2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series

2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season
League	NHRA
Sport	Drag racing
League champions	TBA (Top Fuel) TBD (Funny Car) TBA (Pro Stock) TBD (Pro Stock Motorcycle)
NHRA seasons
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The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season was announced on August 28, 2025. ^[1]

It will be the 71st season of the National Hot Rod Association's top drag racing competition. This season will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHRA. ^[2] The NHRA will host 20 events this season. Top Fuel and Funny Car will compete at all 20 events. The number of events at which Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle will compete at is to be determined. There will be All-Star Call Out races, which are based on a format used by the Discovery television program Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings, where the drivers select their opponents in early rounds. ^[3]

Schedule

The schedule was released August 28, 2025.

2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Schedule [1]
Date	Race	Site	TV	Winners
				Top Fuel	Funny Car	Pro Stock	Pro Stock Motorcycle
March 5–8	NHRA Gatornationals	Gainesville Raceway Gainesville, Florida	Fox / FS1
March 20–22	NHRA Arizona Nationals	Firebird Motorsports Park Chandler, Arizona
April 9–12	NHRA Winternationals TFCO	In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip Pomona, California
April 24–26	NHRA 4-Wide Nationals 4 Lanes	zMax Dragway Concord, North Carolina
May 1–3	NHRA Southern Nationals	South Georgia Motorsports Park Adel, Georgia
May 14–17	Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals Presented By PEAK	Route 66 Raceway Joliet, Illinois
May 29–31	NHRA Potomac Nationals	Maryland International Raceway Mechanicsville, Maryland
June 5–7	NHRA New England Nationals	New England Dragway Epping, New Hampshire
June 12–14	Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals	Bristol Dragway Bristol, Tennessee
June 25–28	Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals PSCO	Summit Motorsports Park Norwalk, Ohio
July 17–19	DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals PSMCO	Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California
July 24–26	Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals	Pacific Raceways Kent, Washington
August 20–23	NHRA Nationals	Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota
September 2–7	Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals 1.5FCCO	Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Brownsburg, Indiana
Countdown to the Championship
September 17–20	NHRA Reading Nationals	Maple Grove Raceway Mohnton, Pennsylvania	Fox / FS1
September 25–27	TBD	TBD
October 2–4	NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals	World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway Madison, Illinois
October 14–18	Texas NHRA FallNationals	Texas Motorplex Ennis, Texas
October 29–November 1	NHRA Nevada Nationals	Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada
November 12–15	In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals 1.5	In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip Pomona, California

Schedule Changes

The 2026 schedule features several key changes. The Winternationals moves two weeks later, replacing the spring Las Vegas event. Sonoma and Seattle have swapped dates, and the date which usually holds the second Charlotte race is currently listed as TBD. ^[2]

One new market has been added, Albany, Georgia. The race at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Georgia will mark the first race in the NHRA since 2021 in the state, when a round was held in Commerce., 275 miles to the north of Cecil.

The round held in the Richmond area, held at Virginia Motorsports Park in North Dinwiddie, Virginia, will be moved 117 miles north to the Washington area, at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland, 50 miles south of Washington.

Additional rules for specially marked races

4 Lanes: The National events in Charlotte will compete with cars on four lanes.

• All cars will qualify on each lane as all four lanes will be used in qualifying.
• Three rounds with cars using all four lanes.
• In Rounds One and Two, the top two drivers (of four) will advance to the next round.
• The pairings are set as follows:
  • Race One: 1, 8, 9, 16
  • Race Two: 4, 5, 12, 13
  • Race Three: 2, 7, 10, 15
  • Race Four: 3, 6, 11, 14
  • Semifinal One: Top two in Race One and Race Two
  • Semifinal Two: Top two in Race Three and Race Four
  • Finals: Top two in Semifinal One and Semifinal Two
• Lane choice determined by times in previous round. In first round, lane choice determined by fastest times.
• Drivers who advance in Rounds One and Two will receive 20 points for each round advancement.
• In Round Three, the winner of the race will be declared the race winner and will collect 40 points. The runner-up will receive 20 points. Third and fourth place drivers will be credited as semifinal losers.

1.5: The U.S. Nationals and In-N-Out Burger Finals will have their race points increased by 50% . Drivers who qualify but are eliminated in the first round receive 30 points, and each round win is worth 30 points. The top four receive 10, 9, 8, and 7 points, respectively, for qualifying positions, with the 5–6 drivers receiving 6 points, 7–8 drivers receiving 5 points, 9–12 receiving 4 points, and 13–16 receiving 3 points. Also, the top four, not three, drivers after each session receive points for fastest times in each round (4-3-2-1).

TF/FC/PS/PSM CO: All-Star Call Out competition for that category.

References

1. "NHRA announces historic 2026 schedule for 75th Anniversary season". NHRA. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
2. "NHRA adds Georgia, Maryland to 2026 schedule". ESPN.com. August 28, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
3. Wade, Susan. "How NHRA Is Thinking Outside the Box for Big-Money Callout Specialty Race". AutoWeek. Hearst Publications. Retrieved November 1, 2023.

External links

• Official website