JFR and team driver Jordan Vandergriff prevailed over all time quick NHRA fuel Funny Car program winning at NHRA’s penultimate season event — the Mopar Las Vegas Nationals.

Championship contender Vandergriff closed in on points leader Matt Hagan in dramatic fashion at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway event — defeating Ron Capps in the final round.

Needing a victory to have an opportunity to track down Hagan, a 4X NHRA World Champ (at Pomona) Vandergriff and his John Force Racing team came through in the clutch, as Vandergriff went 3.873-seconds at 331.36 mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to power past Capps’ 3.921 at 335.15.

It’s the fourth win of the season for Vandergriff and this was certainly the biggest, as he pulled to within 39 points of Hagan with one race left. It was also another shining moment for Vandergriff in his Funny Car debut season, getting past Julie Nataas, Spencer Hyde and J.R. Todd, going 3.911 at 327.90 in another major matchup with Todd, who beat Hagan in the second round.

The event results set up another marquee class showdown with Capps and Vandergriff both now tracking down Hagan, setting up what will be a must-see event for the upcoming In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona (Nov. 12-15).

“This is the biggest win [of the year],” Vandergriff said. “Today literally worked out as I envisioned it this morning. It was, how do we need today to go? We need the day to go a certain way. We need somebody else to lose. We need this. We need that, and it literally played itself out the way I imagined. This fourth win I think is obviously huge, just because we’re 39 points back now of Hagan, and coming in today we were a really, really long shot. It felt like we were far away and we needed him to go out early, and he did. Now we can go to Pomona with a chance. So that’s all I wanted.”

Capps reached the final round for the fifth time in 2026 thanks to round wins against Cruz Pedregon, No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman and Austin Prock.

Vandergriff’s victory did come over a NHRA history making field of cars when the 20 cars entered produced the first ever all “3 seconds” field of qualifiers. Jack Beckman qualified #1 at 3.836 secs (low ET) and the #16 car was independent Jeff Diehl who ran a career best 3.968 secs.

NHRA Mopar Las Vegas Nationals – Funny Car Class Summary

WIN: Jordan Vandergriff – 3.873 secs 331.36 mph (Career win #4)
R/UP: Ron Capps – 3.921 secs 335.15 mph
Low ET: Jack Beckman – 3.836 secs
Top MPH: JR Todd – 336.82 mph
Bump: 3.968 secs (*NHRA Record)
Entries: 20

Posted with files by Bruce Biegler & NHRA Communications

Photos by David Ostaszewski