Jordan Vandergriff from Atlanta, Georgia wins the NHRA Southern Nationals Top Fuel Funny Car Trophy in Valdosta on Sunday – NHRA Photo
SELLOUT CROWD SEES LANGDON, VANDERGRIFF, GLENN & M. SMITH WIN NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS
ADEL, Ga. (May 3, 2026) – Top Fuel’s Shawn Langdon, who went a
record-breaking 345.00-mph on Friday, finished off an incredible weekend
and picked up his second win of the season in front of a sellout crowd
on Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, defeating teammate Doug
Kalitta in the final round to close out the NHRA Southern Nationals.
Jordan Vandergriff (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith
(Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the fifth of 20 races during the 2026
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Langdon went 3.808-seconds at 333.16 mph in his 12,000-horsepower
Kalitta Air dragster, holding off Kalitta’s 3.954 at 314.61 to pick up
his 24th career win on what was an historic weekend for the standout
driver.
Two days after making the fastest pass in NHRA history with his
345.00-mph blast, Langdon finished the job in emphatic fashion,
defeating Cam Ferre, Antron Brown and Clay Millican to reach the final
round. There were no big speed numbers on Sunday, but Langdon and his
team were remarkably consistent en route to the victory and
After making national headlines with the record-breaking speed pass,
Langdon said it was big to finish the weekend with a victory and move
into the points lead.
“This is very satisfying. I mean, it’s always a good weekend when you
can wake up in the morning and feel like you can win,” Langdon said.
“A lot of hard work went into the offseason of trying to improve a lot
of things with their car and it’s paying big dividends right now. All
three Kalitta cars are fantastic right now.
“You get a little taste of 345 [mph] and then today, it was different.
You had to check your ego a bit and understand that you have to make
changes and take what the racetrack gives you. I didn’t exactly
particularly like that scenario [ of racing Doug in the final] because I
wasn’t really hitting the tree well today, but we got it done.”
Kalitta, who is just four points back of Langdon, reached the finals for
the third time in 2026, as the reigning world champion and No. 1
qualifier defeated Leah Pruett and Justin Ashley earlier on Sunday.
A longtime dream came true for Funny Car star Jordan Vandergriff, as he
rolled to his first career NHRA win, defeating No. 1 qualifier J.R. Todd
in the final round with run of 4.007 at 314.17 in his 12,000-horsepower
Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS. Immediately after winning for the
first time – and doing so not far from the home for the Atlanta-area
resident – Vandergriff popped out of his Funny Car and sprinted back
up his lane, much like uncle Bob Vandergriff did after his victories in
Top Fuel.
Vandergriff had been building to this, winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty
Challenge in Charlotte, and then putting together a strong raceday,
taking out Jeff Arend, Spencer Hyde and Hunter Green to reach the final
round. Vandergriff was the only driver to make four consistent runs on
Sunday, going in the 3.90s in the first three rounds before another
strong showing in the final round.
Racing in just his fifth event as a Funny Car driver for John Force
Racing, it’s been a rapid ascent for Vandergriff, who has big hopes
for the season and was thrilled to celebrate this moment on Sunday.
“I’m still kind of taking in just how special this is. This moment is
something I thought of for a very long time, since my last final in
2019, when I lost to Billy Torrence in Dallas,” Vandergriff said.
“You know, running up the track was something I always thought about
doing because my uncle did it out of pure joy when he won his first, and
I just had to do it. I was contemplating it in the car before the run,
and I was like, I’m doing it, no matter what. Hopefully, this is just
the first of many, and it’s a good one to start.”
Todd continues to perform well in 2026, advancing to the finals for the
first time this season and the 50th time in his career thanks to round
wins against Daniel Wilkerson and Alexis DeJoria. He also moved into the
points lead, three points ahead of Ron Capps.
In Pro Stock, reigning world champion Dallas Glenn persevered on a
challenging day in the class, getting a solid run in the championship
round when he needed it, going 6.642 at 211.39 in his RAD Torque Systems
Chevrolet Camaro to stop Troy Coughlin Jr.’s underdog run on Sunday.
Glenn picked up his second win of the season and the 23rd in his career,
but this one was anything but conventional as the champ only made two
clean runs on Sunday. He won a pedalfest in the opening round against
Jeg Coughlin Jr. and again in the semifinals against Greg Stanfield,
sandwiching a 6.587 at 210.34 in a second-round win against Matt Latino,
who upset No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson in the opening round.
Glenn, the current points leader, and his KB Titan Racing team recovered
from that to put together a quality run in the finals, leaving first on
Coughlin and leading wire-to-wire to pick up the victory in front a
capacity crowd.
“Today was definitely pretty weird. This is probably the weirdest
elimination day of Pro Stock car that I can remember,” Glenn said.
“I’ve seen bad rounds before, but never continuously all through the
day. It’s a combination of the track not quite being what we’re used
to and the air being really good. The air is good enough where we should
be able to go 6.45 out here. It was not a good day to be a crew chief.
“I was shocked to win the way that I did, but as long as the planets
aligned a little bit, with a little luck, that definitely played a role
today. If anybody makes a clean run against me on either one of those
two runs, first round, and semis, I’m dust.”
Coughlin, who qualified 15th, reached the final round for the first time
this season with round wins against Eric Latino, Deric Kramer and Erica
Enders.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith finished off a picture-perfect
weekend on Sunday with his first victory of the 2026 season, defeating
Richard Gadson in the final round with a run of 6.724 at 202.06 on his
Denso Auto Parts Buell.
Smith and his team had qualified No. 1 at each of the first three races
this season, but Sunday had been a different story until today, as Smith
enjoyed a stellar day, including a run of 6.685 at 203.06 in a
second-round victory against Chase Van Sant. He got past his wife,
Angie, a round later to set up the matchup with the reigning world
champion.
Gadson left first, but Smith, who was named to NHRA’s Top 75 Driver
list before the season, tracked him down, showcasing a motorcycle that
has been a step ahead of everyone in NHRA’s debut at South Georgia
Motorsports Park. It led to Smith’s 43rd career win as he seeks a
class-record seventh world championship this season.
“This is not only rewarding for me, but it’s just rewarding for our
team, because we worked so hard this winter to find a little bit of
power,” Smith said. “We found some power and we’re showing it.
We’ve been No. 1 qualifier for three races in a row now. We just
hadn’t shown up on Sunday and I’m glad we showed up today.
“We got our lucky break in the first round. I had a bye and as soon as
I brought the engine up, the toggle switch on the fuel pump went out so
we lost lane choice. As soon as I saw this [75th anniversary NHRA Wally
trophy] I knew I wanted one. I’m glad we didn’t have to wait long to
get it.”
Gadson, who remained in the points lead, advanced to his second final
round this season after defeating Geno Scali, Clayton Howey and two-time
world champion Gaige Herrera.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action May 14-17
with the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by
PEAK at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago.
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