MECHANICSVILLE, MD (May 31, 2026) – Jack Beckman and John Force Racing’s PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team qualified first and set low elapsed time of the meet in eliminations but came up short in the final round of the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals at Maryland International Raceway.
Beckman, who earned his 35th No. 1 qualifier the day before and set low elapsed time of the event in the semifinals (3.923 seconds), ran 3.971 seconds at 323.50 mph in the final round but it wasn’t enough to get around Austin Prock’s run of 3.958 seconds at 324.20 mph.
Jordan Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car team rebounded well from their first round exit two weeks ago at Chicago with the semifinal finish against Beckman. Josh Hart and Alexis DeJoria, who both qualified seventh in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, were eliminated in the first round.
The runner-up finish was Beckman’s 78th career Funny Car final round appearance (10th for John Force Racing) and second final round appearance this season after finishing runner-up at the 4-Wide Nationals at Charlotte.
“Charlotte was our first ‘runner-up’ of the year but I still didn’t think we had jumped that final hurdle to get back to where we needed to be,” said Beckman. “I just didn’t think our season had turned fully in the right direction. It did here. We made eight good runs. We should have been more aggressive in the final. We went out there and ran low ET of the meet in the semifinals. We didn’t want to push any harder. I think the track came to us but it kind of ate up our tuneup. We can kick ourselves all day long but we got outrun by a great run in the other lane.”
It was John Force Racing’s sixth final round appearance of the season. In addition to Beckman’s pair, Hart won at the season-opener in Gainesville, Vandergriff earned his career first Funny Car event win at South Georgia, and Alexis DeJoria finished runner-up at both Gainesville and Chicago.
“We have two more races in the next two weeks. I’ve been asked if I like these back to back to back races,” said Beckman. “I like them now because our hot rod’s back. Every call Dan and Tim (crew chiefs Hood and Fabrisi) made, the car responded. Before you can win races, you have to run consistently before you can run consistently quick. Our car’s doing what we ask it to do now.”
In Rd.1, Beckman dispatched of No. 16 qualifier Joe Morrison with the second-quickest run of the event to that point, covering the 1,000-foot racing surface in 3.939 seconds at 324.69 mph to Morrison’s 5.027 seconds at 161.23 mph. The PEAK SQUAD then eliminated J.R. Todd in Round 2 with a run of 4.003 seconds at 324.05 mph to Todd’s 4.018 seconds at 311.41 mph, setting up the semifinal showdown with Vandergriff.
In the all-John Force Racing semifinal, Vandergriff had lane choice but Beckman grabbed the holeshot (.076 to .081) and never looked back, running 3.923 seconds at 328.22 mph to Vandergriff’s 4.122 seconds at 250.83 mph.
“I don’t think anybody was going to beat Jack Beckman in the PEAK car that round,” said Vandergriff. “He went low ET of the entire race that round. It was a great weekend for this Cornwell Quality Tools team, a great bounce back weekend after what happened in Chicago. Coming here and going to the semifinals is exactly what we needed as a team to carry momentum into these next two back-to-back races.”
Vandergriff dispatched first-round opponent Dave Richards with a run of 3.988 seconds at 322.27 mph to Richards’ 14.327 seconds at 64.45 mph. The Cornwell Tools team then earned the trip to the semifinals and lane choice against Beckman with a second-round win over Chad Green, running 3.996 seconds at 324.98 mph to Green’s 4.008 seconds at 321.81 mph. Vandergriff earned lane choice over Beckman by seven thousandths of a second for the semifinal matchup.
Hart, the No. 7 qualifier in Top Fuel, lined up against No. 10 qualifier Clay Millican in Round 1. They left just four-thousandths-of-a-second apart (Hart’s .065 to Millican’s .061) and Hart was just ahead past halftrack before the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster lost traction and spun the tires. Hart slowed to a run of 4.026 seconds at 268.92 mph to Millican’s 3.823 seconds at 330.39 mph.
“Well, that’s why they call it racing, not winning,” said Hart. “The car was dancing around really, really good at the top end. I knew it was spinning but kept my foot in it trying to get down the track. I knew we were out on him there for a little bit … until we weren’t. For the Speedmaster team and John Force Racing, I’m really grateful just to even be in this seat so we’ll regather our thoughts. We’ve been working at it, round by round, and we’ll get it figured out. I appreciate everybody.”
DeJoria was the No. 7 qualifier in Funny Car, giving the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team lane choice in Round 1 against No. 10 qualifier Ron Capps. She ran the sixth-quickest run of the round, 4.009 seconds at 326.56 mph, but wasn’t enough to get around the fifth-quickest run of the round, Capps’ 4.001 seconds at 321.12 mph.
“I am extremely proud of the Bandero Nitro Funny Car team,” said DeJoria. “I have never driven a better race car. They just drive so well and Neff (Mike Neff, crew chief) and Jonnie (Jonnie Lindberg, co-crew chief) are getting a great handle on it. I love this track. It’s beautiful. We made some good runs this week so we’re progressing. We’re getting better and we just need to get a little bit faster. We got 5 bonus points in qualifying so that helps. We have Epping and Bristol the next two weeks so we don’t have much time in between, which I love, especially after going out first round, I want to get right back in that race car.”
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings after seven of 20 races are: 1. Shawn Langdon, 722; 2. Doug Kalitta, 646; 3. Leah Pruett, 506; 4. Tony Stewart, 424; 5. Josh Hart, 409; 6. Maddi Gordon, 395; 7. Justin Ashley, 364; 8. Billy Torrence, 356; 9. Antron Brown, 345; 10. Clay Millican, 294.
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after seven of 20 races are: 1. Ron Capps, 540; 2. J.R. Todd, 524; 3. Chad Green, 500; 4. Matt Hagan, 493; 5. Jordan Vandergriff, 485; 6. Alexis DeJoria, 427; 7. Jack Beckman, 412; 8. Spencer Hyde, 370; 9. Austin Prock, 323; 10. Daniel Wilkerson, 264.
NEXT RACE
The eighth of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the June 5-7 New England Nationals presented by bproauto at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.
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