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IMAGES PHIL HUTCHISON AND MASHIE MIHALKO

J.R. Gray, the reigning world champion in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports, enjoyed one of the biggest moments in his career on Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, knocking off Justin Bond to win the prestigious Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.

This weekend’s event was powered by CFH Superchargers and presented by Shelton Insurance and marked the eighth of 11 races during the 2026 campaign.

It was also the second of five races in Pro Mod’s Road to the Championship and Gray cashed in on drag racing’s biggest stage, going 5.701-seconds at 252.47 mph in his Al-Anabi Performance Chevrolet Camaro to get past Bond’s 5.759 at 251.72. It is Bond’s sixth NHRA Pro Mod win in his career and his first this season, as he enjoyed a special moment winning Indy for the first time.

“That final round, it was all or nothing,” Gray said. “I want to thank all the guys for their hard work. We had to swap motors after the first round, and we just kept on digging and came out with this Diamond Wally. It’s been hard-fought for us to get to this point and I’m so grateful for my team to get this win and get a little closer to that No. 1 spot (in the standings).”

Nearly two dozen of the fastest door slammers in the nation were on hand to make the “Big Go”. After four quick sessions Canadian Justin Bond was the top dog running a 5.654 @ 255.00 MPH. Gray was #2 with a 5.693.

The nitrous Mustang of Rickie Smith one of two non blown car in the field, was 11^th in his Ford with a 5.762.

Not making the 5.815 bump were former winners Mike Castellana in the Frank Manzo tuned ’24 Camaro and Shane Gray in his Camaro

After grabbing the #1 spot earlier in the fourth session, North Carolina racer Tony Wilson from Kannapolis put his Tommy Mauney built nitrous ’41 Willys on the pole with a 5.71 but had a wild ride in the shut down area as the chutes were ripped off taking part of the chassis with it. A late night thrash at PBRC, a nearby Brownsburg chassis shop had the team ready for first round, now in the #3 spot.

With the repairs made on the “Barney” Willys, Wilson was up against Peter Norton’s Camaro in the first round. The chute incident had destroyed the top bars on his wheelie bar setup, and the replacement set that showed up Monday morning was too short. The bars ended up two inches too high. Wilson figured the car would yank the front end up, shake, and he would be done early. Instead, the Willys left hard, stood up, and kept pulling.

Wilson, with wheels high in the air to the 1/8 mile mark, chose to shut down to a mid six second run car saving it for another day as Norton sped to a 5.751 win.

Norton’s Camaro won R1 but dropped the second round to Banaka’s Camaro

Gray reached the finals thanks to round wins against Alex Laughlin, Mike Thielen and Billy Banaka.

Bond, who qualified No. 1 at The Big Go, reached the finals for the third time this season thanks to round wins against Chip King, Stan Shelton and Michael Stavrinos.

After two races in the NHRA Pro Mod playoffs, Bond is now the points leader, holding a seven-point advantage over Stavrinos. Banaka is just 10 points out of first, while Gray moved up to fifth, 40 points behind Bond.

The JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports returns to action Sept. 25-27 with the NHRA Nationals at the Rock at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, N.C.