Shawn Langdon kept his perfect Countdown record intact Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, defeating first-time finalist Will Smith to win the 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals and collect his fourth consecutive victory of the 2026 season.
Langdon, the Top Fuel points leader who qualified No. 1, went 3.732 seconds at 335.90 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Kalitta Air dragster to power past Smith, who suffered tire smoke early in the run. The victory was Langdon’s eighth this year and the 30th of his career, and it kept him undefeated at the halfway point of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Austin Prock (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 17th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the third of six races in the Countdown playoffs.
## Langdon’s Dominance Continues
En route to the final round, Langdon knocked off Tony Schumacher, Leah Pruett and Justin Ashley, turning in a series of standout performances that included a track-record blast of 341.68 mph in the opening round. After closing the regular season with a memorable victory in Indy, Langdon and his team have now rolled to three straight playoff wins.
His points lead now stands at 116 over teammate Doug Kalitta, who fell in the opening round, and 225 over third-place Tony Stewart.
Langdon credited the work behind the scenes for the spectacular stretch.
“The results we’re showing now come from the hard work of the last couple years. I’ve had a lot of faith and confidence in this race team,” Langdon said. “I knew the capabilities this team had. It was just a matter of things coming together, and I really feel like this year a lot of things have come together.
“We’ve been good when we needed to be good, but we’ve been great when we needed to be great. Every time I hit the gas, I know I’m going to have a really dang good race car. Hopefully I don’t mess that up. With what we’ve done, we’re going to have a big target on our backs. People are going to be gunning for us. It’s up to us to rise to the occasion and do even better at the last three races.”
Smith reached his first career final round thanks to round wins against Maddi Gordon, Stewart and Shawn Reed.
## Prock Powers Through Funny Car Gauntlet
In Funny Car, Austin Prock got the best of Jordan Vandergriff when it mattered Sunday, delivering a run of 3.909 at 332.84 in his 12,000-horsepower Motorcraft Ford Mustang in the final round to move to third in points.
It is Prock’s second victory this season and his first in St. Louis, keeping the back-to-back world champion in the title conversation. He had performed well since May but had only one win to show for it, coming up just short throughout the summer and early in the Countdown.
That changed in St. Louis, as the Tasca Racing standout charged to the final round by taking down a loaded lineup of Ron Capps, J.R. Todd and No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman, all of whom were ahead of him in points heading into eliminations. Prock then delivered a strong .045 reaction time in the championship round, leading wire-to-wire against Vandergriff to earn his 23rd career victory.
He now sits 106 points behind leader Matt Hagan with three races remaining.
Prock said the timing of the breakthrough could not have been better.
“This was a big win. For the points, for our family, for our team – this is the time to get hot,” Prock said. “After everything we’ve been through this year, all the hours we haven’t slept and seven days a week working at this, it really pays off when you get a win. We’re hot right now, and we’ve been hot for the last 12 races. We just haven’t been able to finish the job.
“We had a really dominant Ford Mustang this weekend. We had to run through a lot of hitters today. Each round was like a final round. Everybody we beat was in front of us in the Countdown. It was an epic way to cap it off. You don’t have days like this very often. When you run through four hitters like that, that’s like winning two races in one.
“We’re just over 100 points out of the lead. We’re in striking distance now going into Dallas and I’m really excited for these next three races.”
Vandergriff advanced to his sixth final round of 2026 after defeating Cruz Pedregon, John Force Racing teammate Alexis DeJoria and Hagan. He stayed second in points and now trails Hagan by 72.
## Stanfield Bests Father in All-Stanfield Pro Stock Final
Aaron Stanfield got the best of his father, Greg, in the Pro Stock final round Sunday, scoring a holeshot victory over the points leader with a run of 6.556 at 209.20 in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Janac Brothers Racing Chevrolet Camaro for Elite Motorsports.
Greg Stanfield entered 6-1 against his son and 1-0 in final rounds, but Aaron got the last laugh thanks to a brilliant .018 reaction time. That was just enough to hold off Greg’s quicker 6.547 at 209.85 at the finish line, earning Aaron his third victory of 2026 and the 17th of his career.
He knocked off Deric Kramer, Matt Hartford and Troy Coughlin Jr. to reach the final round, following wins by Coughlin and his father to keep Elite Motorsports undefeated in the Countdown.
Stanfield called sharing the final round with his father something special.
“It’s hard to get to the final round alone, and to be able to share it with my dad is pretty special,” Stanfield said. “He’s taught me absolutely everything I know in a race car. I told him I was fixing to show him what he taught me. We’re going to race as hard as we can possibly race. A thousandth at the stripe – it doesn’t get any better than that.
“At the start of the day, I would definitely say my car kind of pulled me along. As the day went on, I started finding myself on the Tree, and it ended up with me in the final round with my dad. As a whole, the entire Elite team ran really well this weekend. We just need to keep that trajectory.”
Greg Stanfield built on his points lead by advancing to the final round for the fourth time this year, defeating Mason McGaha, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Dallas Glenn along the way. His lead is now 71 points over Glenn and 81 over Hartford. Aaron Stanfield moved to seventh in points with the victory.
## Herrera Makes It Four Straight in St. Louis
It was teammate versus teammate in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final for the second straight race, but this time Gaige Herrera got the best of points leader Richard Gadson, going 6.710 at 200.98 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki to defeat Gadson’s 6.763 at 200.08.
The victory handed Herrera his fourth straight win at World Wide Technology Raceway. He was outstanding all weekend, breaking the track record en route to qualifying No. 1 with a 6.644, then defeating Michael Phillips and Ryan Oehler to reach the final round.
He became the third different rider in as many races to win in the Countdown, closing to within 32 points of Gadson with three races remaining and setting up a potential thrilling duel between the teammates who have won the last three world titles.
Herrera said winning in St. Louis never gets old.
“The Countdown, the last six races, is when it all matters,” Herrera said. “Getting this win here in St. Louis means a lot. St. Louis holds a special place for me. I don’t know what it is with this place, but it’s always been very good to me. I wish we had all the races here.
“Racing Richard in the final puts a lot of pressure on me. He’s the man on the tree. He’s very consistent, and it was awesome to race him in the final. I felt like I was trying to push myself too much the last couple races. This whole weekend, I just reminded myself: I’m living the dream, I’m having fun and that’s what it’s all about.
“This is a big deal for me. Points-wise, we gained a little bit on my teammate. He still has the points lead, but it’s going to be a dogfight.”
Gadson stayed in the points lead thanks to his seventh finals appearance of the season, defeating Chase Van Sant, Matt Smith and John Hall on Sunday.
## Stevie Fast Ends Drought in Pro Mod
Two-time world champion Stevie “Fast” Jackson picked up his first win in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by Elite Motorsports since the 2022 season, defeating Stan Shelton in the final round when Shelton went red.
Jackson, who qualified fourth, posted a .019 reaction time and a run of 5.634 at 255.48 for his 14th career victory and first in four years. He knocked off Kevin Rivenbark, Mike Thielen and reigning world champion J.R. Gray to reach the final.
The weekend featured some of the biggest performances in NHRA Pro Mod history, capped by No. 1 qualifier Chip King becoming the first driver in series history to reach the 5.50s with a 5.596 at 257.24 in the final qualifying session.
The wild weekend also threw the points race into chaos, as points leader Mike Stavrinos fell in the first round. Justin Bond is now the points leader with one race remaining, ahead of Stavrinos by 17 points. Derek Menholt sits third, 54 back, with Gray 67 behind in fourth.
The Pro Mod series closes its 2026 season Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as part of the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Oct. 14-18 with the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Dallas.