The 75th-anniversary NHRA season delivered one of its loudest weekends so far at zMAX Dragway, with Doug Kalitta resetting the track speed record and Ron Capps banking his 79th career Funny Car victory at the Mission Foods 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte.
Kalitta's run in the championship round was the headline. The Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster ripped to a 3.692-second elapsed time at 342.98 mph, which Kalitta Motorsports later confirmed was the third-fastest run in NHRA history. The pass also reset the track speed record at zMAX. Behind him in the four-wide final were Shawn Langdon, Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett, all unable to match the Mac Tools car's blistering launch.
It was the 60th career win of Kalitta's career, a milestone the 57-year-old has been chasing for the better part of a season. The veteran has long been one of the steadiest pairs of hands in the Top Fuel paddock, but Sunday's run reaffirmed his title-credentials in 2026 with one of the cleanest passes of his career.
Funny Car saw Capps take his fifth zMAX Dragway victory, the most among active Funny Car drivers. The NAPA Auto Parts driver led from green to checkered in a wire-to-wire run that elevated him into the all-time top-five Funny Car winners' club at 79 victories. The pass came in his fifth final-round appearance of the year and reinforced just how durable Capps remains a year out from his 60th birthday.
Pro Stock provided the upset of the day. Matt Hartford became a first-time zMAX winner with a 6.526-second pass at 210.05 mph in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro. Hartford beat Cody Coughlin, Greg Anderson and Matt Latino in the four-wide final, with Anderson left without a 100th career win once again after appearing well-positioned all weekend.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Gaige Herrera continued his ruthless 2026 form aboard the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki, taking the win with a 6.758-second run at 199.88 mph. Herrera held off Richard Gadson, Clayton Howey and Chase Van Sant in the final, banking points that have him pulling clear at the top of the class standings.
The four-wide format remains one of NHRA's signature events, and Charlotte once again proved why. With four cars side-by-side, the race lanes need to read clean, the launches need to be perfectly synced to the tree, and the slightest hesitation means missing the cut to the next round. Kalitta's win-light-blasting pass made the format look almost easy.
The series now heads on to the next stop on the calendar with Kalitta back in title contention, Capps adding to a Hall of Fame stat sheet, and Hartford finally breaking through at one of drag racing's most demanding venues.
