INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 7, 2026) – Jack Beckman was under the weather with cold symptoms throughout the week at Indianapolis Raceway Park but he and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car, carrying the 1996 John Force championship flame job tribute paint scheme, were the hottest combo on the track as they swept the weekend by winning Sunday’s PlayNHRA All-Star Call Out and today’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.
Beckman earned his second win of the season, 39th of his Funny Car career and third U.S. Nationals title with the final round victory against Matt Hagan. The PEAK Chevy left the starting line ahead by just one thousandth of a second (.055 to .056) and never looked back, running 3.965 seconds at 327.35 mph to Hagan’s 4.030 seconds at 318.84 mph. It was also the second time Beckman has doubled up at Indy, winning both the All-Star event and the U.S. Nationals in 2015.
John Force Racing’s Alexis DeJoria and Jordan Vandergriff finished their days in the second round and Josh Hart’s day ended in Round 1.
“I could truthfully tell you this is the greatest weekend I’ve ever had holding the steering wheel,” Beckman said. “This was just a phenomenal weekend. This one might be more significant because we did it in John Force’s tribute car. The car ran once and won once, and then yesterday we did the All-Star Callout, and it ran twice and won twice, and then today we start clicking off the round wins.”
The 1996 John Force championship tribute paint scheme is 3-0 overall with 11 consecutive round wins. Force won four rounds on the way to winning the 1996 season finale, Beckman won three rounds in winning Sunday’s Play NHRA All-Star Call Out and four more in winning today’s Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals win.
It was the 16th time John Force Racing has won the U.S. Nationals: John Force (5); Robert Hight (3); Ashley Force Hood (2); Mike Neff (2); Austin Prock (2); Gary Densham (1); and Beckman (1).
It was also the fifth time a John Force Racing team has won the Indy double: John Force won it in 1993 and 1996; Gary Densham accomplished the feat in 2004, Austin Prock won both in 2025 and Beckman’s double this year.
“The PEAK SQUAD didn’t really benefit from any luck today,” said Beckman. “We went out there and we dominated every session. In the final round, it was 127 degrees. I rolled in shallow so the car would have run a 3.96. That’s an exclamation point. Nobody gave us anything this weekend. We went out, and we earned every single win, and it’s the same trophy, but we know how much we kicked butt today. I’m feeling a little under the weather, but I wouldn’t trade this weekend for any I have ever had behind the wheel of a race car.”
Beckman ran 3.885 seconds at 328.94 mph in Round 1 to defeat Jeff Arend’s 4.019 seconds at 320.28 mph. In Round 2 against DeJoria, he grabbed the holeshot by almost two hundredths and put down a lap of 3.924 seconds at 329.75 mph to DeJoria’s mid-track tire-spinning run of 5.323 seconds at 137.44 mph. The PEAK SQUAD then reached the final round with a semifinal-winning run of 3.962 seconds at 327.25 mph against a tire-smoking Austin Prock, who coasted across the finish line in 10.328 seconds at 81.63 mph.
The PEAK SQUAD will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in third place.
DeJoria ran 3.937 seconds at 326.16 mph in Round 1 to defeat Chad Green’s 3.977 seconds at 321.73 mph. The Bandero Café team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in seventh place.
“This is my first U.S. Nationals with John Force Racing and that, in itself, is an honor,” said DeJoria. “Add to that the fact that I was able to run the Night Stalker car was just icing on the cake. We made some good runs this weekend. The Bandero Café crew hustled hard and I’m so proud of them. This is everything I ever dreamed of, and I’m so grateful I can’t wait to get back in the car to start the Countdown to the Championship.”
