PEAK Motorsports Update- September 8, 2026

NHRA: Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals

Indianapolis, IN

Tuesday, September 8, 2026: 

In 1996, John Force dominated the Funny Car category, winning 13 finals in 16 appearances in the 19-race season. In typical John Force fashion after winning the 1996 World Finals, Force said to his competitors “the nightmare continues…” as he wrapped up his sixth championship in the black flamed specialty car. 30 years later, Fast Jack and the PEAK Squad dominated the US Nationals in that same livery to a level not seen in years, and the nightmare continued at the 2026 US Nationals for the Funny Car category.

Even under the weather with cold symptoms throughout the week at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Jack Beckman and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car were the hottest combo on the track as they swept the weekend by winning Sunday’s PlayNHRA All-Star Call Out and Monday’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA US Nationals in Indianapolis.

Beckman earned his second win of the season, 39^th of his Funny Car career and third U.S. Nationals title with the final round victory against Matt Hagan. The PEAK Chevy left the starting line ahead by just one thousandth of a second (0.055 to 0.056) and never looked back, running 3.965 seconds at 327.35 mph to Hagan’s 4.030 seconds at 318.84 mph. It was also the second time Beckman has doubled up at Indy, winning both the All-Star event and the US Nationals in 2015.

John Force Racing’s Alexis DeJoria and Jordan Vandergriff finished their days in the second round and Josh Hart’s day ended in the opening round.

The 1996 John Force championship tribute paint scheme is 3-0 overall with 11 consecutive round wins. Force won four rounds on the way to winning the 1996 season finale, Beckman won three rounds in winning Sunday’s Play NHRA All-Star Call Out and four more in winning today’s Cornwell Quality Tools US Nationals win.  

It was the 16^th time John Force Racing has won the US Nationals: John Force (5); Robert Hight (3); Ashley Force Hood (2); Mike Neff (2); Austin Prock (2); Gary Densham (1); and Beckman (1).

It was also the fifth time a John Force Racing team has won the Indy double: John Force won it in 1993 and 1996; Gary Densham accomplished the feat in 2004, Austin Prock won both in 2025 and Beckman’s double this year.

Beckman ran 3.885 seconds at 328.94 mph in Round 1 to defeat Jeff Arend’s 4.019 seconds at 320.28 mph. In Round 2 against DeJoria, he grabbed the holeshot by almost two hundredths and put down a lap of 3.924 seconds at 329.75 mph to DeJoria’s mid-track tire-spinning run of 5.323 seconds at 137.44 mph. The PEAK Squad then reached the final round with a semifinal-winning run of 3.962 seconds at 327.25 mph against a tire-smoking Austin Prock, who coasted across the finish line in 10.328 seconds at 81.63 mph.

Beckman and the PEAK Squad will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship from the third position.

Alexis DeJoria ran 3.937 seconds at 326.16 mph in Round 1 to defeat Chad Green’s 3.977 seconds at 321.73 mph. The Bandero Café team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in seventh place.

Driving the third JFR Funny Car, Jordan Vandergriff and J.R. Todd made identical 3.908-second runs in Round 1, so it came down to the Cornwell Tools driver’s holeshot (0.44 to 0.58) to claim the victory and the opportunity to move on to the second round. The second-round battle with Austin Prock began with a slight starting line edge to Prock but it was even until half-track when the Cornwell Tools Chevy dropped a cylinder, slowing to a run of 4.055 seconds at 314.46 mph while Prock crossed the finish line in 3.935 seconds at 328.86 mph. The Cornwell Tools team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the fourth position.

In Top Fuel, Josh Hart grabbed the holeshot over Leah Pruett by more than one hundredth of a second, but the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster slowed after losing at least one cylinder near half-track. He crossed the finish line at 3.869 seconds at 282.84 mph to Pruett’s run of 3.713 seconds at 333.66 seconds. The Speedmaster team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the seventh position.

NEXT RACE

The 15th of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is September 18-20 NHRA Great Lakes Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.