NASCAR has the Daytona 500, F1 has Monaco, IndyCar has the Indy 500.  NHRA has The U.S. Nationals.  It is the most prestigious drag race in America.   “The Nationals,” is sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), the event has taken place since 1955 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, typically over Labor Day weekend. U.S. Nationals quickly established itself as the crown jewel of drag racing.

Autin Prock had troubles in Qualifying, but the team managed to finally get a run that put him 2nd, behind his John Force Racing Teammate Fast Jack Beckman.  It was Jack’s fifth number 1 qualifying in the season so far.

Fast Jack Beckman

“We know exactly what we need to do for race day and tomorrow’s going to be exceptionally quick first round because we’re starting an hour early,” Beckman said. “This race is as big as it gets, and it doesn’t take much other than riding the scooter up and down both sides of the racetrack to realize this is the biggest race. But until I won Indy in 2015, it took winning it to realize how big it was to win it.”

Austin Prock

“You always want to take out your sponsor’s competitors. We raced Cruz [Pedregon, Snap-on Tools] this morning, so we had ‘Tools Wars’ this morning first round and then worked out to where we had a Tool War in the final against Ron Capps [Carlyle Tools],” Prock said. “So anytime we turn on the win light, it’s exciting, but when you’re racing against one of your sponsor’s competitors, and you can turn on the win light, it tastes a little better. So, all the people at Cornwall Tools were definitely stoked that we got the job done.

“All eight of these cars were hitters today. Everyone was running really well, so to get the job done with that 3.87 felt good. I knew we were going to send it, but I didn’t think we were going to send it like that, and it was smooth as glass. That 3.87 was stout on that race track and definitely gives us some confidence going into tomorrow.”

Brittany Force in her last year in racing at the moment, took the number one spot in Top Fuel

Brittany Force

“We feel ready and confident going into race day tomorrow,” Force said. “You can’t look at all the excitement that is Indy. For me, it’s just, it’s no different than when we were running in Brainerd last weekend, or two weeks from now when we’ll be running in Reading. Our focus is always one run at a time, and we want to win everywhere we go. It doesn’t matter what racetrack we’re at or what event is happening. We always want to win. 

“Now, the U.S. Nationals? Yes, this is a special one. This is on everybody’s bucket list. Everybody wants to win here, especially our team.”

Ashley went 3.839-seconds at 326.16 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Scag Power Equipment dragster to hold off Stewart, who went 3.815 at 321.88, as his .027 reaction time made the difference in a thrilling side-by-side finale on drag racing’s grandest stage.

It is the third victory of the year for Ashley, who now has 18 career wins. He defeated Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and Tripp Tatum to reach the final round and the young phenom was incredible on the starting line during eliminations, posting reaction times of .036, .035, .034 leading into the championship round.

 Ashley dialed it up even more against Stewart and he needed every bit of it to hold off the points leader and win The Big Go for the first time.

Justin Ashley 

“I think I’m still processing everything. I’ve dreamed about this moment over and over and over again, and then to actually live it right now, right here, is truly special,” Ashley said. “When you win Indy, it’s just something that nobody can take away from you and the fact that my father won here 18 years ago, to have him here now and to win this event in Top Fuel, it really is special. It’s just different than any other race.

 “I tried to do my best all day to just treat it as another race, because that probably is really the only thing you can do and not get caught up in the moment, but now to step back and to actually get that victory, you realize how truly incredible it is.

 “The hardest thing is not to cut a good light. The hardest thing is to cut a good light over and over and over again. For me, what I try and do, and what works for me, is not focus on the outcome, but focus on the process. That process for me is what I do during the week, physically and mentally, to prepare for a race weekend like this. It’s definitely satisfying, but no matter how you get a win, it’s still a team win.”

Stewart raced his way to the final round for the fifth time in 2025 after defeating Steve Torrence, Kyle Wurtzel and Jasmine Salinas. Stewart won the regular-season championship for the first time, netting a stout $150,000 payday.

Tony Stewart

“Winning the Top Fuel regular season championship is massive for us in my eyes. It took 14 weeks to win a regular-season championship,” Stewart said. “I’m extremely proud of what we did for 14 weeks to win the regular-season championship. I think there are things this weekend that we hit on for the Countdown. We realized what we were missing in the last few races. I feel that we are in as good a spot as we can be for the next six races. We just need to execute in these next six races.”

In Funny Car it was an all John Force Racing final as Austin Prock completed the weekend that netted the points leader $330,000 by defeating John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the final round after a run of 3.903 at 332.92 in his 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS.

Austin Prock

“To win Indy in my rookie season (in Funny Car) was obviously really special. We came out guns blazing, and it just put a little bit of an extra pep in our step, and to go out there and execute and do the job and have a dominant performance like we did last year, and then to come back again this year and do it is just surreal,” Prock said.

 “It was a dream of mine to win a championship, but you never know if that’s going to happen. So many stars have to align. You have to get the right opportunity. You have to be surrounded by the right people. You have to have the right sponsors backing you. So, to get a U.S. Nationals win last year and then win the championship, and then come back and win the U.S Nationals again, I don’t even know what to say. You know, they say when you win the U.S. Nationals once, it puts you in an elite group. When you do it back-to-back, it’s an even more elite group.”

Story: Chuck Null

Photos: William McPill