Hagan Continues to Roll in TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car with Win at Rockingham to Extend NHRA Points Lead, Pruett Advances to Top Fuel Quarterfinals

Dodge Funny Car racer Matt Hagan, the 2026 NHRA Funny Car regular season champion, continued his amazing consistency in the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series with an impressive victory at the controls of his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT Hellcat Sunday in the NHRA Nationals at the Rock at Rockingham Dragway, while TSR Dodge teammate Leah Pruett advanced to the quarterfinals in the Top Fuel category.

Hagan, the four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion, notched his fourth 2026 NHRA national event victory Sunday with sensational consistency in the Dodge//SRT Hellcat as he extended his Funny Car points lead with four races remaining in the 20-event NHRA Mission national campaign. Sunday’s win was Hagan’s 59th NHRA career win, all in Dodge machinery.

The driver from Christiansburg, Virgina, placed eighth in Friday and Saturday qualifications, but his Mike Knudsen-tuned nitro-burning missile put in remarkably consistent runs with a first-round win over Dave Richards with a 3.916, second-round victory over three-time world champion Ron Capps with a 3.941, former world champion J.R. Todd with a 3.916 and a 3.922 in the final round against veteran Paul Lee. The triumph for Hagan was a return to the famed Rockingham Dragway, where he won the 2008 Funny Car title over Lee.

Hagan, who is tied with legends Don Prudhomme and Kenny Bernstein with four NHRA Funny Car world titles, currently ranks third all-time in NHRA career Funny Car wins to John Force and Capps. The Dodge racer will battle for a fifth 2026 win this weekend in the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals on Oct. 2–4 at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis.

“We had a great race track out there and (crew chief) Mike Knudsen navigated it flawlessly,” said Hagan. “We did a really good job as a team putting four runs together on Sunday and executing on what we needed to do. Mike is super young in this sport, but to get a kid that’s a year and a half in, and we’ve won so many races already together, the 1,000th Funny Car race, the regular season championship, and here we are battling it out with four races to go for championship number five — it’s super special. I want it so bad for him because he deserves it and it solidifies him as a crew chief.

“Mentally, this stuff is stressful. The older I get, the more stress I feel with it. But you do get to be blessed to be in these situations. Most people kind of win one, and this is our 59th ‘Wally’ trophy. The points chase is super competitive. There are six cars that could just change the landscape at any given moment. I’m excited for what we have. I’ve been very successful in this sport as far as four championships and so many race wins and a bunch of world records. But I’ve never had what I have right now with this group.”

Hagan’s TSR Dodge teammate, Leah Pruett, drove her 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster Sunday in two incredibly close matchups with eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher and newcomer Will Smith. Schumacher, who’ll replace Pruett next year in the TSR Dodge dragster as Pruett and her husband, Stewart, hope to expand their family in 2027, gave Pruett a spectacular battle in the first round with a 3.776 to Pruett’s 3.775. Pruett had a quicker reaction time off the starting line to secure the win and advance to the quarterfinals against Smith.

In that race, Pruett and Smith had the exact same elapsed times at 3.772 seconds, but Smith was quicker at the starting line and took the victory. Despite the quarterfinal loss, Pruett moved to fourth in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings.

“As the saying goes, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over,’ and it is far from over,” said Pruett, who just missed winning an NHRA Top Fuel world championship in 2023. “The crew chiefs made some very smart moves. Our team is comprised of individuals that know what it means to keep your head up and your nose to the grindstone. To be honest, racing Tony Schumacher on the heels of our announcement of next year’s plans is a little ironic, especially since it was the first time this year. I think even more impressive is how close that race was. A thousandth apart, and it came down to two drivers, and I was on the good side of that drag race — leaving first, getting there first, collectively moving on to the second round.

“My opinion is that Will Smith is the best leaver in the category consistently, and we knew what we were up against. This is the time for zero mistakes to happen. We gained a spot in the points and that’s what we need. We need to be able to gather a points spot every race. And the next one to get around is our team owner (and Pruett’s husband), Tony Stewart, in the Elite machine. So, although Tony and I haven’t physically matched up head-to-head, side-by-side in competition, this is even more powerful and prominent than any regular season matchup.”

Stewart, winner in Top Fuel at the NHRA Winternationals earlier this year, suffered a tough first-round loss Sunday in his R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports dragster to veteran Clay Millican when his dragster smoked the rear tires. Stewart remains third in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel points with the series heading to St. Louis.

Hagan, Pruett and Stewart will be back in action this weekend (Oct. 2–4) in the NHRA Midwest Nationals with nitro qualifying getting underway on Friday, Oct. 2, at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. CDT. Saturday’s qualifying rounds are set for noon and 2:30 p.m. CDT. Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 4, at 9 a.m. CDT. The final eliminations will be shown in two segments on the FOX national network with a 2 p.m. EDT telecast and 4:30 p.m. EDT showing.

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