BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 13, 2026) – Jordan Vandergriff had a quicker reaction time and elapsed time against John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the final round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge but Vandergriff’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car crossed the Bristol Dragway centerline just before the finish line, disqualifying the run and handing the win to Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD.
It was the second win for Beckman against Vandergriff during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals weekend. The two met in Q2 Friday afternoon to decide the Funny Car winner from last week’s rain-delayed NHRA New England Nationals. It was Beckman’s 38th career NHRA Funny Car title and the 58th time there has been an all John Force Racing final round. Today’s #2Fast2Tasty win was Beckman’s first in three appearances this season.
Saturday in Thunder Valley was also the final day of qualifying. Alexis DeJoria and her Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car jumped up to the No. 2 spot in Q3 with a run of 4.010 seconds at 326.00 mph. In Sunday’s first round of eliminations, unfortunately, she’ll face No. 13 qualifier Vandergriff whose best time was 4.548 seconds at 191.73 mph in his Q3 run. Vandegriff’s disqualified run against Beckman in Q4 clocked in at 4.185 seconds and would have placed him 11th.
Beckman used his Friday Q2 run of 4.017 seconds at 318.54 mph to qualify third and will face Jeff Arend, who qualified 12th with a best run of 4.429 seconds at 212.86 mph, in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
Hart and the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team qualified sixth with their Friday Q2 run of 3.815 seconds at 327.03 mph. They will face No. 11 qualifier Doug Kalitta, who ran 3.872 seconds at 313.29 mph, in the first round of eliminations.
Dillon Elkins, the bottom-end mechanic for John Force Racing’s PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team, received the Grunt of the Race presented by Vizion One Award for the team’s NHRA New England Nationals victory last week. The new NHRA initiative rewards the bottom-end mechanics whose work is critical to the success of Top Fuel and Funny Car teams. Elkins, a native of Kalida, Ohio, was presented with an oversized check for $250.
Sunday’s final eliminations have been moved up two hours and are now scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET.
Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“Sometimes these cars are amazing to drive, and sometimes they’ll do anything except what you ask them to do. I think both of us experienced that in the final. To close out the Epping race, win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and still have a shot at the Bristol trophy tomorrow — it’s an unbelievable opportunity. I’ve never been in a position where I could win three trophies in one weekend. I vote yes on trying it. It’s just an absolute blessing to be surrounded by people who are great at what they do and have a chance to win three trophies in one weekend.”
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I’m feeling really charged going into tomorrow’s first round though, unfortunately, against our teammate Jordan Vandergriff. But there are a lot of wins coming out of the John Force Racing camp right now so we’re charged. We have a good Bandero Café Chevy race car and we’re excited to go rounds tomorrow. Tomorrow’s 10 a.m. first round is going to make things a bit different than the heat we had to deal with today. The morning temperatures will be cooler so the track temperature is going to be lower. We’ll be able to lean on it a bit more than we have so far this weekend so it will be a totally different racetrack tomorrow.”
Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster:
“Well, somebody’s got to take out Doug Kalitta so I guess it’s just gotta be me. You can’t get excited about who’s in the other lane. You just run your own race, cut a good light and, inevitably, you have to beat them all anyway so let’s start at the top and we’ll hopefully claw our way to the finals. Cooler temperatures with tomorrow’s early start will definitely be more in our favor but we have to be able to adjust on the fly as it progressively gets hotter. We laid down one good run in the cooler conditions and we laid down one good run in the hotter conditions so I have confidence that the Speedmaster / Burnyzz Speed Shop team can get it done.”
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We had the race won and I think maybe I wanted it a little too bad and stayed it in a little too long. We were in the right lane, and I felt that was the better lane so thank you to Jack and the PEAK team for letting us have that lane. The Cornwell Tools Chevy left the starting line clean and I felt it start to move over toward the center line. I gave it some wheel but, looking at the data, just not enough early. It felt like it corrected and I was looking back at the center of the track, but the car was way out of the groove. I think it dropped another cylinder and it shoved me way over again. I gave it a lot more wheel after the second hole dropped but, by then, it was pushing the head gasket out. I saw some fire, lifted, and clicked it off but the momentum of the second hole dropping kind of whipped me into the two cones. There was a lot happening on the run, with the hot temperature, the slick track, and it just bit me. You have to learn from making mistakes. You learn from it and move on.”
