CONCORD, N.C. (April 24, 2026) – Jordan Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car team led John Force Racing’s first-day qualifying efforts for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway but all four teams’ solid runs Friday night positioned them for success in Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions and Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
Vandergriff ran 3.899 seconds at 328.70 mph for the second-quickest Funny Car run of the day. Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team sit fifth with their run of 3.932 seconds at 331.20 mph while Jack Beckman and the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS Funny Car team are sixth with their run of 3.933 seconds at 314.97 mph.
Josh Hart and the HendrickCars.com Top Fuel team established the fourth-quickest run of their class with a Friday evening run of 3.733 seconds at 324.59 mph.
Saturday’s qualifying sessions are scheduled for 12:30 and 3 p.m. ET. Sunday eliminations are slated for 12 p.m. ET.
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“This was my first night session run in a Funny Car and it’s a lot different. The header flames make it a lot brighter, which kind of narrows your vision but it’s really cool driving these things at night. It’s been a great weekend so far for the Cornwell Tools team here in Charlotte.”
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“That was a great run. I’m going to sleep a lot better tonight knowing that we were that good … nice and straight. That’s what teammates are for. I’m happy to be a part of this John Force Racing team and really stoked for Bandero.”
Quote from Josh Hart, HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster:
“We wanted a little bit more but I can’t put into words how proud I am to be flying the HendrickCars.com flag this weekend. I got to meet Rick Hendrick for the first time and Kyle Larson was hanging out with us, too, so lots of cool first-time experiences. The car looks amazing. The fans here are awesome so It’s always great to be in Charlotte.”
Quote from Jack Beckman, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We’re tearing down the engine to figure out why the PEAK Chevy slowed right at the end of the run and I’m sure we’ll find whatever the smoking gun was. There was a mechanical issue where the car shut off about 150 feet before the finish line because it was going to run a little bit quicker than that. The good news is, even with that issue, we’re still a top-half-of-the-ladder car and we still collected good data. Saturday would normally be a ‘get race day data” day but we have the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and we’d really like to win as soon as possible … and Saturday sounds good.”
Television Schedule
Television coverage includes qualifying on FS1 at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, April 24, and 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, April 26, with eliminations action at 7 p.m. ET to follow.
###
Continue reading...
Vandergriff ran 3.899 seconds at 328.70 mph for the second-quickest Funny Car run of the day. Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team sit fifth with their run of 3.932 seconds at 331.20 mph while Jack Beckman and the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS Funny Car team are sixth with their run of 3.933 seconds at 314.97 mph.
Josh Hart and the HendrickCars.com Top Fuel team established the fourth-quickest run of their class with a Friday evening run of 3.733 seconds at 324.59 mph.
Saturday’s qualifying sessions are scheduled for 12:30 and 3 p.m. ET. Sunday eliminations are slated for 12 p.m. ET.
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“This was my first night session run in a Funny Car and it’s a lot different. The header flames make it a lot brighter, which kind of narrows your vision but it’s really cool driving these things at night. It’s been a great weekend so far for the Cornwell Tools team here in Charlotte.”
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“That was a great run. I’m going to sleep a lot better tonight knowing that we were that good … nice and straight. That’s what teammates are for. I’m happy to be a part of this John Force Racing team and really stoked for Bandero.”
Quote from Josh Hart, HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster:
“We wanted a little bit more but I can’t put into words how proud I am to be flying the HendrickCars.com flag this weekend. I got to meet Rick Hendrick for the first time and Kyle Larson was hanging out with us, too, so lots of cool first-time experiences. The car looks amazing. The fans here are awesome so It’s always great to be in Charlotte.”
Quote from Jack Beckman, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We’re tearing down the engine to figure out why the PEAK Chevy slowed right at the end of the run and I’m sure we’ll find whatever the smoking gun was. There was a mechanical issue where the car shut off about 150 feet before the finish line because it was going to run a little bit quicker than that. The good news is, even with that issue, we’re still a top-half-of-the-ladder car and we still collected good data. Saturday would normally be a ‘get race day data” day but we have the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and we’d really like to win as soon as possible … and Saturday sounds good.”
Television Schedule
Television coverage includes qualifying on FS1 at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, April 24, and 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, April 26, with eliminations action at 7 p.m. ET to follow.
###
Continue reading...
