The 71st annual Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals, held on the dragstrip at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park starts Wednesday, August 27 with Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Sportsman qualifying and time trials, together with Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge qualifying. That’s only the beginning of a six-day straight-line racing orgy of speed. This facility, with its full-length dragstrip, its 0.625-mile paved oval and the 16,000-square-foot Binford Pavilion, is located about 10 miles west of Indianapolis and encompasses well more than 100 acres of both grassy areas and concrete.
That acreage will be needed throughout the week as hundreds of racers – more than 900 are intending to compete – and their fans congregate to celebrate the end of the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season and the start of the Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff series that begins two weeks later in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. The facility has been undergoing renovations over the past couple of years and its tower wasn’t used during the 70th anniversary race. The tower been rebuilt and will be open to race control, suite occupants and media members this week.
There are plenty of ancillary activities around this Big Go event, including the Deecell Comp Clash Challenge, being held Thursday and Friday, and Funny Car’s PlayNHRA All-Star Callout Eliminations that take place Saturday and Sunday. This upcoming race meeting also marks the final round of Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge competition in all four pro classes: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, in which competitors have earned points and money for racing past their previous semifinal combatants from Brainerd and Sonoma (Pro Stock Motorcycle did not compete in Minnesota).
Congruity Pro Mod is racing on the weekend with 21 entries, and NHRA has scheduled Hot Rod Junction Cacklefests throughout the race meeting, as well as Legends Nitro Series events. The US. Air Force Band of Mid-America will have performances as the Air Force display and there will be opportunities to hear from many of the sport’s stars throughout the six-day extravaganza.
As befits the biggest race of the season, there are returning faces to every class, stand-ins for drivers who aren’t medically cleared to race and, of course, there’s the big question of who will win the regular season in every class? Just a few days ago, Shawn Reed confirmed that Jordan Vandergriff, who qualified third for him at Brainerd two weekends past, will substitute for the injured driver, still physically recovering from the loss of his index finger and joking about it daily; he expects to be cleared for Reading in a couple of weeks.
Another driver injured in the waning races of the regular season is Buddy Hull, who had a bad explosion and subsequent crash in Sonoma qualifying. That engine blow-up halted the Jim Dunn Racing team from eliminations, but Jim Campbell was on-hand to sub for Hull in Brainerd. The Dunn team gets the services of Alex Laughlin, who is doing double-duty by subbing for Hull as well as competing in the Congruity Pro Mod Series in Indy. The big question about Laughlin, though, is this: will he sing “John Force Is King” in front of team owner Jim Dunn?
The kids are getting into the excitement as well, with the second edition of the Baby Walker Nationals. Three years after its Houston debut, this showcase for pre-adolescent (actually pre-kindergarten) champions-to-be returns to the tour as a U.S. Nationals “undercard.” Right before the first Saturday Top Fuel qualifying session, five infants with a need to go fast will strap into customized walkers for a star-turn at the track.
This accompaniment to the world’s oldest and most prestigious drag race is being contested by offspring of some of the sport’s most prominent professional racers. They include Harper Torrence, daughter of four-time Top Fuel champ and three-time U.S. Nationals winner Steve Torrence and wife Natalie (she is the younger sister to original Baby Walker competitor Haven Charli); Tripp Coughlin, son of Pro Stock Elite Motorsports standout T.J. Coughlin and wife Brenna (and younger brother of former Baby Walker and Toddler Tricycle racer Aubrey); Noah Alexander, son of Chad Green Racing Funny Car contender Blake Alexander and wife Leah (and brother of 2022 BW and TT racer James); Maverick Hull, son of Funny Car racer and TV personality Buddy and wife Madi; and Dominic “Little Smoke” Stewart, son of multi-series champion and Top Fuel racers Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett.
Last year’s Monday afternoon races were won by Clay Millican, who will have a new teammate starting in Indy. Millican’s Rick Ware Racing teammate is non other than 10-time U.S. Nationals victor Tony Schumacher; the RWR team has been ramping up its program to accept The Sarge, making his return to competition this weekend. “These last seven races are a great opportunity for us to build something strong for 2026,” Schumacher noted. “It’s about getting everyone dialed in, learning, improving and laying the foundation for next year,” the 88-time national event winner said.
Millican revealed that “winning the U.S. Nationals last year was one of the proudest moments of my career. It’s the race every driver wants to win, and to go back to Indy as the defending champ is really special,” the smile-a-minute racer said. “Having Tony Schumacher join the team makes it even better. he’s a part of NHRA history, and to have someone with his knowledge and experience is a huge asset. Two sets of inputs, two perspectives – it makes RWR stronger!”
Austin Prock won Funny Car and leads the standings again, with only teammate Jack Beckman in his mirrors. Aaron Stanfield won this race last year for his first Indy win, beating Elite Motorsports teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr., while Gaige Herrera took the Wally trophy for Pro Stock Motorcycle. One thing the 2024 victors have in common? None of those four had ever earned the win at the Big Go before they did the deed in 2024.
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