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2026 marks NHRA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Following Gainesville, NHRA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 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\u2019s off to Seattle for the 37th Muckleshoot Casino Resort Northwest Nationals on Pacific Raceways\u2019 dragstrip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 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. \u201cThe 2026 season will be one of the most exciting years in NHRA history,\u201d declared Glen Cromwell, NHRA president. \u201cAs we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we\u2019re 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re 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,\u201d Cromwell said. \u201cFrom 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\u2019re 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\u2019t wait to share this historic season with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n NHRA wasn\u2019t the sole entity making anniversary announcements prior to the start of this weekend\u2019s 71st Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals. John Force\u2019s 50th anniversary driving a \u201cBrute Force\u201d Funny Car to the starting line will be commemorated by Jack Beckman, who came to the team last year as Force\u2019s substitute after the legend had his death-defying accident in Virginia in June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The team, with enthusiasm from\u00a0 <\/span>Old World Industries\u2019 Brian Bohlander, has wrapped the iconic blue Chevrolet SS with the Brute Force colors and iron gauntlet insignia for this weekend\u2019s race. \u201cThis 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,\u201d Beckman noted. The US. Nationals Funny Car champion in both 2015 and 2020 recalled, \u201cThis is the one that really made the big statement that \u2018I\u2019m John Force and I\u2019m going to be racing nitro funny cars.\u201d<\/p>\n Bohlander admitted that he and John Force have been talking about a tribute car for a while. \u201cThe timing is now right as we head into NHRA\u2019s 75th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of John\u2019s \u2018Brute Force\u2019 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\u2019t wait for Friday night, for the fans to finally see the car in action.\u201d<\/p>\n 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. \u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d the legend said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the original Brute Force designs that I raced with in Australia and then in the NHRA for years. It\u2019s got the big fist on the side with the lightning bolts – I think it\u2019s pretty awesome!\u201d<\/p>\n By Anne Proffit<\/p>\n 2026 NHRA MISSION FOODS DRAG RACING SERIES SCHEDULE<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n March 5-8:<\/b> 57th annual NHRA Gatornationals, Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n March 20-22:<\/b> 41st annual NHRA Arizona Nationals, Firebird Motorsports Park, Phoenix<\/p>\n <\/p>\n April 9-12:<\/b> 66th annual NHRA Winternationals, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Pomona, Calif.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n April 24-26:<\/b> 16th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, zMAX Dragway, Charlotte<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May 1-May 3:<\/b> NHRA Southern Nationals, South Georgia Motorsports Park, Adel, Ga.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May 14-17:<\/b> 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance, Route 66 Raceway, Chicago<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May 29-May 31:<\/b> Inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals, Maryland International Raceway, Mechanicsville, Md.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n June 5-June 7:<\/b> 13th annual NHRA New England Nationals, New England Dragway, Epping, N.H.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n June 12-14:<\/b> 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol Dragway, Bristol, Tenn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n June 25-28:<\/b> 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio<\/p>\n <\/p>\n July 17-19:<\/b> 38th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n July 24-26:<\/b> 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals, Pacific Raceways, Seattle<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aug. 20-23:<\/b> 44th annual NHRA Nationals, Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sept. 2-7:<\/b> 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Indianapolis<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NHRA COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sept. 17-20:<\/b> 41st annual NHRA Reading Nationals, Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, Pa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sept. 25-27:<\/b> TBD<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oct. 2-4:<\/b> 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, World Wide Technology Raceway, St. Louis<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oct. 14-18:<\/b> 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, Texas Motorplex, Dallas<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oct. 29-Nov. 1:<\/b> 26th annual NHRA Nevada Nationals, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nov. 12-15:<\/b> 61st annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Pomona, Calif.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2026 marks NHRA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":102246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[12509,8718,8682,1258,75,5452,9966,7,11304,5134],"class_list":["post-102239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-brian-bohlander","tag-brute-force","tag-glen-cromwell","tag-jack-beckman","tag-john-force","tag-maryland-international-raceway","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-old-world-industries","tag-south-georgia-motorsports-park"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NHRA-2026-schedule-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-qB1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102239"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102249,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102239\/revisions\/102249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NHRA-2026-schedule-min-300x169.jpg\")
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