Silly Season was anything but silly. New year, new teams, and new drivers. An offseason of surprises has insured and shaped a very intriguing 2026 season for all. Let’s dive into what these changes were and what we saw out of the PRO test session that took place in Gainesville that is leading us to the season opener, the Gatornationals.
During PRO testing, Kalitta Motorsports, Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon rocketed an unofficial record breaking pass of 3.69 second elapsed time at an earth-shattering 345 miles per hour. The current elapsed time and speed record,held by now retired Top Fuel driver Brittany Force, is 3.64 seconds at 343.16 miles per hour, set in July 0f 2025 at the Sonoma Nationals, per Guinness World Records. The question is, when will this record be broken, and how many times will it be reset during the season.
A staple team of NHRA, John Force Racing, has seen drastic and shocking changes from the conclusion of the 2025 racing season. Most fans would argue the biggest change was not John or even Brittany Force announcing their retirements. However, it was the departure of two-time Funny Car Championship winning driver Austin Prock and his family that shook the drag racing world.
The Cornwell Quality Tools sponsored Funny Car felt unstoppable in 2025, with many of us seeing a third world championship title on the horizon for this team in 2026. There were many rumors leading up to the eventual announcement of all three Prock’s joining the Tasca Racing team, as well as former Top Fuel driver Jordan Vandergriff taking the seat that Prock left empty. With Brittany Force’s retirement announcement, this allowed Josh Hart to sell his racing operation and take over one of the fastest Top Fuel entries for 2026.
The Funny Car class also had some major news that JCM Racing was disbanding their pro class teams for 2026, leaving funny car driver Alexis Dejoria, as well as Top Fuel driver Ida Zetterström, without a ride or team.
Zetterström, fortunately, was able to partner up with established Top Fuel driver and team owner, Shawn Reed, for the upcoming season. The outlook on DeJoria’s future would turn for the best as she and her team were absorbed into John Force Racing, giving the team three Funny Car’s for 2026. On the January 26th edition of Nitro Nation, DeJoria discussed the move that saw her entire JCM team transition to JFR with her.
“I finally got the offer, got the position that everybody dreams of and this is what I asked for,”she said.
Team owner, and previous NHRA Top Fuel/Funny Car World Champion, Del Worsham, has a new developmental driver in the seat of his Funny Car for the 2026 season. Julie Nataas, former Top Alcohol Dragster multi-time event winner and World Champion, continues to test and will pilot Worsham’s Funny Car after a handful of entries during 2025. Nataas will be continuing to get seat time in this Funny Car with the intention of contesting the Funny Car class during the season opener. After jumping back into the Top Alcohol class to test a newly approved nitro-injected Funny Car combination for Randy Meyer Racing, Nataas fell in love with Funny Car’s and hasn’t looked back. Nataas’ driving talent is undeniable, could we see two women who piloted Funny Cars face each other in eliminations this weekend for the first time since 2017?
Of note this season, female racers are rising to the forefront in the Top Fuel category for this season. Ron Capps Motorsports is introducing third generation NHRA driver Maddi Gordon to the team. Gordon, previously a Top Alcohol Funny Car driver and previous event winner, two short weeks ago did not have a Top Fuel license but had every intention of entering the Gatornationals in the Top Fuel category. On the February 9th, 2026 edition of Nitro Nation, Gordon shared she would be using the mentioned PRO test session to complete the runs needed to upgrade her licence.
In an exclusive video shared with ATYL Media, she reported she was able to do just that. Laying down aggressive runs like a 3.83 e.t at 318 mph, per the NHRA. We can look forward to Ron Capps Motorsports first Top Fuel dragster entry and Gordon’s highly anticipated debut at the Gatornationals.
Hear from out latest Nitro Nation guest, Maddi Gordon, in this exclusive video from pre-season testing in Gainesville about her @NHRA Top Fuel license! 💚🙌
When we talked to Maddi during our episode, she shared that she had not yet upgraded her license for the Top Fuel category… pic.twitter.com/C3Mt1GjBqR
— Above The Yellow Line Media (@ATYLmedia) February 20, 2026
While Gordon won’t be the only driver entering uncharted waters in the season opener, Leah Pruett is returning to the driver’s seat of her Top Fuel Dragster under the Tony Stewart Racing team. Pruett, a new mom, took a two-season hiatus to start a family with her husband, Tony Stewart. Which then allowed Stewart to pilot her dragster in the meantime, gaining more seat time than he previously had. Stewart was very clear that the seat in that dragster did not belong to him, rather to Pruett when she was ready to return.
Pruett is ready to return now, so where does that leave Stewart? Although Stewart was seen recently behind the wheel of a NASCAR Craftsmen series truck, he states he is not returning to NASCAR. It turns out, he has never left drag racing. Elite Motorsports purchased a Top Fuel operation at the end of the 2025 season. Elite was vocal in wanting two of their existing team drivers from their Pro Stock class to have the opportunity to license in the car upon this purchase. What no one saw coming was the announcement of the driver, the sponsor and a full-time season with intended championship contention.
Stewart is piloting the Elite Motorsports Top Fuel dragster entry for the upcoming season. Not only do we have the potential of seeing the first husband vs. wife run in Top Fuel history this year, we also have a team owner actively campaigning against his own team in the same professional category. Pruett was able to lay down a 3.80 e.t at 259 mph during the PRO test session while Stewart recorded a 3.71 e.t at 336 mph, per Competition Plus.
We are just scratching the surface with all of the changes and testing that has taken place leading to the NHRA season opener, the Gatornationals. With this season being the 75th anniversary of the NHRA, the unofficial record breaking passes, and all of the new teams/drivers there is one thing that is clear. It’s going to be a great weekend for drag racing!
