The road to NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship became more crowded after last weekend’s 44th annual Brainerd NHRA Nationals, held at Brainerd International Raceway. The Minnesota track has hosted NHRA for nearly half a century and has produced some exceptional competition – as well as great entertainment – both on and off the track.
Known for its “Zoo” infield, Brainerd is one of the more fun events for racers, many of whom prefer to stay at the track simply to enjoy the atmosphere. Even so, the emphasis is on moving up in the standings, as it’s the penultimate contest in NHRA’s “regular” season. Getting ready for the Big Go at Indianapolis pretty much requires being good in Brainerd.
There were racers that showed they were moving forward towards the goals of both regular-season and world championships in their chosen class. And those goals are even more important this year, as NHRA celebrates its 75th anniversary season with special guests at each race and special trophies throughout the season in a diamond finish that echoes the 75th anniversary celebration.
This past weekend, Kalitta Motorsports’ Doug Kalitta enunciated his thrust for a third title in Top Fuel and a second straight by beating rookie Maddi Gordon in the finals . He had to work hard for it, as Gordon had the better RT (.052 to .068-sec) and raced Kalitta right to the end. His lap of 3.743/333.74 eclipsed her 3.770/328.78 but that margin of victory was all of .0113-sec!
Kalitta didn’t put a wheel wrong when it mattered in Minnesota, getting his third consecutive victory of this 75th anniversary season after moving into the points lead on Saturday, qualifying No. 1 and earning victory in the penultimate Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the year. He had the dominant car last year as well; this fourth win in 2026 brings the veteran closer to a regular season title in Indianapolis, using a 67-point lead over teammate Shawn Langdon as they prepare for the Big Go. It’s his first time leading the points this year since the second contest of the season in Phoenix.
Having been a runner-up on so many occasions and a bridesmaid in the points for the bulk of his career, Kalitta knows that his current results are hard to attain: “It’s just tough; it’s very competitive. The car left nd it just stayed hooked up all the way. I’m just really, really proud of the effort by Alan (Johnson, crew chief, whose daughter Melanie raced to her first runner-up slot in Top Alcohol Dragster on Sunday), Mac (Savage, assistant crew chief),” he said.
“This Mac Tools car is probably the best I’ve ever had; everybody’s doing their job and everybody’s gelling. Alan is a master with all this stuff and what he does, making these parts and tuning this thing, it’s just incredible to watch him do his thing. I just appreciate everybody that’s making it happen.” Former leader Langdon was gone after the second round after beating Keith Murt in the first round and losing to Leah Pruett in a pedal fest for the second go-round. Langdon qualified third and leaves Brainerd in second place.
There were some big changes in Funny Car, as well, when Tony Stewart Racing’s Matt Hagan, a four-time champion in the class, brought home a third diamond trophy of the season in his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, by beating No. 1 qualifier Jordan Vandergriff in John Force Racing’s Chevrolet SS. Hagan earned his 58th career Funny Car win and second in Minnesota.
After starting the weekend fifth in the standings, it was Hagan’s consistency against Jim Campbell, Chad Green and reigning Funny Car titleholder Austin Prock that allowed him to meet Vandergriff. His final three trips down the dragstrip saw the Virginian clock 3.94 each time, quickly dismissing a slowing Vandergriff in the final round. “At the end of the day, we could have ‘bracket raced’ this car,” Hagan remarked of his win. Heralding the work done by crew chief Mike Knudsen, who learned the ropes working with Dickie Venables, who tuned Hagan to three of his four titles, Hagan noted his crew chief was given the opportunity to “head up our operation last year, giving him the chance to really grow into the crew chief role.”
When the weekend began, Ron Capps and his Toyota GR Supra had the Funny Car lead, but the three-time champ was gone after a tough run against Prock in the second round. First Prock went up in smoke at the lights, then Capps dropped a cylinder and drifted to the top end blocks to earn disqualification and lose ten points the process. That changed the standings in class, moving Hagan to first, Vandergriff second and relegating Capps to third. After winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday and losing to Vandergriff in the semifinal round, Kalitta Motorsports’ J.R. Todd is fourth and John Force Racing’s Jack Beckman holds fifth place points.
NHRA’s visit to Brainerd was quite the homecoming for Greg Anderson, the six-time Pro Stock champion who won his 116th class trophy where his racing career had its genesis. This fourth 2026 win extended his points lead with the Big Go less than two weeks away. Anderson’s KB Titan Chevy first held off Mason McGaha, then knocked out Elite Motorsport’s Troy Coughlin Jr. to meet – and easily defeat a tire-shredding Greg Stanfield from Elite in the semifinal round. He was really thinking, at that point, he might have the opportunity to race son Cody, in his rookie season of Pro Stock, but Chris Vang, the independent racer who was No. 1 in Sonoma last month, defeated Cody to meet the young gun’s dad.
Although Vang had a small starting line advantage in the final round – after racing on the youthful side of the Pro Stock ladder – Greg Anderson’s racing smarts and years of experience allowed the veteran – despite a slower reaction time – to eke out a skinny margin of victory at 0.0227-sec over his newest rival. Anderson’s lap of 6.584/208.17 dispensed with Vang’s 6.615/207.34, but it was no walk in the park. Earning his fifth win on his hometown track, Anderson tied Pro Stock great Warren Johnson with his 46th round win on this track.
“There are a lot of racetracks around the country that mean a lot to me,” Anderson admitted, “but none of them are as special as this one. This is where it all started for me, and without my dad bringing me to this racetrack when I as 10 or 12 years old, I would not be in this sport today. To come here and win in a Pro Stock car, it just doesn’t get any better than that. I love it here. I love coming back home. It’s magical – and this was just another magical day for me,” he said. While Anderson was hoping to race his son, he did give the younger driver credit: “I’ve been telling the world he’s coming. He’s an absolute natural talent and you don’t find lot of that. I laughed when I got to the semifinals and saw that it was the geriatric side of the ladder and the kids on the other side. It was kind of neat – the old guard vs the new guard – and that’s what’s going to lead us into the future.”
Expect to see many teams testing on the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park dragstrip over the next week and a half before the biggest drag race in the country – if not the world – takes place on that Clermont, IN track over the long, Labor Day weekend. The Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals will decide the regular season titleholders, the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge series class winners and, of course, individual victors in each class. The marching orders for NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship will be decided and all slots filled after racing is complete in Indy, making way for the six-race playoffs.
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