The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular-season points chase will come to a close at the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals for all of the professional categories. The battle in Funny Car for the regular season championship is the tightest, with four drivers separated by just 22 points.
It’s amazing how much things can change after just one event. Ron Capps rolled into Brainerd International Raceway as the points leader with a lot of momentum behind him. An early exit after striking a timing block shuffled Capps back to third in points, while Matt Hagan took over the top spot after winning the event.
When the U.S. Nationals kick off, Hagan will be the Funny Car points leader, followed by Jordan Vandergriff, who’s just seven points back. Capps sits in third, 12 points behind Hagan, while J.R. Todd is within striking distance, just 22 points back. The U.S. Nationals are points-and-a-half, so nobody can just walk away with the title.
Matt Hagan: The Points Leader
Matt Hagan is a four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion for a reason, so his ascension to the points lead really isn’t a shock. The Tony Stewart Racing team has given Hagan a fast hot rod throughout the 2026 season that has picked up wins at Pomona, Bristol, and Brainerd.
Those wins, plus some deep runs through eliminations, kept Hagan in the hunt during the regular season. When chaos broke out on Sunday at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, Hagan and his team took advantage of Capps falling out early to grab the points lead with a big win.
Out of the four drivers gunning for the regular-season points title, Hagan is the one who’s most in control of his own destiny. The most foolproof path for Hagan is to win the U.S. Nationals and not give any of the other drivers a chance, but it’s the Big Go, and that’s much easier said than done.
If Hagan’s crew chief duo of Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler gets the surface at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park figured out early during the U.S. Nationals, it’s going to be a long weekend for the rest of the Funny Car field. Between their ability to tune the car up for big moments and Hagan’s driving prowess, they could bullrush the field and not give the other teams a chance to steal the title away.
Jordan Vandergriff: The New Guy
There were people who questioned why John Force put Jordan Vandergriff in the Funny Car that has won back-to-back NHRA world championships. Those people now look very silly. Vandergriff has not only adapted quickly to driving a Funny Car, he’s also picked up a pair of wins in 2026, his first at the NHRA Southern Nationals and then another at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
As the season has progressed, Vandergriff has become more consistent driving a Funny Car, and that’s allowed Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker to turn up the wick higher. Vandergriff harnessed the power and put his team in four total final rounds this season. That’s the type of consistency that elevates you to the second spot in the points and puts you in contention to win the regular-season title as a Funny Car rookie.
Being in the second spot behind Hagan in the points makes Vandergriff’s path to the title a little easier, but not by much. Vandergriff and his team are going to need to keep pace with Hagan if he starts to go rounds and hope they meet late in the day on Monday so they don’t have to rely on any help to win the title.
Ron Capps: The Cagey Veteran
Everything was going great for Ron Capps until the second round of the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, when he incurred a centerline violation. Not only did he lose the round, but he would also end up losing the Funny Car points lead. But Capps didn’t become a three-time NHRA Funny Car champion by accident. He licked his wounds, loaded up, and is ready for the Big Go.
In 2026, Capps has stood on top of the Funny Car points standings nine times. He also picked up wins at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, and Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Dean Antonelli and Todd Buckingham have had Capps’ Funny Car running well when it counted and have piled up a lot of round wins. The question is, can they get back on track at Indy?
Capps is only 12 points out of the points lead. It’s not an insurmountable amount, but the team is going to have its work cut out for it at the U.S. Nationals. They’re going to have to not only shake off the disappointment from Brainerd, but they’ll also need to be ready to fight until the bitter end on race day to win the regular-season championship.
J.R. Todd: The Steady Eddie
Heading into Brainerd, J.R. Todd was 42 points out of first place in the Funny Car standings. When his team left Minnesota, it was just 22 points behind in fourth place. Todd and his Kalitta Motorsports team have kept within a tight orbit of the regular-season points lead. Now, they’re in position to swoop in and seal the deal at the biggest race of the NHRA season.
Todd has been the definition of consistency in 2026. He’s been in the semifinals six times, picked up a runner-up finish, and won at the NHRA Northwest Nationals. This has been a transitional year for the team under the direction of crew chief Dickie Venables, and things are starting to pay off.
A 22-point deficit isn’t a backbreaker when points-and-a-half are on the line. Todd and his team cannot fall behind during qualifying and put themselves in a hole. If they can find a healthy vein of consistency during the U.S. Nationals and stack up the round wins, they will control their fate and have a chance at winning the regular-season Funny Car championship.
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