ADEL, Ga. (May 2, 2026) – Persistent rain and cool temperatures throughout Saturday morning and into the early afternoon at South Georgia Motorsports Park limited NHRA Southern Nationals Top Fuel and Funny Car competitors to just a single late afternoon qualifying session to set the field for Sunday’s eliminations.
John Force Racing’s four teams struggled to get down the track in that final session and were unable to improve on their best performances from Friday’s two qualifying runs.
Jordan Vandergriff’s Q1 run of 3.924 seconds at 325.74 seconds was good enough for the No. 3 qualifying spot. Vandergriff will line up the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car against No. 12 qualifier Jeff Arend (4.035 seconds at 311.41 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Josh Hart’s Q2 pass of 3.855 seconds at 275.22 mph put the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster in the No. 9 qualifying position. Hart will face No. 8 qualifier Leah Pruett (3.804 seconds at 331.64 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Alexis DeJoria ran 3.968 seconds at 326.63 mph in Q2 to earn the No. 10 qualifying position. DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team will face No. 5 qualifier Cruz Pedregon (3.948 seconds at 3017.16 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Jack Beckman and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team qualified 11th with their Q2 run of 3.973 seconds at 326.24 mph. The 2012 NHRA Funny Car World Champion will face No. 4 qualifier Matt Hagan (3.933 seconds at 328.78 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Sunday’s eliminations are slated to begin at 12 p.m. ET.
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I feel great about going into eliminations tomorrow. I think we’re coming off two really strong races, in Pomona and Charlotte, and we ran really good on Friday here in South Georgia. We earned the No. 2 spot then and ended up No. 3 today so we’ll take that going into race day. We have a really, really good Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet. Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker (crew chiefs) are going to figure this new racetrack out and go for the win tomorrow.”
Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster:
“I’m very grateful for and applaud everybody that stayed through all the rain and all the hard work that went into trying to get the track ready today. We want the best show possible for the teams, the drivers and all the fans that stayed through the rain. Today’s run was clearly not what we were planning on. Tomorrow will be a much better day for the Speedmaster team.”
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We definitely have a strong race day setup for the Bandero Café Chevy so we’ll just see what happens. We don’t have lane choice tomorrow, which could be tricky, but tomorrow’s a new day with new conditions so things can turn in our favor. I have the utmost faith in my team.”
Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I don’t like to complain unless I have a solution and I don’t have a solution. If we had lane choice, I probably wouldn’t care that much but, at some point during the day tomorrow, you’re probably not going to have lane choice. I know there was earnest preparation in both lanes but the left lane, for whatever reason, is just not the lane to be in. I have a lot of trust in what the track crew is able to do, and I know they’re gonna work their butts off on it to have it ready for tomorrow when we line up the PEAK Chevy for Round 1.”
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Television coverage on FS1 includes a qualifying wrap-up show on Sun., May 3, from 1 – 2 p.m. ET and an eliminations show from 7 – 10 p.m. ET.
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John Force Racing’s four teams struggled to get down the track in that final session and were unable to improve on their best performances from Friday’s two qualifying runs.
Jordan Vandergriff’s Q1 run of 3.924 seconds at 325.74 seconds was good enough for the No. 3 qualifying spot. Vandergriff will line up the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car against No. 12 qualifier Jeff Arend (4.035 seconds at 311.41 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Josh Hart’s Q2 pass of 3.855 seconds at 275.22 mph put the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster in the No. 9 qualifying position. Hart will face No. 8 qualifier Leah Pruett (3.804 seconds at 331.64 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Alexis DeJoria ran 3.968 seconds at 326.63 mph in Q2 to earn the No. 10 qualifying position. DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team will face No. 5 qualifier Cruz Pedregon (3.948 seconds at 3017.16 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Jack Beckman and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team qualified 11th with their Q2 run of 3.973 seconds at 326.24 mph. The 2012 NHRA Funny Car World Champion will face No. 4 qualifier Matt Hagan (3.933 seconds at 328.78 mph) in the first round of eliminations.
Sunday’s eliminations are slated to begin at 12 p.m. ET.
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I feel great about going into eliminations tomorrow. I think we’re coming off two really strong races, in Pomona and Charlotte, and we ran really good on Friday here in South Georgia. We earned the No. 2 spot then and ended up No. 3 today so we’ll take that going into race day. We have a really, really good Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet. Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker (crew chiefs) are going to figure this new racetrack out and go for the win tomorrow.”
Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster:
“I’m very grateful for and applaud everybody that stayed through all the rain and all the hard work that went into trying to get the track ready today. We want the best show possible for the teams, the drivers and all the fans that stayed through the rain. Today’s run was clearly not what we were planning on. Tomorrow will be a much better day for the Speedmaster team.”
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We definitely have a strong race day setup for the Bandero Café Chevy so we’ll just see what happens. We don’t have lane choice tomorrow, which could be tricky, but tomorrow’s a new day with new conditions so things can turn in our favor. I have the utmost faith in my team.”
Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I don’t like to complain unless I have a solution and I don’t have a solution. If we had lane choice, I probably wouldn’t care that much but, at some point during the day tomorrow, you’re probably not going to have lane choice. I know there was earnest preparation in both lanes but the left lane, for whatever reason, is just not the lane to be in. I have a lot of trust in what the track crew is able to do, and I know they’re gonna work their butts off on it to have it ready for tomorrow when we line up the PEAK Chevy for Round 1.”
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Television coverage on FS1 includes a qualifying wrap-up show on Sun., May 3, from 1 – 2 p.m. ET and an eliminations show from 7 – 10 p.m. ET.
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