PEAK Motorsports Update- May 4, 2026

NHRA: NHRA Southern Nationals - Adel, GA

Monday, May 4, 2026: 

It took just five events behind the wheel of John Force Racing’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car for Jordan Vandergriff to make the final round of eliminations. He made the best of it in capturing his first NHRA event win at the NHRA Southern Nationals in his adopted state of Georgia in front of a sellout crowd at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Vandergriff streaked across the finish line in 4.007 seconds at 314.17 mph as J.R. Todd, the 2018 NHRA Funny Car World Champion and winner of last week’s NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, lost traction early and clicked it off. The win made the third generation drag racer the 13th different driver to win a Top Fuel or Funny Car event in NHRA competition for John Force Racing. Vandergriff defeated Hunter Green, Spencer Hyde, and Jeff Arend in route to the finals.

Immediately after winning, Vandergriff popped out of his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car and sprinted back up the racetrack, much like his uncle, Bob Vandergriff Jr., did after his victories in Top Fuel.

Alexis Dejoria defeated Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon to advance to the semifinals, but her day ended in there after lining up against runner-up J.R. Todd. Both cars smoked the tires almost immediately and it became a pedal-fest finish. The Bandero Café Chevy swapped back and forth, eventually making contact with timing cones at halftrack, while Todd was able to cross the center line first, posting a 6.188-second run to DeJoria’s 7.878-second effort.

Josh Hart’s day in Top Fuel ended in round one after coming up short to Leah Pruett. Hart was off the starting line first by nearly two hundredths of a second, but the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster smoked the tires shortly thereafter, coasting to a run of 7.296 seconds at 77.48 mph to Pruett’s 3.996 seconds at 287.78 mph.

Jack Beckman and the PEAKsquad had a forgettable weekend as his PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car also spun the tires shortly off the starting line to run 4.598 seconds at 183.24 mph to Matt Hagan’s 3.988-second run at 328.06 mph in the opening round on Sunday.

The sixth of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the May 15-17th Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 National presented by PEAK at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.