Leah Pruett Returns for U.S. Nationals with TSR Dodge Top Fueler, 4-time World Champ Matt Hagan Comes to Indy with Funny Car Point Lead

Leah Pruett Set for U.S. Nationals with TSR Dodge Top Fueler,
After a Two-Year Layoff, Pruett Impressive Sitting 3rd in Points

• Leah Pruett made her NHRA Top Fuel return after a two-year layoff in March in the TSR Dodge dragster, and she comes to the famed U.S. Nationals this weekend, Sept. 4-7
• Pruett, a 19-time NHRA national event winner, entrusted her 12,000‑horsepower Top Fuel dragster to her husband and team owner, Tony Stewart, for two seasons as she stepped away to welcome their son, Dominic
• Pruett came back to NHRA action with a new outlook as a racer, wife and mother but her competitive spirit remains strong for this weekend (Sept. 4-7) at the NHRA U.S. Nationals
• Pruett also has the opportunity to compete against her husband for the first time in 2026, as Stewart, a racing Hall of Famer, continues his career in the Elite Top Fuel car
• Pruett, who won the New England Nationals this year, returns to Indy where she finished runner-up in Top Fuel in 2020 and now ranks third in the current NHRA Top Fuel points
• Pruett defeated race point leader Shawn Langdon in a final round for the rain-delayed New England Nationals in Epping, N.H., and she hopes to win in this Monday’s finals at Indy
• Pruett’s teammate, TSR Dodge driver Matt Hagan continues his quest for a fifth NHRA Funny Car Championship with his potent TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat machine and leads the points
• Hagan, a winner of 58 career NHRA races, recently recorded the historic 1000th NHRA Funny Car victory in April in the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.
• Hagan also captured the recent Brainerd and Thunder Valley Nationals and now comes to the Indy where he won in 2016, 2020 (twice) in his Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
• The Christiansburg, Virginia driver finished second in the 2025 NHRA Funny Car point standings after three victories in 2025 and is in his 19th year with a nitro Dodge Funny Car
• Stewart, the former NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC champion, just won his third NHRA Top Fuel national event in April at the NHRA Winternationals and sits fifth in points

By: Stellantis ((Photos Courtesy Stellantis)

AUGUST 31, 2026, BROWNSBURG, Ind. – After a two‑year hiatus, Dodge NHRA Top Fuel standout Leah Pruett has climbed back into her 12,000-horsepower Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT dragster for this weekend (Sept. 4-7) in the historic NHRA U.S. Nationals and Pruett seeks a second 2026 victory in the nitro-burning Top Fuel division.

Pruett, a 13-time NHRA Top Fuel national event winner, shocked the motorsports world in 2023 when she walked away from the TSR Top Fuel car that nearly took her to the 2023 World Championship at Pomona to start a family with husband Stewart. Stewart, a NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC series champion and motorsports Hall of Famer, continued the TSR team’s Top Fuel success by winning two NHRA events (Las Vegas and Joliet) as well as the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel regular-season title.

But Stewart always said he was the substitute driver in the TSR Dodge dragster until his wife was ready to return to action. After giving birth to son, Dominic, in November of 2024, and serving as a mother and team consultant in 2025, Pruett tested during the 2025 season, and she made the decision to come back as a driver.

“I wasn’t sure if I was ready to jump back into a Top Fuel dragster,” said Pruett, who defeated Shawn Langdon in the final for the New England Nationals in June. “Being involved with the TSR team the last two years kept me active in the sport, and watching from outside the cockpit was a different perspective. When I first tested the dragster again, my brain was at 150 m.p.h., and the car was going 300 m.p.h. We have a new dragster for this year, and I feel much more comfortable as we head towards the Indy race. 

“Working with team in a different capacity the past two years had me deeply involved in the team’s activities, and I was like a student again talking with Tony. I was listening to Tony’s description of the car and engine, and it was similar to when he was starting in drag racing and I was his driver coach. I was really anxious to make some ‘hits’ with the new racecar. It feels great and I am ready to be behind the wheel again.”

Stewart, who placed fifth in the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel points, is happy to have his wife back in the TSR Dodge dragster in 2026 after her two-year-old layoff but his Top Fuel career isn’t over. The man known as “Smoke,” who drives R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports Top Fuel car in 2026. Chances are good that the husband and wife will compete against each other when action starts at the NHRA U.S. Nationals.

