TSR Nitro’s Matt Hagan – Motorsport America Photo
4-time World Champ Matt Hagan Looks to 4-Wide Nationals Title After Winning 1000th NHRA Funny Car Race in TSR Dodge Hellcat
Leah Pruett Back in Action with TSR Dodge Top Fueler. Lady Racer Returns after 2-Year Layoff at 4-Wide Nationals
TSR Dodge driver Matt Hagan continues his quest for a fifth NHRA Funny
Car Championship in 2026 at Charlotte with his potent TSR Dodge//SRT
Hellcat machine
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Hagan, a winner of a career 56 NHRA races, just recorded the historic
1000th NHRA Funny Car victory two weeks ago in the Lucas Oil NHRA
Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.
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Hagan defeated longtime rival and close friend Ron Capps in the SoCal
final round with a series of strong runs at 3.88, 3.89, 3.90 and 3.87 in
his nitro-burning Dodge//SRT Hellcat
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Hagan now comes to the popular NHRA 4-Wide Nationals this weekend at
zMax Dragway where he set the first sub-four second run in 2011 when he
posted 3.995 in his Dodge car
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The Virginia driver finished second in the 2025 NHRA Funny Car point
standings after three victories in 2025 (Seattle, St. Louis and Las
Vegas) and in his 19th year with Dodge
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Hagan and first-year crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler proved to
be a vaunted combination at the end of the 2025 campaign and look to
continue that momentum in 2026
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Hagan’s teammate, Leah Pruett, made her NHRA Top Fuel return after a
two-year layoff at the Gatornationals last month in the TSR Dodge
dragster and took runner-up at Phoenix
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Pruett, a 12-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
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Pruett came back to NHRA action with a new outlook as a racer, wife and
mother but her competitive spirit is still there for this weekend (April
24-26) action at zMax Dragway
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Pruett also has the opportunity to compete against her husband for the
first time in 2026, as Stewart continues his racing career in the Elite
Motorsports Top Fuel car
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Pruett finished runner-up last month at the NHRA Arizona Nationals and
currently ranks fifth in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel point
standings in the TSR Dodge car
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Stewart, the former NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC champion, just won his
third NHRA Top Fuel national event two weeks ago at the NHRA
Winternationals and sits fourth in points
April 21, 2026, CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Veteran Funny Car driver Matt Hagan
returns to his home race track this weekend (April 24-26) after scoring
the historic NHRA 1000th Funny Car race two weeks ago at the NHRA
Winternationals drag races as he pilots the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR)
Dodge//SRT Hellcat machine in the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.
The four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion scored his 56th career
Funny Car at the Southern California racing plant on the same day that
his team owner Stewart took top honors in the Top Fuel class. Hagan is
no stranger to zMax Dragway after he became the first Funny Car racer to
break the four-second barrier with a 3.995 pass in 2011.
Hagan, a four-time Charlotte Funny Car winner, 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 moved into the point lead after three 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 Knudson
and Shuler-led squad. Knudson was a first-time crew chief in 2025, and
Hagan was very pleased with Mike’s progron 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 zMax Dragway as a four-time track winner (2011, 2013, 2014
and 2024) 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, a 55-time NHRA Funny Car event winner, all in Dodge
machinery. “But I see great potential with the new lineup and we
proved it already with the Winternationals win. 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 shows the results.”
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.”
After a two‑year hiatus, Dodge NHRA Top Fuel standout Leah Pruett,
Hagan’s TSR teammate, has climbed back into her 12,000 horsepower TSR
dragster for this weekend (April 24-26) atzMax Dragway
Pruett, a 12-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 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. “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 Charlotte 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. Now, I am 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 also recently competed for Ram Truck in the NASCAR
CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, will be driving the Elite Motorsports Top Fuel
car in 2026. Chances are good the husband and wife will compete against
each other when action starts at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals.
“I’m excited to see Leah get back in our TSR Dodge 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 wants 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 placed runner-up in the NHRA Arizona Nationals last month,
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 fourth 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 4-Wide Nationals. Tony, myself, our respective teams and the fans
will be ready for that one!”
The NHRA 4-Wide Nationals is the fourth round of the 20-race NHRA
Mission Drag Racing Series event scheduled for April 10-12. Nitro
qualifying will begin on Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. EDT,
while Saturday’s action is set 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 viewed at 6:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. PDT on Fox Sports 1.
DODGE CHARGER THRILL RIDES COME TO THE NHRA 4-WIDE NATIONALS
New SIXPACK-powered Charger muscle machines will be featured in the
Dodge Thrill Rides at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on April 24-26.
The Dodge Thrill Rides are coming to Charlotte, as race fans will have
the chance to experience SIXPACK-powered Charger Scat Pack Dodge Thrill
Rides, hopping in for a front-row seat as professional drivers unleash
burnouts, donuts and the full power of the new twin-turbo 2026 Dodge
Charger Scat Pack on a closed course near the zMax Dragway pit area. Top
Fuel race Ida Zetterstrom from Sweden will be one of the pro drivers
giving rides at the 4-Wide Nationals.
Running daily all race weekend, fans will experience heart-pounding
launches and tire-shredding drifts in the new gas-powered Charger Scat
Pack, loaded with performance features including Line Lock, Launch
Control and a rear-wheel-drive mode capable of sending 100% of torque to
the rear wheels at the push of a button, to name just a few.
For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com [1].
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports [2] Instagram channel continues to share
content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see
action from the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman
grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown,
Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.
Dodge
For 112 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers
John and Horace Dodge. Today, that legacy roars louder than ever in the
next-generation lineup of Dodge, America’s performance brand.
The next-gen Dodge Charger multi-energy lineup features:
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the 550-horsepower Dodge Charger Scat Pack, powered by the 3.0L Twin
Turbo SIXPACK high-output (H.O.) engine — the most powerful Hurricane
engine in production
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the SIXPACK-powered standard-output (S.O.) 420-horsepower Dodge Charger
R/T with standard all-wheel drive and the highest entry-level horsepower
of any muscle car
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the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car in the all-electric
670-horsepower Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack
Every Charger comes standard with all-wheel drive and offers two-door
coupe or four-door sedan configurations — because with performance
comes choice.
The Dodge lineup is also fueled by the fastest American gas-powered SUV
ever, the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, powered by the
legendary supercharged HEMI V-8 engine, now available in all 50 states.
The new Durango SRT Hellcat Jailbreak breaks free from convention with
the three-row SUV, unlocking more than13 million potential customization
combinations. The 360-horsepower 5.7-liter Durango GT HEMI AWD remains
the most affordable AWD V-8 in the industry.
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage [3], the
one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news, including
daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events,
galleries, available downloads and merchandise.