Snot Rocket is leaving World Cup with the win. Brett LaSala and his team put the Coyote-powered Mustang back in the winner’s circle at the 2026 World Cup Finals, and there was plenty to talk about along the way—including a record exchange with Joel Grannas.
For LaSala, his crew, and the sponsors behind the car, the victory at Maryland International Raceway was a big turnaround from FL2K. Just over a month earlier, a high-speed tire failure left Snot Rocket with significant body damage. At World Cup, the Mustang was back running at the front—and left with the win.
Snot Rocket goes 6.28, Grannas answers with 6.274
LaSala opened his World Cup qualifying effort with a 6.75 at 173 mph, then stepped up to a 6.320 at 235 mph in the second session. That put Snot Rocket second heading into eliminations.
Sunday brought another jump when LaSala laid down a 6.28-second pass, briefly moving the H-pattern record again. Joel Grannas answered right afterward with a 6.274 in his 2JZ-powered Peeled Orange Foxbody. Brett barely had time to enjoy that one before Joel moved the mark again. For Mustang fans, watching a Coyote-powered S550 and a 2JZ-powered Foxbody push each other this far was a highlight of the weekend.
There is a connection between the two programs beyond the Mustang badge: Snot Rocket uses a Grannas Racing ATLAS transmission based on TREMEC architecture. That made the record exchange even more interesting: the guy answering Brett’s pass is also behind the transmission in Snot Rocket.
Cole-Mann, Madden, and the rest bring the pace
Nick Cole-Mann led qualifying in the Native Nightmare S10 with a 6.306 at 231 mph, edging LaSala by just 0.014 second. Sean Madden put the Django Corvette third with a 6.362 at 198 mph, while Grannas qualified fourth at 6.563.
The opening-round pairings put LaSala against Josh Manning’s Stormbreaker Corvette, Cole-Mann against Patrick Lewis in Betty White, and Madden against Lando Ortega’s Mustang. Brett had plenty of company in the low sixes. Cole-Mann and Madden made that clear before eliminations even started.
Cleetus McFarland also had a personal-best moment with Leroy, running 6.57 at 215 mph. The Corvette skipped straight from the 6.70s into the 6.50s, giving his crew something to celebrate during the rain-shortened qualifying weekend.
Brett answers the question
Before the event, we looked at the racers standing between LaSala and a World Cup victory. Now we have the answer. After the damage at FL2K, getting Snot Rocket back out and taking the World Cup win is a result this team can be proud of. Congratulations to Brett, the crew, and everyone who helped get the car back to this point.
Featured photo: GRS Motorsports / GRS-Motorsports.com.