“I was excited to see Leah get back in our TSR Dodge//SRT Top Fueler,” said Stewart. “She’s done such an amazing job of becoming a mother, going through a whole year of pregnancy and our first year with Dominic. I knew deep down inside she wanted to drive that race car really bad, so I’m just excited to see her get that opportunity again. She has been a critical part of this team’s success and projects that we’re working on. And I know she wanted to drive that car more than anything.

“And yes, with me in another Top Fuel car, we are going to have to race against each other this year. At first, I wasn’t sure about that. But I win in both situations. If I win the race, I move onto the next round. If Leah wins, my race team moves onto the next round. So, it’s a win-win for me.”

Pruett, who was runner-up (2020) in the NHRA U.S. Nationals, wasn’t convinced she wanted to get back in the TSR Dodge Top Fuel car at first, but recent testing in Stewart’s car brought back her passion for the sport. And now she is more determined than ever to chase her first NHRA Mission Top Fuel crown.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t totally sure that my passion for the sport was still there on the driving side,” said Pruett, who currently ranks third in the NHRA Top Fuel points. “But once I got behind the wheel again, it was like I never left. My competitive spirit jumped right out again. I’m ready to go. And if I have to race Tony, then I’m set to beat him and he knows it. That matchup could happen as soon as the U.S. Nationals. Tony, myself, our respective teams and the fans will be ready for that one!” 

Pruett’s TSR teammate, veteran Funny Car driver Matt Hagan returns to the U.S. Nationals this weekend after scoring the historic NHRA 1000th Funny Car race in April at the NHRA Winternationals drag races as well as the recent Brainerd and Thunder Valley Nationals as he pilots the TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat machine at Indy. He captured the U.S. Nationals in 2016, and he won at IRP twice in 2020 during the COVID season.

The four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion scored his 56th career Funny Car victory at the Pomona track on the same day that his team owner Stewart took top honors in the Top Fuel class.  

Hagan, a four-time NHRA World Funny Car champion, pulled off the historic 1000th NHRA Funny Car victory when he defeated longtime rival and close friend Ron Capps in the final round at the In-N-Out Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif. Led by crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler, Hagan’s nitro-burning TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat recorded impressive round wins with times of 3.88, 3.89, 3.90 and 3.87. The win for the Christiansburg, Va., driver currently leads the Funny Car points after his recent win in Brainerd in 13 races in the 20-event NHRA Mission Drag racing series.

Hagan, the Dodge fan-favorite, has set his sights on a fifth title this year with a new TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat chassis and new parts for Knudsen and Shuler-led squad. Knudson was a first-time crew chief in 2025, and Hagan was very pleased with Mike’s program throughout the season that included three victories (Seattle, St. Louis and Las Vegas) and a runner-up finish in the final NHRA Funny Car points standings.

Coming to Indy this weekend has Hagan seeking another “Wally” trophy with an excitement to put his all-new nitro-burning Hellcat back in the winner’s circle.

“It was a great achievement for our guys in new positions, and I knew there would be a learning curve in 2025 for the TSR Dodge Funny Car team,” said Hagan. “But I see great potential with the new lineup, and we proved it already with the Winternationals, Bristol and Brainerd wins. Our crew has been working extremely hard in prepping for the 2026 tour. They have been getting new parts and pieces and developing new setups for the race car and winning at Pomona, Bristol and Brainerd shows the results. I’m ready for another win at Indy.”

Hagan has become synonymous with the Dodge brand and the drag strip, representing the brand in an NHRA Dodge Funny Car for a nearly two-decade run. The Virginia racer enters his 19th NHRA campaign piloting a Dodge//SRT Funny Car, the longest current driver/manufacturer Funny Car combination in NHRA national tour.

“I know this team can win championships, and I see the drive and ambition they have together,” said Hagan. “It’s hard to believe that I have been with Dodge and Mopar for 19 years. It has been a great relationship, and I want to continue the tradition with the 2026 NHRA World Championship. I know it is possible with this group of guys.”

The NHRA U.S. Nationals is the 14th round of the 20-race NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series event scheduled for Sept. 4-7. Nitro qualifying will begin on Friday, Sept. 4, at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Saturday’s action set for 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. EDT. Sunday’s qualifying is scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. EDT. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 7. The final eliminations will be featured in two TV telecasts on Sept. 7 with the Fox Sports 1 broadcast set for 12 p.m. EDT and the FOX national network starting at 2 p.m. EDT. 

For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com.