TV Schedule
Television coverage of Sunday’s eliminations rounds begins at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
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It was the second win for Beckman against Vandergriff during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals weekend. The two met in Q2 Friday afternoon to decide the Funny Car winner from last week’s rain-delayed NHRA New England Nationals. It was Beckman’s 38th career NHRA Funny Car title and the 58th time there has been an all John Force Racing final round. Today’s #2Fast2Tasty win was Beckman’s first in three appearances this season.
Saturday in Thunder Valley was also the final day of qualifying. Alexis DeJoria and her Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car jumped up to the No. 2 spot in Q3 with a run of 4.010 seconds at 326.00 mph. In Sunday’s first round of eliminations, unfortunately, she’ll face No. 13 qualifier Vandergriff whose best time was 4.548 seconds at 191.73 mph in his Q3 run. Vandegriff’s disqualified run against Beckman in Q4 clocked in at 4.185 seconds and would have placed him 11th.
Beckman used his Friday Q2 run of 4.017 seconds at 318.54 mph to qualify third and will face Jeff Arend, who qualified 12th with a best run of 4.429 seconds at 212.86 mph, in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
Hart and the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team qualified sixth with their Friday Q2 run of 3.815 seconds at 327.03 mph. They will face No. 11 qualifier Doug Kalitta, who ran 3.872 seconds at 313.29 mph, in the first round of eliminations.
Dillon Elkins, the bottom-end mechanic for John Force Racing’s PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team, received the Grunt of the Race presented by Vizion One Award for the team’s NHRA New England Nationals victory last week. The new NHRA initiative rewards the bottom-end mechanics whose work is critical to the success of Top Fuel and Funny Car teams. Elkins, a native of Kalida, Ohio, was presented with an oversized check for $250.
Sunday’s final eliminations have been moved up two hours and are now scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET.
Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“Sometimes these cars are amazing to drive, and sometimes they’ll do anything except what you ask them to do. I think both of us experienced that in the final. To close out the Epping race, win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and still have a shot at the Bristol trophy tomorrow — it’s an unbelievable opportunity. I’ve never been in a position where I could win three trophies in one weekend. I vote yes on trying it. It’s just an absolute blessing to be surrounded by people who are great at what they do and have a chance to win three trophies in one weekend.”
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I’m feeling really charged going into tomorrow’s first round though, unfortunately, against our teammate Jordan Vandergriff. But there are a lot of wins coming out of the John Force Racing camp right now so we’re charged. We have a good Bandero Café Chevy race car and we’re excited to go rounds tomorrow. Tomorrow’s 10 a.m. first round is going to make things a bit different than the heat we had to deal with today. The morning temperatures will be cooler so the track temperature is going to be lower. We’ll be able to lean on it a bit more than we have so far this weekend so it will be a totally different racetrack tomorrow.”
Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster:
“Well, somebody’s got to take out Doug Kalitta so I guess it’s just gotta be me. You can’t get excited about who’s in the other lane. You just run your own race, cut a good light and, inevitably, you have to beat them all anyway so let’s start at the top and we’ll hopefully claw our way to the finals. Cooler temperatures with tomorrow’s early start will definitely be more in our favor but we have to be able to adjust on the fly as it progressively gets hotter. We laid down one good run in the cooler conditions and we laid down one good run in the hotter conditions so I have confidence that the Speedmaster / Burnyzz Speed Shop team can get it done.”
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We had the race won and I think maybe I wanted it a little too bad and stayed it in a little too long. We were in the right lane, and I felt that was the better lane so thank you to Jack and the PEAK team for letting us have that lane. The Cornwell Tools Chevy left the starting line clean and I felt it start to move over toward the center line. I gave it some wheel but, looking at the data, just not enough early. It felt like it corrected and I was looking back at the center of the track, but the car was way out of the groove. I think it dropped another cylinder and it shoved me way over again. I gave it a lot more wheel after the second hole dropped but, by then, it was pushing the head gasket out. I saw some fire, lifted, and clicked it off but the momentum of the second hole dropping kind of whipped me into the two cones. There was a lot happening on the run, with the hot temperature, the slick track, and it just bit me. You have to learn from making mistakes. You learn from it and move on.”
TV Schedule
Television coverage of Sunday’s eliminations rounds begins at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
###
Continue reading...
