Jordan Vandergriff and the John Force Racing Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car dominated the NHRA Sonoma Nationals weekend at Sonoma Raceway, earning the No. 1 qualifying spot both Friday and Saturday and then overpowering all four opponents on Sunday to pick up their second diamond Wally of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Jack Beckman and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team earned a semifinal finish, while the day for both the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team of Alexis DeJoria and the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team of Josh Hart ended in round one.
Vandergriff lined up in the final round against Daniel Wilkerson, who was looking for his first NHRA Funny Car event win. Wilkerson left the starting line first by just a few thousandths of a second (.057 to .065), but Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car powered ahead at 100 feet and never looked back, running 3.900 seconds at 330.72 mph to Wilkerson’s run of 3.950 seconds at 301.33 mph.
“The Cornwell Quality Tools team behind me had the car running so well and so and smooth at this race,” Vandergriff said. “Today was one of those days where I got up there, and I knew I was going to go straight and tried and true. Heading into this final round, I knew that we had the car.”
It was the third final round in Vandergriff’s 11-race Funny Car career. He earned his first victory May 3 at South Georgia Motorsports Park, in just his fifth race. He also was the No. 1 qualifier and finished runner-up in the final round to John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the New England Nationals, which was delayed by rain and finally completed a week later at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Vandergriff also earned a runner-up finish in Top Fuel at the 2019 NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.
The strong NHRA Sonoma Nationals showing moved Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools team up to second in the point standings, 74 behind leader Ron Capps.
“Getting my second win means a lot because, after my first win, I remember sitting home on the couch, looking at the Wally and thinking, ‘You know, how do I get a second one?’,” said Vandergriff. “The first one felt like such a whirlwind, and a dream come true. This is my job. My job is to come to John Force Racing and win Wallys for Cornwall Quality Tools. Now I’m going to go home and look at two Wallys and ask myself how to get a third.”
Vandergriff’s semifinal matchup was his first-ever race day meeting against two-time NHRA Funny Car Champion Austin Prock. Prock left first by seven thousandths of a second but the Cornwell Tools Chevy powered its way past at the finish line by three thousandths of a second, running 3.911 seconds at 329.91 mph to Prock’s 3.921 seconds at 329.67 mph.
“I think I was just waiting such a long time from the sidelines, and picturing my life, the way I wanted it to be, and this is exactly how I wanted it to be,” said Vandergriff. “Maybe not a Funny Car. I didn’t picture that part but I just wanted to be here and have the opportunity to compete against the best in the world and prove that I can hang with the best. In 2019, I felt like I could, but everything was taken away from me. It’s been a long road back but now I have two of these Wallys.”
The Funny Car rookie set low ET of round one in defeating Jason Rupert, running 3.891 seconds at 328.46 mph to Rupert’s 4.040 seconds at 322.50 mph. In round two, he had his hands full with four-time champion Matt Hagan, but the Cornwell Tools Chevy clicked the win light with a run of 3.932 seconds at 330.72 mph to Hagan’s 3.956 seconds at 327.98 mph.
Beckman faced Daniel Wilkerson in the other semifinal matchup, with the PEAK SQUAD choosing the left lane. Both cars spun the tires almost immediately off the starting line and both drivers pedaled their way to the finish line. Wilkerson was able to hook up better to take the victory with a run of 5.159 seconds at 299.33 mph to Beckman’s 5.793 seconds at 205.19 mph. Despite the loss, the PEAK SQUAD moved up one spot, to third, in the 2026 point standings with three races remaining in the regular season.
“It was a good weekend, two wins away from a great day,” said Beckman. “When you’re driving the PEAK Chevy for the Peak Squad, we have everything it takes to win. If you don’t win, you’re disappointed. It doesn’t mean sour grapes, just that we’re trying that hard. We think that we should be good enough to contend every weekend. We qualified second, got some bonus points and moved up in the points but, ultimately, we lost a weird semifinal. Our car smoked the tires at the step of the throttle. It did not move six inches and blew the tires off. From a driver’s standpoint, it’s kind of fun, because you can have more input into the tune up. And Dan Wilkerson’s doing the same thing in the other lane. If the other car is going down the track, there’s no point beating your equipment up. But there was an opportunity. I pedaled it and got it to recover. He did a good job in the other lane, and I wasn’t able to chase him down.”
Beckman took out Jeff Arend in round one, running 3.928 seconds at 328.06 mph to Arend’s 4.064 seconds at 311.77 mph. The PEAK SQUAD then ended Cruz Pedregon’s day in round two with a run of 3.894 seconds at 332.43 mph to Pedregon’s 4.009 seconds at 319.45 mph.
In the first round, DeJoria and Pedregon left the starting line almost dead even (DeJoria’s .099 to Pedregon’s .097) and were side by side to halftrack before the Bandero Café Chevy lost traction and smoked the tires. Pedregon spun the tires near the finish line but held on for the win, running 4.450 seconds at 197.97 mph to DeJoria’s 3.732 seconds at 170.86 mph.
“These last few races the Bandero Café Chevy SS nitro Funny Car team have been very good,” said DeJoria. “Everything has fallen into place. We have a consistent race car, we are qualifying well and we’ve had some races where we’ve had the best car on the property and just came up short. I continue to be very confident in our abilities. Before I even got to Sonoma, I could feel it on my bones that we were gonna win this race. That’s not me being cocky. It’s just the confidence I have in our capabilities of getting that Wally because it is going to happen. But NHRA drag racing is a very humbling sport. But, when we do win, and we are going to win at least once this season, this team is going to be on a roll.”
Hart grabbed the holeshot against Jasmine Salinas by two hundredths of a second (.057 to .078) in the first round of Top Fuel, but the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster lost traction just a couple hundred feet into the run. The Gatornationals winner kept his foot on the accelerator but wasn’t able to keep pace, running 4.430 seconds at 194.32 mph to Salinas’ run of 3.756 seconds at 319.90 mph.
“All of our high hopes for the weekend started to go downhill with the Friday night qualifying session being cancelled,” said Hart. “That was something I had looked forward to all year and it just didn’t happen. We struggled in qualifying and then again in the first round today. We’ll regroup and be ready for Seattle next week.”
This story was originally published on July 20, 2026. 
The post Vandergriff Stomps Sonoma Field for Second Career Funny Car Victory first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
