JEGS Allstars Preview: The Sportsman Ladder Comes to Texas Motorplex

DRAG RACING · EVENT PREVIEW · OCTOBER 13, 2026

Hero archive: Abe Loewen’s Super Stock Grand Am at Brainerd in 2012. Class illustration, not a 2026 Allstars entrant photograph. Photo: GSenkow / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Original image, unaltered.

The Texas NHRA FallNationals brings drag racing’s national stage to Ennis on October 14–18, but one of the weekend’s most revealing competitions starts before Sunday’s professional eliminations. The JEGS Allstars puts Sportsman racers selected through regional and divisional competition into a shared spotlight. For anyone trying to understand the breadth of organized drag racing, it is a useful place to look beyond the headline categories. NHRA’s October 6 event announcement places the Allstars within the FallNationals and the wider Stampede of Speed festival.

A national invitation earned closer to home

The Allstars awards individual titles across ten eliminators and adds team competition to the mix. Its categories are Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Competition, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Dragster and Top Sportsman. Racers build their qualifying case through points earned in home-area Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition. That gives the event a connection to the regional calendar: performances away from the national spotlight help determine who gets this invitation. NHRA’s Allstars overview explains the divisional route and the event’s individual-and-team format.

The alcohol categories have an important 2026 distinction. They use three regions: East, Central and West. Under NHRA’s 2026 Top Alcohol program, Allstars selection points come from four home-region Lucas Oil events, excluding Mission Foods national events. The top two points scorers in each region receive invitations. Returning champions and additional points-based places complete the fields, with only the two standing-based qualifiers per region eligible to score team points. An Allstars entry therefore tells a more specific story than simply being fast at a national race.

Different ways to win a drag race

These categories are better understood as a family of disciplines than a compulsory sequence of steps. NHRA’s class guide distinguishes Competition, Super Stock and Stock by their multiple vehicle classifications and handicap starts. Top Dragster and Top Sportsman use bracket-style competition, with open-wheel machinery in the former and full-bodied cars in the latter.

The three Super categories offer another lens. Super Comp uses an 8.90-second index, Super Gas 9.90 and Super Street 10.90. In Super Comp and Super Gas, cars can be capable of going quicker than the target, but running underneath it creates a breakout. Watching only the highest speed misses the precision involved in producing the right run. Those differences explain why an Allstars session can reward a close look at the class designation and timing information, rather than treating every pairing as the same contest. The figures here are class standards, not suggested performance targets for an unfamiliar car.

Four stories to follow

NHRA’s October 8 contender preview supplies several useful entry points. Joey Severance returns as the Top Alcohol Dragster blocker after winning in 2025, his fifth Allstars title. In Competition, Division 2’s Monty Bogan follows his first Allstars victory with a 2026 season that includes national-event wins at Charlotte and Maryland.

Top Dragster’s Blake Peavler brings a different kind of defending record: he won both the Allstars and the FallNationals in 2025. Meanwhile, Super Street gives longtime Division 2 racer Chip Johnson his first Allstars opportunity, after a Maryland doubleheader that included a runner-up and a semifinal. Together, those stories give the weekend more texture than a simple prospect watch: established specialists, returning winners and first-time invitees share the program.

The sessions that matter

The official FallNationals event guide schedules Sportsman qualifying and time trials from Wednesday, October 14. Thursday brings further qualifying, Sportsman eliminations and a Top Alcohol qualifying session.

• Friday, October 16: Allstars prerace ceremonies at 12:30 p.m.; first-round eliminations at 1:30 p.m.; Top Alcohol Allstars semifinals at 6:15 p.m.
• Saturday, October 17: Allstars semifinals for the other categories at 11 a.m.; Allstars finals at 1:50 p.m.

Times are local to Texas Motorplex; check the linked guide for revisions. The practical takeaway is straightforward: follow Friday and Saturday if the Allstars is your priority. Its regional-to-national connection is visible before the professional program reaches Sunday’s finale, and its class specialists deserve attention on their own terms.