Doug Kalitta. (NHRA photo)

By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio

Doug Kalitta vs. Shawn Langdon: Who will win the Kalitta teammate battle?

The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship begins this weekend with a new track, a reset of the points and four classes that are filled with drivers capable of making a run at a world championship.

Doug Kalitta. (NHRA photo)

The six-race NHRA playoffs kick off with the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by Mopar at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan on September 18-20. It is the first NHRA national event at the facility and marks the return of NHRA racing in Michigan after a 66-year absence.

For Kalitta Motorsports, the opening round of the playoffs comes with high importance and expectations. The Michigan-based team dominated the 14-race Top Fuel regular season with Kalitta and Langdon combining for nine victories.

Shawn Langdon. (NHRA photo)

Kalitta, the reigning world champion and a two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion, won four races during the regular season. He enters the Countdown with Alan Johnson tuning his Mac Tools dragster and has 1,352 points, only eight points ahead of Langdon’s 1,344 points before the regular-season points reset. Langdon is second after winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis and Leah Pruett is within striking distance and is third at 1,095.

“I’m in a good spot with my team,” Kalitta said. “Shawn and J.R. are right there – Shawn and his team are just really good so that’s definitely gonna be a car to beat.”

Shawn Langdon. (NHRA photo)

Kalitta said the opportunity to chase a third Top Fuel world championship with Team Kalitta is something he does not take for granted.

“We’re just trying to see if we can pull off a season championship,” Kalitta said. “That’s the goal; I have the best crew behind me with Alan Johnson. I couldn’t be a more fortunate individual to be in the situation I’m in with all Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) gives our teams.”

Langdon, the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion, enters the playoffs with plenty of momentum. He has won five times this season, including three consecutive victories earlier in the year. His U.S. Nationals victory at Indy was his 27th career NHRA win and it also gave crew chief Brian Husen his first U.S. Nationals victory.

Shawn Langdon. (NHRA photo)

“It’s a crucial time to start winning,” Langdon said. “Indy was definitely a big confidence boost for the team. If you can get your car right, the team’s working right, and everything’s going well, this is the time to do it.”

Langdon said that the NHRA Countdown leaves little room for mistakes.

“We know what our group’s capable of doing; hopefully, we can get back on that hot streak,” Langdon said. “We’re doing a great job, but we have to be perfect come countdown time.”

Leah Pruett and Tony Stewart. (NHRA photo)

Spoiler: Keep an eye out for the husband-and-wife duo of Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett along with Antron Brown. The three drivers have been the biggest challenge to the Kalitta and Langdon this year. Pruett starts the playoffs third in points and Stewart one spot back. Brown is also within striking distance and the two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion is ready to add another championship crown to his trophy case.

Bottom line: The Kalitta Motorsports duo have been in control of the class since the beginning of the season. Both have three-race winning streaks in 2026 and have combined for nine overall wins. They’ve thrown down massive runs all year so don’t be surprised if that continues during the Countdown to the Championship.

Matt Hagan. (NHRA photo)

Funny Car: Can Matt Hagan hold on to this championship lead?

Matt Hagan. (NHRA photo)

Matt Hagan enters the race as the regular-season Funny Car champion, but behind him is a tightly packed field of drivers that are hungry for a championship. Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Jordan Vandergriff, Kalitta Motorsports driver J.R. Todd and reigning two-time world champion Austin Prock all are among the drivers entering the playoffs with legitimate shot at the title.

Beckman arrives in Michigan with momentum winning both the Funny Car All-Star Callout and the U.S. Nationals, defeating Hagan in the final round.

J.R. Todd. (NHRA photo)

Meanwhile, Todd enters the Countdown fifth in points after winning at Seattle and reaching at least the semifinals eight times during the regular season.

“This car is definitely the best one I’ve had since we won the championship in 2018,” Todd said of his DHL GR Supra Funny Car. “We’ve just been lacking little things here and there.”

Todd said his race team is capable of giving him a car so that he can make a late-season run at the championship.

Ron Capps. (NHRA photo)

“I think our DHL Funny Car is definitely on that path,” Todd said. “We have the right guys and the right crew chiefs in place, and the things we did in the offseason with the new cars, parts and pieces, everything’s paying off. If we keep going to the later rounds, more wins will come.”

Hagan finished the regular season with 1,083 points, only 27 ahead of Capps, 40 ahead of Beckman and 69 ahead of Vandergriff. Todd is only 117 behind and Prock, the defending Top Fuel champion, is 193 back.

Matt Hagan and Jordan Vandergriff. (NHRA photo)

Hagan entered the U.S. Nationals at Indy by having to chase down Capps, Beckman and others. But Capps’ semifinal loss to Hagan effectively handed Hagan the regular-season championship. Beckman, who is fresh off a win at Indy, could become one of the most dangerous cars in the field. Beckman won the Funny Car championship in 2012.

Spencer Hyde. (NHRA photo)

“Big weekend for us,” Hagan said. Obviously, no one’s been here in 66 years, I think. So we’re really excited about that but also kind of nervous. I mean, it’s like no one’s had a shot at this racetrack for a while. Hopefully we’ll get to a racetrack, you know, that’s got some parity and really get an opportunity to really let our tongue hang out with these cars. I mean, that’s I think what the fans want to see.”

Spoiler: While the top six are the strong favorites for a title run, the next six drivers in the standings cannot be ruled out.  Chad Green already has two wins this year, while Spencer Hyde, Alexis DeJoria, Daniel Wilkerson and Cruz Pedregon all are close to getting a victory. A win by any one of them could disrupt the chase for the title by the top six drivers. With a few surprise wins and points and a half available at the season finale, anything is possible.

