NHRA’s 75th Anniversary Schedule, Plus New Brute Force Chevy Races this Weekend
2026 marks NHRA’s 75th anniversary as the premier entity in the USA sanctioning straight-line racing. And while date equity and returns to familiar tracks is always a good idea, the addition of two new facilities and the promise of a third – to be announced – date on the upcoming 20-race season for the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series makes the anticipation even sweeter.
While we already know the season begins once more at Gainesville Raceway in Florida, with the 57th NHRA Gatornationals and ends at the 61st In-N-Out Burger Finals in Pomona, what happens in between those two gala events could be more interesting than ever before.
Following Gainesville, NHRA’s Mission Foods troops go to Firebird Motorsports Park for the 41st Arizona Nationals and then to Pomona for the 66th Winternationals. From there the sole 4-Wide race of the season takes place zMAX Dragway outside Charlotte.
From those, things get interesting and challenging for crew chiefs as NHRA makes its first ever visit to South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel, GA the first weekend of May, diverting back to Chicago two weeks later for the 26th Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance in Joliet. The inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals takes place at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, MD the final weekend of May.
There are three races in June at Epping, NH with the 13th New England Nationals, at Bristol Dragway, TN for the 25th Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals, and the month closes, as is its tradition, in Norwalk, OH with the 20th Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. Sonoma and Seattle swap dates again for the Western Swing, with the 38th Denso Sonoma Nationals taking place July 17-19, while a week later, it’s off to Seattle for the 37th Muckleshoot Casino Resort Northwest Nationals on Pacific Raceways’ dragstrip.
As is traditional for the past few years, the regular season concludes with the 44th Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway and the 72nd Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals on the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park dragstrip.
The six-race Countdown to the Championship contains a race whose venue is still to be determined, taking place a week after the September 17-20 date for the 41st Reading Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, PA, while the 15th NAPA Auto Parts Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway are set to begin the month of October for the drag racers. In mid-October the Stampede of Speed and the 41st Texas FallNationals take over Texas Motorplex.
The final two races of the season are in their sacred spots: October 29-November 1 for the 26th Nevada Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the 61st In-N-Out Burger Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, scheduled for November 12-15.
Next season marks the first time since 2013 that NHRA has introduced a new track to its national event schedule, with the events in Georgia and Maryland. “The 2026 season will be one of the most exciting years in NHRA history,” declared Glen Cromwell, NHRA president. “As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we’re embracing this milestone to evolve our NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, ensuring a vibrant future for our sport while honoring our legacy, with new venues and fresh energy.
“We’re thrilled to debut at two incredible new facilities – bringing the sport to fans in dynamic markets like Washington, D.C. and Baltimore at Maryland International Raceway, and Atlanta and Tallahassee at South Georgia Motorsports Park,” Cromwell said. “From the season opener in Gainesville to the championship finale in Pomona, the 2026 season will be a non-stop celebration of the drivers, fans and moments that have shaped NHRA for 75 years. We’re incredibly grateful to our track partners, race teams and sponsors for their continued support in helping us make this [upcoming] milestone season something truly special. We can’t wait to share this historic season with everyone.”
NHRA intends to announce its listing of its many 75th anniversary celebrations planned for the 2026 season within the next few weeks, the series said.
NHRA wasn’t the sole entity making anniversary announcements prior to the start of this weekend’s 71st Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals. John Force’s 50th anniversary driving a “Brute Force” Funny Car to the starting line will be commemorated by Jack Beckman, who came to the team last year as Force’s substitute after the legend had his death-defying accident in Virginia in June.
The team, with enthusiasm from Old World Industries’ Brian Bohlander, has wrapped the iconic blue Chevrolet SS with the Brute Force colors and iron gauntlet insignia for this weekend’s race. “This blue paint scheme is where you got the Brute Force lettering and the iron gauntlet insignia, and it really ties in well with the PEAK SQUAD colors,” Beckman noted. The US. Nationals Funny Car champion in both 2015 and 2020 recalled, “This is the one that really made the big statement that ‘I’m John Force and I’m going to be racing nitro funny cars.”
Bohlander admitted that he and John Force have been talking about a tribute car for a while. “The timing is now right as we head into NHRA’s 75th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of John’s ‘Brute Force’ Funny Cars. The fans have been asking for this particular car for years, and the perfect place to run it is at the biggest race of the year, the U.S. Nationals. Jack and our PEAK SQUAD have been involved with us in planning this for several months, so we can’t wait for Friday night, for the fans to finally see the car in action.”
John Force, who owns 16 national NHRA Funny Car titles, 168 victories in the class and five U.S. Nationals wins, is proud to see the Brute Force paint scheme back on the track with Beckman. “I’m very honored and proud to have the Brute Force paint scheme back out on the track, and I have to thank Brian Bohlander with PEAK, who came up with the idea,” the legend said. “It’s one of the original Brute Force designs that I raced with in Australia and then in the NHRA for years. It’s got the big fist on the side with the lightning bolts – I think it’s pretty awesome!”
By Anne Proffit
2026 NHRA MISSION FOODS DRAG RACING SERIES SCHEDULE
March 5-8: 57th annual NHRA Gatornationals, Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla.
March 20-22: 41st annual NHRA Arizona Nationals, Firebird Motorsports Park, Phoenix
April 9-12: 66th annual NHRA Winternationals, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Pomona, Calif.
April 24-26: 16th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, zMAX Dragway, Charlotte
May 1-May 3: NHRA Southern Nationals, South Georgia Motorsports Park, Adel, Ga.
May 14-17: 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance, Route 66 Raceway, Chicago
May 29-May 31: Inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals, Maryland International Raceway, Mechanicsville, Md.
June 5-June 7: 13th annual NHRA New England Nationals, New England Dragway, Epping, N.H.
June 12-14: 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol Dragway, Bristol, Tenn.
June 25-28: 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio
July 17-19: 38th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.
July 24-26: 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals, Pacific Raceways, Seattle
Aug. 20-23: 44th annual NHRA Nationals, Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minn.
Sept. 2-7: 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Indianapolis
NHRA COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Sept. 17-20: 41st annual NHRA Reading Nationals, Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, Pa.
Sept. 25-27: TBD
Oct. 2-4: 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, World Wide Technology Raceway, St. Louis
Oct. 14-18: 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, Texas Motorplex, Dallas
Oct. 29-Nov. 1: 26th annual NHRA Nevada Nationals, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas
Nov. 12-15: 61st annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Pomona, Calif.