Vandergriff, Kalitta, and Vang Roll to Provisional No. 1 Spots, Get Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier Bonus at DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Funny Car’s Jordan Vandergriff made the quickest Funny Car run of the 2026 season on Friday in front of a huge Sonoma Raceway crowd, taking the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot for John Force Racing at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge.

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Chris Vang (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers in Sonoma at the 11th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. After an oildown during the second Top Fuel session, racing was called for the night due to curfew.

Selections were also made in the opening round of the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout. Top seed Gaige Herrera selected Steve Johnson, Richard Gadson picked Chase Van Sant, reigning Callout winner Matt Smith chose Jianna Evaristo, setting Angie Smith and John Hall as the final pair.

Vandergriff went 3.849-seconds at 332.43 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to also collect the $4,000 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus.

Remarkably, Vandergriff kicked off the epic night session as part of the first pair, making an incredible run just as the sun was setting. But the rest of the field couldn’t top the John Force Racing standout, putting Vandergriff in position to pick up his second career No. 1 qualifier.

Currently fifth in points, Vandergriff has enjoyed a strong first Funny Car season, but Friday’s run with a massive crowd on hand certainly one of the highlights for him.

“To be the quickest Funny Car of the year so far is a huge accomplishment, especially with how competitive this class is. And I’m a rookie—I don’t even know what I’m doing yet,” Vandergriff said. “We fumbled a little in Q1, but I knew we had something figured out. The early numbers looked really good, so I believed we were going to run quick no matter when we went down the track.

“I knew the team wanted to push a little. We’ve run well this year, we’ve won a race, we’ve qualified No. 1 before, but we hadn’t really leaned on it. Tonight we did. I knew we were going to run well. I just didn’t know we were going to run that good.”

Vandergriff’s teammate, Jack Beckman, went 3.873 at 333.16 to sit second and Daniel Wilkerson is right behind in third after going 3.899 at 327.66.

In Top Fuel, Kalitta made the quickest run in the opening qualifying session on speed, edging teammate Shawn Langdon with a run of 3.714 at 337.07 in his 12,000-horsepower Aflac dragster for Kalitta Motorsports.

The reigning world champion also picked up the $4,000 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus for the second straight year as he looks to pick up his third No. 1 qualifier of the year.

Kalitta has always run well at Sonoma, with his six wins – including a victory last year – leading the way in the Top Fuel ranks.

“That first run was definitely a close one. At the time, you don’t realize it’s going to hold up, but it was enough to get us the No. 1 spot,” Kalitta said. “It was disappointing not to get the second session in. Alan Johnson definitely didn’t have that car tuned to run a 3.71 — we were planning to throw down something even quicker.

“Tomorrow’s conditions should be just as good, maybe even better. I think we’ll have a chance to improve on those numbers. It’s Sonoma, one of my favorite tracks. Every time we go up there, we’re trying to do the best job we can.”

Points leader Langdon is second with a 3.714 at 336.49 and Tony Stewart is third after going 3.736 at 333.91.

In a stunning turn of events in Pro Stock, Chris Vang performed better than an impressive list of event winners and world champions on Friday in Sonoma, taking the provisional No. 1 spot for the first time in his career with a run of 6.498 at 209.04 in his Prestige Trailers Chevrolet Camaro.

It hands the young second-year racer the $2,500 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus, as well as puts him in a prime position to earn the $2,000 GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier on Saturday. That would mean a great deal to the part-time racer who is making just his fourth start of the 2026.

But he made the most of his opportunities on Friday in prime conditions at Sonoma, making a pair of great runs, outlasting the stars in the class to possibly pick up a massive career milestone.

“It’s exciting. Pretty amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it. We came in here just hoping to qualify, and now we’re sitting No. 1,” Vang said. “We knew we had something to work with after the first session. We threw a little more at it, hoping to run in the 6.50s or maybe the high .49s, and we ended up right where we wanted.

“This bonus helps a lot. We’re trying to run about seven more races this season, and every little bit matters for a team like ours. We didn’t get everything out of that run. It was really good, but there’s still more in it.”

Rookie Cody Anderson was the only other driver to dip into the 6.40s, going 6.499 at 210.54 and Erica Enders is third after a run of 6.503 at 211.33.

M. Smith earned the $1,500 Deecell After Dark Low Qualifier bonus in Pro Stock Motorcycle for making the quickest run during Friday’s second time trial.

Qualifying continues at 12 p.m. PT on Saturday at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge at Sonoma Raceway. The first round of the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout begins at 11:30 a.m.

This story was originally published on July 18, 2026. Drag Illustrated