Vandergriff and J.R. Todd made identical 3.908-second runs in Round 1 so it came down to the Cornwell Tools driver’s holeshot (.44 to .58) to claim the victory and the opportunity to move on to the second round. The second round battle with Prock began with a slight starting line edge to Prock but it was fairly even until halftrack when the Cornwell Tools Chevy dropped a cylinder. The Cornwell Tools Chevy slowed to a run of 4.055 seconds at 314.46 mph while Prock crossed the finish line in 3.935 seconds at 328.86 mph. The Cornwell Tools team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the fourth position
“It’s been just an unbelievable first regular season of my career, my first opportunity to even run the full season. I feel very fortunate to be in this position and John Force and Cornwell Quality Tools have been so great to me. I’d give us an A in the regular season, not an A plus because an A plus would have been winning the regular season championship. But I’ll give us an A so far and now we can set sights on the season championship. I really think our Cornwell Quality Tools team is going to have a good shot at it.”
Hart grabbed the holeshot over Leah Pruett by just more than one hundredth of a second but the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster but slowed after losing at least one cylinder near halftrack. He crossed the finish line at 3.869 seconds at 282.84 mph to Pruett’s run of 3.713 seconds at 333.66 seconds. The Speedmaster team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the seventh position.
“We have an issue that is solvable and we believe we will compete for the championship,” said Speedmaster crew chief Dave Grubnic. “I owe it to Josh. I owe it to the guys. I owe it to the fans to fix the issue.”
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings after 14 of 20 races are: 1. Doug Kalitta, 1,352; 2. Shawn Langdon, 1,344; 3. Leah Pruett, 1,095; 4. Tony Stewart, 900; 5. Antron Brown, 893; 6. Maddi Gordon, 863; 7. Josh Hart, 754; 8. Billy Torrence, 710; 9. Justin Ashley, 691; 10. Clay Millican, 589.
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after 14 of 20 races are: 1. Matt Hagan, 1,083; 2. Ron Capps, 1,056; 3. Jack Beckman, 1,043; 4. Jordan Vandergriff, 1,014; 5. J.R. Todd, 966; 6. Austin Prock, 890; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 822; 8. Chad Green, 807; 9. Daniel Wilkerson, 695; 10. Spencer Hyde, 667.
NEXT RACE
The 15th of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the Sept. 18-20 NHRA Great Lakes Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich.
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Beckman earned his second win of the season, 39th of his Funny Car career and third U.S. Nationals title with the final round victory against Matt Hagan. The PEAK Chevy left the starting line ahead by just one thousandth of a second (.055 to .056) and never looked back, running 3.965 seconds at 327.35 mph to Hagan’s 4.030 seconds at 318.84 mph. It was also the second time Beckman has doubled up at Indy, winning both the All-Star event and the U.S. Nationals in 2015.
John Force Racing’s Alexis DeJoria and Jordan Vandergriff finished their days in the second round and Josh Hart’s day ended in Round 1.
“I could truthfully tell you this is the greatest weekend I’ve ever had holding the steering wheel,” Beckman said. “This was just a phenomenal weekend. This one might be more significant because we did it in John Force’s tribute car. The car ran once and won once, and then yesterday we did the All-Star Callout, and it ran twice and won twice, and then today we start clicking off the round wins.”
The 1996 John Force championship tribute paint scheme is 3-0 overall with 11 consecutive round wins. Force won four rounds on the way to winning the 1996 season finale, Beckman won three rounds in winning Sunday’s Play NHRA All-Star Call Out and four more in winning today’s Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals win.
It was the 16th time John Force Racing has won the U.S. Nationals: John Force (5); Robert Hight (3); Ashley Force Hood (2); Mike Neff (2); Austin Prock (2); Gary Densham (1); and Beckman (1).
It was also the fifth time a John Force Racing team has won the Indy double: John Force won it in 1993 and 1996; Gary Densham accomplished the feat in 2004, Austin Prock won both in 2025 and Beckman’s double this year.
