interrupted the team’s momentum, Hart sees it as an opportunity to sharpen the program.
“We haven’t lost a thing. If anything, the time off was just a moment to reflect on what we accomplished in Seattle so that we are more focused going into Brainerd. Three weeks is a long time but I needed to focus back home on family and business. We got a lot of things executed, got a couple more that I need to get executed, and then show up to Brainerd ready to do my job. But I love being in the seat. There is no better office that I’d rather be in.”
Nothing Replaces A Top Fuel Dragster
There’s no simulator or street car capable of replicating what happens when a Top Fuel dragster launches. Hart doesn’t need much motivation to start thinking about his next opportunity to get behind the wheel.
“It’s a dream job, so all I have to do is see a couple social media posts and realize I’m not there and I start kind of thinking about it again. A lot of people call it an addiction. There’s nothing on the planet that you can drive that is going to simulate what happens in that car. I’m one of the lucky ones that gets to experience it. However, it ruins every other car experience you can possibly ever ask for, so the only way to feel it again is to get back in that seat. I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Hey, will you drive this car? It’s got 1200 horsepower,’ and I say ‘Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.’”
Hart’s job at Brainerd will be to turn Seattle’s qualifying speed into more Sunday round wins. With fifth place just 27 points away, a strong weekend could dramatically change his position before Indianapolis.
John Force Racing arrives at the 2026 NHRA Brainerd Nationals with four teams facing different challenges, but they’re all chasing the same thing: championship positioning. The next two races are where all of that work gets magnified. Brainerd provides the first opportunity. Then comes the U.S. Nationals and its points-and-a-half format before the standings are reset for the six-race Countdown to the Championship.
You might also like
Ron Capps Leads Funny Car Points As RCM Heads To Brainerd
Ron Capps is ready to grow his points lead this weekend at Brainerd. Maddi Gordon wants to pick up more experience this weekend.
