Drag RacingNHRA Team News

Hagan Drives TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat to Victory at Pomona in 1,000th Funny Car Race; Pruett Records No. 1 Qualifying Spot, TSR Owner Stewart Secures Top Fuel Win

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Funny Car Winner: Matt Hagan (Photo Courtesy Stellantis)
  • Four-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan piloted his nitro-burning Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) JHG Dodge//SRT Hellcat to victory Sunday in the historic 1,000th NHRA Funny Car race
  • It was a magical weekend for Hagan as the Virginia driver won his fifth NHRA Winternationals title, his 56th career NHRA national event victory and the Mission 2Fast2Tasty qualifying race
  • In the final in the 1,000th NHRA Funny Car event, Hagan posted his quickest time of the weekend with a 3.876 in besting rival Ron Capps’ 3.893 with impressive consistency Sunday
  • Hagan, who qualified fourth in the 16-car field, defeated Spencer Hyde (at 3.892), Jason Rupert (at 3.906), J.R. Todd (at 3.886) before winning the final round over Capps at In-N-Out Dragstrip
  • The victory moved Hagan into a tie for the NHRA Mission Funny Car points lead with Capps as the 20-race national tour heads to zMax Dragway in Charlotte on April 24-26
  • Hagan’s TSR teammate, Leah Pruett, in the TSR Rinnai Dodge Top Fuel dragster, recorded her first No. 1 qualifying position since June 2023 at Norwalk, Ohio with a strong 3.724
  • Pruett, who just missed winning the 2023 NHRA world championship in last race at Pomona, took a first-round victory Sunday but had to settle for a quarterfinals finish
  • Despite running a 3.703 in the second round against event runner-up Justin Ashley, Pruett lost a close race as Ashley’s quicker starting reaction time garnered him the win with a slower 3.720    
  • Pruett, the recent Arizona Nationals Top Fuel runner-up, remains in the top five in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel points after three events
  • TSR team owner Tony Stewart stole the show in the Top Fuel ranks at the NHRA Winternationals by driving to his third career NHRA pro win in his Elite Motorsports dragster
  • Stewart defeated Ashley in the final round with a 3.683 to Ashley’s 3.714 to collect the coveted “Wally” trophy after earlier wins against Will Smith, Josh Hart and Shawn Langdon

By: Stellantis

April 13, 2026, Auburn Hills, Mich. – Four-time NHRA world champion Matt Hagan enjoyed a magical weekend at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals by capturing the historic 1,000th NHRA Funny Car race Sunday and the Mission 2Fast2Tasty Qualifying Challenge Saturday at the wheel of the 12,000-horsepower Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) JHG Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car, while TSR teammate Leah Pruett was the No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier and TSR team owner Tony Stewart captured his third NHRA national event for Elite Motorsports at the In-N-Out Dragstrip.

Hagan scored his fifth Winternationals title and eight overall In-N-Out Dragstrip triumph at the legendary Los Angeles County Fairgrounds racing facility with a close final round matchup with longtime rival Ron Capps. In recording his 56th career NHRA Funny Car win, Hagan posted a 3.876 to Capps’ 3.893 to round out a sensational event.

After qualifying fourth in the 16-car lineup, Hagan collected another $10,000 and a special Mission trophy by besting veteran Paul Lee in the final of the Mission 2Fast2Tasty Qualifying Challenge on Saturday with a 3.940. During Sunday’s rain-delayed eliminations, Hagan was the model of consistency that led to the coveted 1,000th Funny Car race victory. The Virginia racer clocked a 3.892 in defeating Spencer Hyde in round one, a 3.906 over Jason Rupert in round two and a 3.886 in the semifinals race against J.R. Todd.

“This (Pomona) racetrack has showed me so much love over the years,” said Hagan. “It’s a magical place, because champions are crowned hereat the end of the year. We used to start here, and we finish here, and there’s just so many great memories made at Pomona. I won a couple times under the lights here and it felt like a World Finals at night. When you pull up to the starting line your adrenaline’s going, and you’re trying to control your breathing. I was too pumped up in the final, and I almost double stepped (the clutch) up there off the line. It was just our day.

“So, history was made here with the 1,000thFunny Car race. That is super, super special. And I’m just very, very blessed to be a part of that. It just hasn’t really set in yet. But I know when we bring the trophy back home, and you put it up on the wall, it is a special race. Our TSR Dodge team is a family inside a family. I’m just proud to be a part of it. And we’re gonna hopefully do a lot more of this (winning) in the future.”

Hagan’s TSR teammate Leah Pruett was the driver to beat in Top Fuel qualifying at the NHRA Winternationals in her TSR Rinnai Dodge dragster as the Redlands, Calif., native returned to her home track with the No. 1 position at 3.724. Pruett, who nearly won the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel world championship at Pomona in 2023, returned to In-N-Out Dragstrip for the first time since starting a family with husband Stewart and baby son, Dominic.

Pruett, a 12-time NHRA Top Fuel national event winner, advance from the first round to take on U.S. Nationals champion Justin Ashley in the quarterfinals and posted the quicker time of 3.703, but Ashley had a starting advantage to take the win despite driving to a slower 3.720.

“Overall, it was a phenomenal weekend,” said Pruett, the recent NHRA Arizona Nationals runner-up finisher. “Having a provisional No. 1 spot in qualifying, I think the entire pit area was thinking that won’t hold and everybody should go quicker. Everyone had the same challenges throughout the weekend. But that 3.72 did hold and we got that bye run in the first round and then the opportunity to dial in the car. We were able to properly prepare for our second round against Justin, who keeps having great reaction times. There was a rain delay too.

“Are we racing? Are we not? Things are changing. There are more delays. I’m very proud of how we all performed there. Technically, yes, that’s a ‘holeshot’ loss. We had a quicker car over Justin Ashley’s, but he is out of this world on the starting line. Cars are running within a couple hundredths of each other. We had a lot of momentum in Phoenix. We continued that momentum here. Actually, I feel like this performance pushes us right to where we want to be for Charlotte in a few weeks.”

While wife Pruett had a strong TSR qualifying car, Stewart, driving for Elite Motorsports, stole the Top Fuel show Sunday by driving to his third career NHRA Top Fuel win with a 3.683 against Ashley in the final round. Stewart now ranks fourth in NHRA Mission Top Fuel points with Pruett fifth heading to the Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte on April 24-26.

“This is three Top Fuel wins for me now and the first for Richard Freeman and Elite Motorsports,” said Stewart “The one person I’ve nevermentioned in the media after the win is my wife, Leah. And if it wasn’t for her and everything that she’s taught me, that’s probably been 95% of it, I wouldn’t be here. But she is such a huge part. People don’t realize how integral of a part she’s been in my career in drag racing. Everything that I’ve done in this sport has been because of her. I wouldn’t even be an owner in the sport and be involved in it. The impact she’s had on my career here, and to be a part of it in NHRA, 75th Anniversary, is huge. Now I’m here sitting holding a‘Wally’ trophy,in the 75th Anniversary, is just super special.”

The TSR team will return to NHRA competition on April 24-26 with the exciting Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte. Nitro qualifying will begin on Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. EDT, with Saturday’s action scheduled for at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. EDT. Final eliminations begin at 12 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 26. The Fox telecast will be aired at 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT on Fox Sports 1. 

For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com.