“The PEAK SQUAD didn’t really benefit from any luck today,” said Beckman. “We went out there and we dominated every session. In the final round, it was 127 degrees. I rolled in shallow so the car would have run a 3.96. That’s an exclamation point. Nobody gave us anything this weekend. We went out, and we earned every single win, and it’s the same trophy, but we know how much we kicked butt today. I’m feeling a little under the weather, but I wouldn’t trade this weekend for any I have ever had behind the wheel of a race car.”
Beckman ran 3.885 seconds at 328.94 mph in Round 1 to defeat Jeff Arend’s 4.019 seconds at 320.28 mph. In Round 2 against DeJoria, he grabbed the holeshot by almost two hundredths and put down a lap of 3.924 seconds at 329.75 mph to DeJoria’s mid-track tire-spinning run of 5.323 seconds at 137.44 mph. The PEAK SQUAD then reached the final round with a semifinal-winning run of 3.962 seconds at 327.25 mph against a tire-smoking Austin Prock, who coasted across the finish line in 10.328 seconds at 81.63 mph.
The PEAK SQUAD will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in third place.
DeJoria ran 3.937 seconds at 326.16 mph in Round 1 to defeat Chad Green’s 3.977 seconds at 321.73 mph. The Bandero Café team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in seventh place.
“This is my first U.S. Nationals with John Force Racing and that, in itself, is an honor,” said DeJoria. “Add to that the fact that I was able to run the Night Stalker car was just icing on the cake. We made some good runs this weekend. The Bandero Café crew hustled hard and I’m so proud of them. This is everything I ever dreamed of, and I’m so grateful I can’t wait to get back in the car to start the Countdown to the Championship.”
Vandergriff and J.R. Todd made identical 3.908-second runs in Round 1 so it came down to the Cornwell Tools driver’s holeshot (.44 to .58) to claim the victory and the opportunity to move on to the second round. The second round battle with Prock began with a slight starting line edge to Prock but it was fairly even until halftrack when the Cornwell Tools Chevy dropped a cylinder. The Cornwell Tools Chevy slowed to a run of 4.055 seconds at 314.46 mph while Prock crossed the finish line in 3.935 seconds at 328.86 mph. The Cornwell Tools team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the fourth position
“It’s been just an unbelievable first regular season of my career, my first opportunity to even run the full season. I feel very fortunate to be in this position and John Force and Cornwell Quality Tools have been so great to me. I’d give us an A in the regular season, not an A plus because an A plus would have been winning the regular season championship. But I’ll give us an A so far and now we can set sights on the season championship. I really think our Cornwell Quality Tools team is going to have a good shot at it.”
Hart grabbed the holeshot over Leah Pruett by just more than one hundredth of a second but the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster but slowed after losing at least one cylinder near halftrack. He crossed the finish line at 3.869 seconds at 282.84 mph to Pruett’s run of 3.713 seconds at 333.66 seconds. The Speedmaster team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the seventh position.
“We have an issue that is solvable and we believe we will compete for the championship,” said Speedmaster crew chief Dave Grubnic. “I owe it to Josh. I owe it to the guys. I owe it to the fans to fix the issue.”
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings after 14 of 20 races are: 1. Doug Kalitta, 1,352; 2. Shawn Langdon, 1,344; 3. Leah Pruett, 1,095; 4. Tony Stewart, 900; 5. Antron Brown, 893; 6. Maddi Gordon, 863; 7. Josh Hart, 754; 8. Billy Torrence, 710; 9. Justin Ashley, 691; 10. Clay Millican, 589.
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after 14 of 20 races are: 1. Matt Hagan, 1,083; 2. Ron Capps, 1,056; 3. Jack Beckman, 1,043; 4. Jordan Vandergriff, 1,014; 5. J.R. Todd, 966; 6. Austin Prock, 890; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 822; 8. Chad Green, 807; 9. Daniel Wilkerson, 695; 10. Spencer Hyde, 667.
NEXT RACE
The 15th of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the Sept. 18-20 NHRA Great Lakes Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich.
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