Pruett Misses Close Final Round Win at NHRA Northwest Nationals in TSR Dodge Top Fueler, Hagan Takes
• For Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge racers Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan, it was a game of inches on Sunday in a valiant effort at the Muckleshoot Casino NHRA Northwest Nationals
• Pruett, driving her Dodge Top Fuel dragster, put in impressive performances in eliminations only to lose by a few feet in the Top Fuel final to Doug Kalitta
• Ranked third in NHRA Mission Top Fuel points, Pruett, after a two-year layoff, came to Seattle and claimed round wins over Will Smith, Justin Ashley and Josh Hart before the final matchup
• In the final, Kalitta, the reigning Top Fuel world champion, nipped Pruett, the New England Nationals race winner, with a stellar 3.677 to Pruett’s close 3.689 to stave off the upset
• Pruett, who also placed runner-up earlier this year at the Arizona Nationals, now heads to the NHRA Brainerd Nationals set for Aug. 21-23 for the 13th race of the 20-event national series
• Hagan, the four-time NHRA world champion, was the tough recipient of missing the final round Sunday by just 0.0022 seconds, taking a semifinal loss to former world champion J.R. Todd
• Hagan, the defending champion at Pacific Raceways in Funny Car, advanced to the semifinals against Todd after scoring solid wins against Blake Alexander (3.936) and Paul Lee (3.930)
• Against Todd, Hagan was quick off the starting line and held the margin to a few feet before the finish line with a 3.929 as Todd’s come-from-behind 3.913 was enough to advance to the final• Despite the semifinals loss in the TSR Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat, Hagan remains in the top five in the current NHRA Mission Funny Car points with Brainerd next
• TSR team owner Stewart was on a path to race his wife, Pruett, in the semifinals Sunday, but his Elite Motorsports dragster smoked the rear tires in the quarterfinals against Hart
Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge drivers Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan could only shake their heads leaving Pacific Raceways Sunday after both racers fell in extremely close races at the popular Muckleshoot Casino NHRA Northwest Nationals drag racing event.
Traveling at over 330 miles per hour, Pruett and Hagan had to suffer the difficult fate of losing by a few inches in their quests for another NHRA ‘Diamond Wally’ trophy in this year’s 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
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For Pruett, seeking her second 2026 NHRA Top Fuel national win, it was a tough pill to swallow after impressive 3.69 and 3.71 runs to advance to the Top Fuel final round against reigning world champion Doug Kalitta, a longtime rival who defeated Pruett for the world title in 2023.
Kalitta’s 12,000-horsepower machine nipped Pruett’s American Rebel Light Dodge Top Fueler with a 3.677 to the Arizona driver’s 3.689 at the finish line.
Pruett had made her way to the final round with victories over Will Smith, defending U.S. Nationals winner Justin Ashley and 2026 Gatornationals champion Josh Hart in impressive style to hold down lane choice against Kalitta. But the Michigan driver’s nitro-burning missile was a little too quick in the final round.
With the final round appearance, Pruett remains in third in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings as the national campaign heads to the 13th round on Aug. 21-23 in the NHRA Brainerd (Minn.) Nationals.
‘I think if there’s one race to portray absolute teamwork, this was it,’ Pruett said. ‘That’s what this weekend has shown us. We can put everything we’ve got into it. We can run these high 60s, but it’s going to take a whole lot more. It is a sport of engineering. The biggest disappointment of the day was, yet again, not being able to run my husband (Stewart) in the semis. I might have had a little extra motivation against Josh (Hart) since he ruined my date with Tony. What a heck of a race we both had.
‘One thing is for sure, when you look at a ladder like we had throughout the day, there was no taking anyone lightly from burnout to turnout. That’s how our American Rebel Light Beer Dodge team operates, we don’t take anyone lightly. In that final round, we pushed Doug Kalitta’s team to run well. They knew we were coming for them. We were right there with him. Once Matt (Hagan) went out in the semis of Funny Car, we were ready to defend his 2025 title in Top Fuel. Gaining a runner-up finish, it was a strong way to end the Western Swing. It’s the momentum we wanted. This weekend was not good enough for any of us. Our heads aren’t low, but it’s not the results we want. We know the results we do want are not far behind.’
Hagan, the defending Northwest Nationals Funny Car champion, had an even closer loss (0.0022 seconds) to former world champion J.R. Todd in the semifinals Sunday, as the driver of the Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat jumped to a starting line advantage. Only a last-second charge at the finish line by Todd kept Hagan from another final round appearance at Pacific Raceways.
Hagan, who defeated Blake Alexander and Paul Lee in the earlier rounds, posted a 3.929 to Todd’s 3.913, as the Kalitta Motorsports driver went on to capture his first win of the year. Hagan’s consistency during the weekend has him confident heading into the next event, the NHRA Brainerd Nationals on Aug. 21-23.
‘It was a great two weeks in Sonoma and Seattle,’ said Hagan, whose Dodge//SRT Hellcat ran 3.936, 3.930 and 3.929 in eliminations. ‘We have taken some Saturdays and worked on some things as we head to the Countdown. I feel very confident that Mike Knudsen (Hagan’s crew chief) is really getting a handle on what we are trying right now. And the car is responding well. So, that should give us some promise as we head forward. I know we are all stacked up in the (Funny Car) points. We are going to sit fifth right now, but it’s just five or ten points difference in the standings. It’s very close from fifth to second.
‘We are rolling into Brainerd now, and we are going to do some testing the Monday after that race. Our team’s brain trust is definitely moving in the right direction with these new changes. We have two wins so far this year and I would have liked to get another one here. We are going to throw more things at the car now before they reset the points after Indy (for the Countdown). Then we can battle it out for a championship.’
Stewart, the TSR Dodge team owner, attempted to have a semifinals date with Pruett with his R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports Top Fueler, but his nitro machine smoked the tires in the quarterfinals against Hart. Stewart and Pruett, the only husband-and-wife pair in the nitro divisions, have yet to race against each other in Top Fuel eliminations this year. Their next matchup opportunity will come at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals on Aug. 21-23.
The popular NHRA Brainerd (Minn.) Nationals will be the next round for the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series with qualifying getting underway on Friday, Aug. 21, at 4 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. Saturday’s qualifying is scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. CDT. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. CDT on Sunday (Aug. 23). The Fox Sports 1 network telecast will be shown Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EDT/5:30 p.m. PDT.
For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com.
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