Bottom line: As Hagan starts the Countdown one question remains. Can the four-time champion handle being hunted instead of being the hunter? Expect some epics battles in the Funny Car class during the next six races.

Dallas Glenn. (NHRA photo)

Pro Stock: Dallas Glenn vs. Greg Anderson — Round Two of the KB Titan rivalry

Dallas Glenn. (NHRA photo)

The Pro Stock championship chase also begins with a familiar rivalry and just might be the closest championship fight of all time as the KB Titan rivalry continues.

Dallas Glenn and Greg Anderson battled throughout the regular season, with Glenn ultimately claiming the regular-season championship. Glenn, the reigning world champion, won the U.S. Nationals, while Anderson, a six-time world champion, remains one of the most accomplished drivers in the class with 116 career wins.

Greg Anderson. (NHRA photo)

Greg Stanfield, Matt Hartford, Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr. are among the drivers looking to disrupt the Glenn-Anderson battle during the six-race playoff.

Glenn finished the regular season with 1,235 points, just five ahead of Greg Anderson’s 1,230. Glenn won four of the five playoff races last year en route to his first championship title while Anderson, who won the championship in 2024, would like to dethrone Glenn and take back the championship crown.

Greg Anderson. (NHRA photo)

“I felt like last year, I don’t know if maybe we were just the car was that much better if I was just more hungry for it or what,” Glenn said. “But I felt like that experience of the year before, I can kind of just let it all go and just really focus on driving and just letting the points fall as they do. So I really felt like the year before had kind of I I don’t know, burned all of my stress sensors out or what, but it definitely helped prepare me for the added mental load that comes from being right in the thick and then being hunted in the Countdown.”

If there is one driver that could play the sleeper that might be Stanfield.

Greg Stanfield. (NHRA photo)

Stanfield starts the Countdown third with 1,025 points, 210 behind Glenn. Hartford is fourth at 991 and could also be a contender after winning three races this season.

Stanfield, driving for Elite Motorsports, has been one of the year’s biggest surprises and has consistently shown enough performance to make the KB Titan/Pro Stock battle more than a two-car conversation.

The real question is whether he can steal wins from Glenn and Anderson. In a six-race playoff, anything can happen.

Erica Enders. (NHRA photo)

Spoiler: Don’t ever count Enders out. Although she has an uphill battle, the six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion knows how to win championships. Enders starts the Countdown fifth with 842 points, 393 behind Glenn.

Enders, who has enormous experience racing under playoff pressure, knows that racing in Pro Stock can turn at any moment and qualifying position, reaction time, lane choice and one mistake can completely change the direction of a run for the championship. A win by Enders at Great Lakes could disrupt the entire race for the championship crown.

Bottom line: Does Glenn finally break Anderson’s grip on the biggest moments, or does the veteran six-time champion find another gear when the championship is on the line?

Richard Gadson. (NHRA photo)

Pro Stock Motorcycle: Richard Gadson vs. Matt Smith vs. Gaige Herrera — the three-way motorcycle war. Can Gadson go back-to-back?

Richard Gadson. (NHRA photo)

The battle for the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship could provide another three-way championship fight between teammates Richard Gadson and Gaige Herrera and their opponent Matt Smith.

Gadson, the reigning world champion, won the regular-season title, but Herrera and Smith are close behind. Smith enters the Countdown after winning the U.S. Nationals, defeating his wife, Angie Smith, in the final round. Herrera, a two-time world champion, gives the class another proven championship contender.

Gadson starts the Countdown with 795 points, but M. Smith is only 69 points behind at 726 and Herrera is just 72 behind at 723. A. Smith is fourth at 715.

Matt Smith and Angie Smith. (NHRA photo)

Gadson, who is out to prove that last year’s world title wasn’t a fluke, has been consistent throughout the 2026 season and is confident he can win back-to-back championships.

M. Smith is focused on winning a seventh world title to break the tie with Andrew Hines and Dave Schultz. After three straight years of dominance from Vance & Hines (Gadson and Herrera), this appears to be both Matt and Angie’s best opportunity to win a title since Matt took the crown for the sixth time in 2022.

Bottom line: Expect anything in this championship race. This could be the category where the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship changes leaders every weekend during the final six races.

The Great Lakes wild card: Who figures out U.S. 131 first?

With the 2026 NHRA Countdown to the Championship beginning this weekend at the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by Mopar at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, there is a lot of uncertainty as to how the drivers will react at this brand new NHRA national event facility.

No one has a playoff history at this track which might ultimately be the biggest storyline of all. It will be the first NHRA national event in Michigan in 66 years, which means there are no previous NHRA national-event data available; no previous Countdown history; no established qualifying setup and essentially a blank notebook for crew chiefs to operate from for this race.

Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals

Where: U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, Michigan
When: Sept. 18-20
Event: 15th of 20 races in the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series; first of six Countdown to the Championship races
Qualifying: Friday and Saturday
Final eliminations: Sunday
Television: FS1, qualifying at noon ET Sunday; eliminations at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.

2026 NHRA Countdown to the Championship

Sept. 18-20: Inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR, U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, Mich.

Sept. 25-27: Inaugural NHRA Nationals at The Rock, Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, N.C.

Oct. 2-4: 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, World Wide Technology Raceway, St. Louis

Oct. 14-18: 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, Texas Motorplex, Dallas

Oct. 29-Nov. 1: 26th annual MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by MOPAR, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas

Nov. 12-15: 61st annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Pomona, Calif.