Langdon, Beckman, Stanfield and Matt Smith start fast at U.S. Nationals

Shawn Langdon went to the top on Friday’s final run at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, taking the provisional No. 1 spot to kick off the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers in Indianapolis

Langdon went 3.727s at 334.98 mph in his SealMaster dragster for Kalitta Motorsports as the past champion looks to pick up his sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 28th in his career.

In Brainerd, Langdon dropped to second in points behind teammate Doug Kalitta, putting a premium on doing well at Indy. He’s currently 67 points behind the reigning world champion as Langdon attempts to win the regular season championship and get his third Indy victory.

“It was definitely a big confidence boost for the team and it takes some of the pressure off for the rest of the weekend,” Langdon said. “The last couple of races, things just didn't really seem to go our way. We still have a good car, though, and we still know what our group is capable of, so this is definitely a good start to the weekend. With the amount of cars that we have (22 in Top Fuel), we know we’re in, so not qualifying goes out of your head.”

Tony Stewart, who clinched the regular season championship a year ago, is currently second with a 3.744 at 328.22 and Leah Pruett is third after going 3.772 at 326.24.

For the second straight year, Funny Car’s Jack Beckman is atop the field after Friday night at The Big Go, going 3.937 at 326.79 in his PEAK Chevrolet SS for John Force Racing.

For the second straight year, Beckman is also in a John Force throwback, with Friday’s car sporting an homage to Force’s dominant 1996 championship season 30 years ago. It was a stellar debut for Beckman with the throwback Indy look as he seeks his third No. 1 spot of the year and the 36th in his career. It’s the start of a big weekend for Beckman, who is also the No. 1 seed in Sunday’s PlayNHRA All-Star Callout bonus race.

“It's awesome to be No. 1 qualifier when there are 16 cars, but I don't want to say it's essential when there are 23 cars - it just sets you right,” Beckman said. “It's a unique race because we get five qualifiers. It's the only event where we're only scheduled for one run on Friday, and we only get one night session. This might be an interesting weekend. Sunday, it looks like the forecast is a lot more favorable. Maybe there's a chance to swing harder than that, and I hope there is.

“It's so rewarding when you step on the throttle on one of these things, and it just keeps motoring down there. I don’t know if ours mixed a cylinder up - it wasn’t a great mile an hour, but it was efficient.”

Ron Capps is right behind in second after a 3.938 at 329.10 and back-to-back event winner Austin Prock is third after a run of 3.943 at 313.37.

In Pro Stock, Greg Stanfield enjoyed a strong start in his Janac Brothers Racing car for Elite Motorsports, taking the provisional No. 1 spot with a run of 6.650 at 206.01. Should that hold for the veteran, he would pick up his second top qualifier of what has been a solid regular season.

He’s currently third in points and has been the front-runner for Elite Motorsports thus far in 2026. This race also means a lot to Stanfield, who won in Pro Stock at The Big Go in 2010 and would love to do so again this year.

“If you could be number one at the end of the session, it's a great day for us, so we're tickled to death with where we finished up,” Stanfield said. “Looking at the weather for Sunday, and as the race goes on, I think the weather's going to get better, so things will kind of get jockeyed around, but it feels good to start out on top for sure.

“I love this race. It's our best race. So, hopefully, we can just keep moving forward and we need luck. That's what we need more than anything.”

Erica Enders, the defending event winner in Indy, is second with a 6.661 at 206.67 and points leader Greg Anderson, who has seven Indy victories, is right behind with a 6.661 at 205.60.

Pro Stock Motorcycle officially returned to the track for the first time since late June and Matt Smith Racing was ready, taking the top three spots to open the weekend, including a top run from Matt Smith, who delivered a run of 6.864 at 198.90 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell.

Eight riders took part in the GETTRX All-Star Callout in July, but the entire class hasn’t competed in more than two months. But the two-wheeled category will be at the final seven races, including this weekend at The Big Go and Smith is off to a great start as he seeks his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 62nd in his career. Currently fourth in points, Smith hopes a big finish to his year starts this weekend at the world’s biggest drag race.

“I thought it was pretty good. We went to Rockingham [Dragway] and made a bunch of test laps,” Smith said. “We spent two days down there in conditions just like this. It was hot and humid, and we dedicated ourselves to it because we knew it was probably going to be hot here.

“Sunday might be a little different, but right now I think we got a good little start. We had some time off and we worked really hard preparing motors and getting everybody's stuff fresh for this race and for the Countdown.”

Smith’s wife, Angie, is currently second with a 6.905 at 196.64 and John Hall sits third after Friday with a 6.910 at 195.65.

Qualifying continues at 12:30pm ET on Saturday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.