Four-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown picked up his second win of the season on Sunday at Texas Motorplex, defeating standout rookie Maddi Gordon in the final round of the Texas NHRA FallNationals.
J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 18th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Brown went 3.706-seconds at 335.75 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster in the final round, picking up his second victory of the 2026 season when Gordon left early and went red.
It’s also the 83rd career win for Brown, who put together an impressive hit list just to reach the finals. He knocked off Dan Mercier, Leah Pruett and points leader Shawn Langdon to reach the final round, ending Langdon’s perfect run in the Countdown to the Championship and snapping his four-race winning streak.
Langdon still has a healthy lead in the points standings as the runaway favorite for the championship, but it remained a big weekend for Brown, who moved to third in points with his fourth career victory at Texas Motorplex. Late-season wins are always special and that certainly holds true for Brown in Dallas.
"This class is really intense right now, and we know we've got our work cut out for us,” Brown said. “The class was dropping bombs out there today, but that Matco Tools horsepower came through, and we went 301 mph to half-track in round two, so we’re definitely getting the combination figured out.
“I like where we are, I like where we're heading, and we’ve got to keep going. Our main focus is that we go into these races with confidence, and we know that we can compete, and we know we can win. Once this team gets a little motivation and drive and gets some confidence, we're a tough competitor to compete with."
Gordon reached her third final round in an impressive rookie season, defeating Shawn Reed, reigning world champion Doug Kalitta and Justin Ashley. Langdon’s points lead now stands at 139 over Kalitta, with Brown 224 back in third.
Funny Car’s J.R. Todd kept his championship hopes alive with a terrific showing at Texas Motorplex, finishing off a productive day by taking down points leader Matt Hagan in the final round thanks to a run of 3.931 at 331.76 in his 12,000-horsepower DHL Toyota GR Supra for Kalitta Motorsports.
Todd jumped all the way to third in points, now trailing Hagan by 119 points with two races left in NHRA’s 75th anniversary season. It’s Todd’s first Funny Car win in Dallas, too, as he became just the fourth driver in NHRA history to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at Texas Motorplex (Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein and Mike Dunn).
This one came at the perfect time, too, as Todd defeated Spencer Hyde, Alexis DeJoria and Ron Capps to reach the final round. Hagan left first in the championship round, but Todd was a solid .059 on the starting line, quickly tracking down Hagan to earn his 24th career victory.
This was a must-win weekend for Todd, who knows there’s still work to do if there’s any chance of getting past Hagan in the championship hunt. But he was thrilled with how his team performed on Sunday in Dallas.
"This is special in so many ways. It's tough to get a win, period, especially in the Countdown, and Matt Hagan's been making it really hard for everybody in the category,” Todd said.
“Those guys are hard to get by, and to do it here, in Dickie [Venables] home state, and running [against his previous team] means a lot to him to beat them in the final. I’m proud of my guys, and now we’ve got to execute in these last two races, but either way we're going to enjoy this."
Hagan advanced to the finals for the fifth time in the past six races and the seventh time this season after defeating Hunter Green, Daniel Wilkerson and Jordan Vandergriff, who remained second in points. Vandergriff trails Hagan by 98 points.
Pro Stock’s Dallas Glenn finished off a dominant weekend in style, moving back into the points lead after holding off Matt Hartford in the final round with a stellar run of 6.478 at 212.30 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro.
It’s the fifth win of the year for Glenn, who also went back-to-back at Texas Motorplex. This year included a record-breaking performance, as Glenn made the quickest run in Pro Stock history on Saturday with a spectacular run of 6.434 at 213.50. That gave him the No. 1 qualifying spot and he followed that on Sunday with four great runs.
He continued to live in the 6.40s during eliminations, defeating Stephen Bell, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson to reach the final round. Following a .010 reaction time, Glenn continued to pull away for the victory, taking the points lead in the process. His advantage now stands at 14 points over Stanfield, which means things will be tight – and thrilling – the rest of the way.
“Matt Hartford's an extremely tough competitor, but I knew my car was fantastic,” Glenn said. “I knew that we had a little bit left in it from the semis, and even if I did lose, it's still going to be a fantastic day with points. It’s basically what I had planned on doing coming into the day, and I’d only going to be six points back. [Points leader Greg Stanfield’s first-round loss] was huge. When he does well and you know that you're going to have to race him the next round, it adds a different pressure, but when a mistake happens like that, you know you have to capitalize.
“Anytime you win a Countdown race, it definitely sticks with you. To go up there and know that you're going to have the opportunity in the weather conditions to be able to set a national record, to make a fantastic run in the right conditions and have the fastest car every single run.”
Hartford reached the finals for the seventh time in his standout 2026 campaign, defeating Aaron Stanfield, Chris Vang and T.J. Coughlin. He remains third in points and trails Glenn by 41 points.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Matt Smith kept his championship hopes alive on Sunday, defeating points leader Richard Gadson on a holeshot in the final round, going 6.660 at 203.08 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell to win for the fourth time this season.
Smith was a brilliant .006 on the starting line against the reigning champion, which was enough to hold off Gadson’s quicker 6.654 at 203.79 at the finish line. It is Smith’s 46th career victory and his second at Texas Motorplex, and it’s also one he desperately needed if a seventh world championship is in his future.
He knocked off Malcolm Phillips Jr., Chase Van Sant and Ryan Oeheler to reach the final round and made a big jump in performance in the final round to hold off Gadson and stay in the title conversation. He’s now third in points with two races remaining and trails Gadson by 85 points.
"When you're running that other camp like that, you’ve got to get up on the wheel and go,” Smith said. “I knew in Q4 I went .008 against Richard [Gadson], so I set my clutch and my switch right back to that, and it went up there and went .006, so I knew where I needed to be. I just didn't know if I had the bike to beat them. I made one little tune-up change from the semifinals, and she was trucking and went 6.66, so it all paid off."
Gadson reached the finals for the eighth time in 2026 thanks to round wins against Marc Ingwersen, Angie Smith and Steve Johnson. He leads teammate Gaige Herrera by 58 points heading to Vegas.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Oct. 29-Nov. 1 with the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.