MARTIN, Mich. (Sept. 19, 2026) – Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team head up the John Force Racing contingent after the first day of qualifying for the inaugural NHRA Great Lakes Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
DeJoria ran 3.924 seconds at 331.86 mph in Q2 to take the provisional No. 6 position on the 16-car ladder. Jack Beckman wheeled the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car to the No. 8 spot with his Q2 run of 3.934 seconds at 321.89 mph while Jordan Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS team sit 16th with their best run of 8.758 seconds at 80.53 mph. In Top Fuel, Josh Hart and the Speedmaster team are the No. 13 qualifiers with their Q2 run of 3.826 seconds at 332.35 mph.
Saturday’s NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule will feature the final two rounds of qualifying at 12 and 2:30 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 20.
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“The Bandero Café Chevy made a strong full pass in Q2 so we put something good on the board going into the weekend. This is the first time I’ve ever raced in Michigan and the track surface is really nice and flat. It’s good to be on the top half of the ladder after Day 1, leading the John Force Racing charge, and we’re hoping for the opportunity to improve tomorrow despite the weather forecast.”
Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“To talk about Q2, you have to factor in Q1. We’re assuming it’s all the greenery and the added oxygen level at Michigan that caught us off guard a little. The PEAK Chevy’s engine was a little peppier in Q1 than we had intended and that resulted in tire spin. Because of that, we were the second pair in Q2. So, instead of watching everybody else and swinging hard late in the session, we had to be a little bit more conservative. A 3.93-second run, which put us No. 4 at the time, was a pretty good call on Dan and Tim’s (crew chiefs Dan Hood and Tim Fabrisi) part.”
Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster:
“The entire Speedmaster team is actively working as hard as we can to turn this thing around. The first round of qualifying was a heartbreaker because we wanted to lean on it hard in the second round, especially with tomorrow’s weather conditions coming up. Instead, we had to play it safe, call it a layup, to get us down the racetrack to get the data we needed. We’re very happy with that going into tomorrow and Grubnic (crew chief Dave Grubnic) seems happy with where we are.”
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We have to figure it out.”
TV Schedule
Television coverage includes qualifying on FS1 at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday before eliminations action at 2 p.m.
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