(Photos by Kim Fuller) • Four time Top Fuel Champ Antron Brown won for the first time at Bristol Dragway, defeating Kalitta Racing points leader Shawn Langdon in a thrilling final round a the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the ninth of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Brown went 3.788-seconds at 331.61 mph in his Matco Tools dragster, holding off Langdon’s 3.801 ET at 334.07 mph in a spectacular side-by-side duel. It is Brown’s first victory of the ’26 season and the 82nd in his career, defeating Will Smith, Shawn Reed and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta to reach the final round.
It was a rough start to the season for Brown, advancing to the final round in Chicago. But Sunday marked off a huge item for Brown, who had only advanced to the final round at Bristol on two prior occasions. But he led wire-to-wire against Langdon (above) in Thunder Valley, picking up his first Diamond Wally and moving to fifth in points in the process. “We’ve been struggling at the beginning of the year, but we kept our heads down, kept grinding and kept working. Today, it all came together,” Brown said. “The Kalitta cars are the giants out here right now. To sneak around them and get a win, that says a lot about what our team accomplished today.
“The only way you beat resistance is with persistence. This place has always been tough on me. To get a Diamond Wally during NHRA’s 75th anniversary season, they can never take that away from you. That’s something special. To be standing here with this trophy is unbelievable.”
Four-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan ground out the victory at his home track on Sunday, denying Daniel Wilkerson for his first career victory thanks to a run of 4.125 at 310.91 in his 12,000-horsepower Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge Funny Car.
It is Hagan’s second win of the season and the 57th in his career. He didn’t go quicker than 4.079 on Sunday, but Hagan took advantage of the opportunity for Tony Stewart Racing, reaching his 100th career final round. Wilkerson went up in smoke almost immediately in the championship round, handing Hagan his first victory in Thunder Valley since 2015. After Bristol, Hagan is now second in points and feeling good about the rest of his summer.
In Pro Stock, Matt Hartford wrapped up an incredibly successful weekend, following up Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory with a win on Sunday, defeating defending event winner Greg Anderson in the final round with a run of 6.672 at 205.60 in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro.
Hartford has three wins already this season and Sunday marked his first victory in Thunder Valley. He advanced to his second straight final round with victories against Shane Tucker, Cody Anderson and Aaron Stanfield. He continued to show strong and consistent reaction times on the starting line, which has been a major key for the veteran over the past several weeks. “I’ve been racing at Bristol since the early 2000s and never managed to win here. To finally get a Bristol trophy is an awesome feeling,” Hartford said. “We had a great race car all weekend. Winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and then winning the race is about as good as it gets.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera enjoyed a vintage performance on Sunday in Thunder Valley, becoming the first two-time winner in the category at Bristol by taking down his teammate Richard Gadson with a run of 6.838 at 198.47 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki. It gives Herrera his second victory of the season and the 30th in his career and plenty of redemption after an ultra-rare first-round loss at the most recent Pro Stock Motorcycle race in Maryland.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action June 25-28 with the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
CHECK OUT OUR GALLERY FROM THE THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS!
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