TSR Dodge Driver Hagan Wins Funny Car Regular Season Title and Takes Runnerup at US Nationals, Pruet

September 9, 2026 by Dodge
• Matt Hagan, the four-time Funny Car world champion, continued his quest for a fifth title at the NHRA U.S. Nationals by winning the NHRA regular season title after a runner-up finish Monday
Driving the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car, Hagan defeated rival Ron Capps in the semifinals to secure the $150,000 NHRA first prize in the Funny Car points
Hagan, a three-time 2026 Funny Car winner, qualified fifth in hot and humid conditions and posted wins in the first three rounds of eliminations before losing in the final to Jack Beckman
The Virginia racer defeated Hunter Green, Paul Lee and Capps, advancing to the final in search of his second U.S. Nationals in the famed 72nd annual ‘Big Go,’ but lost lane choice
• The lane choice gave Beckman a definite advantage despite Hagan’s solid starting line reaction and the John Force Racing driver recorded a 3.965 to Hagan’s 4.030 in a close race at finish
• Hagan’s TSR Dodge teammate, Leah Pruett, defeated Josh Hart (Gatornationals winner) and Maddi Gordon (Summit Nationals winner) to move to the semifinals against Shawn Langdon
• Pruett fell in the semifinals despite the Arizona driver’s quicker reaction as the TSR Dodge dragster smoked the tires
• Pruett didn’t walk away from the weekend emptyhanded with an impressive win over current world champion Doug Kalitta in Saturday’s Mission 2Fast2Tasty Qualifying finals race
• Motorsports Hall of Famer Stewart, the TSR team owner, drove to his second consecutive U.S. Nationals Top Fuel final Monday but his 3.904 was not good enough against Langdon’s 3.804
• Sweden’s Ida Zetterström returned to Top Fuel competition at the U.S. Nationals and qualified a solid seventh, but her Bandero/Dodge Europe dragster smoked the tires in the first round
• Defending two-time Factory Stock Showdown champion Mark Pawuk piloted his Empaco Dodge Charger Hustle Stuff Drag Pak to the quarterfinals Monday in the car’s debut season
• Stephen Comella continued his domination of the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge Friday with his fifth U.S. Nationals win in six years in a victory over Jason Line in his 1968 Barracuda
Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge Funny Car driver Matt Hagan drove his TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat to the NHRA regular season points championship Monday in a spectacular duel with Ron Capps at the 72nd NHRA U.S. Nationals drag races, while TSR Dodge teammate Leah Pruett took her Top Fuel dragster to the semifinals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

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Hagan, the four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion with 58 career wins, all with Dodge, had to fight his way into the semifinals Monday with wins over Hunter Green and Paul Lee, as the Virginia driver matched up against Capps in the semifinals, with the two only three points apart.

Driving his 12,000-horsepower, nitro-burning monster, Hagan turned a sensational starting line reaction time (.040 seconds) to jump to the advantage over his longtime rival and never looked back. Capps’ mount smoked the tires early in the semifinal run and Hagan cruised to a 4.020, advancing to the final to take on Jack Beckman in the John Force Racing machine. Despite not having lane choice, Hagan held close to Beckman in the run for the coveted U.S. Nationals crown, but the TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat’s 4.030 wasn’t enough to match Beckman’s 3.965.

However, Hagan’s advancement to final round secured the $150,000 regular season points championship and he holds the No. 1 position entering the six-race ‘Countdown to the Championship’ beginning with the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by Mopar on Sept. 18-20 in Martin, Michigan.

‘This Funny Car field is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen,’ said Hagan. ‘Ron Capps is my hero, and he led the points all year long. But they made a few mistakes, and we came in here toward the end, scooped up some points and made it happen. That race with my buddy was heads-up and real dogfight in the semis. This Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car is on a tear right now. In the final, I was tickled that we went up there and didn’t smoke the tires. It was the kiss of death going in the right lane late in the day. It always seems that, from the semis on, the right lane is a bear.

‘My guys — Mike (Knudsen), Phil (Shuler) and Alex (Conaway) and the crew — were racing methodical, and they gave us a shot if (Jack) Beckman had a hole out (cylinder) or smoked the tires. We were going to be right there to take the win. It wasn’t the result that we wanted, but, at the end of the day, we came away with the regular season championship and the $150,000 that goes with it. This TSR Dodge team is very capable of winning the world title now too.’

Pruett, the 2026 New England Nationals Top Fuel champion, qualified fifth with her TSR Dodge Top Fuel dragster and entered the historic U.S. Nationals in third place after 13 races in the 20-event NHRA Mission national campaign. And, Pruett immediately gave notice she was in the hunt for the famed ‘Big Go’ Monday.

She took out Gatornationals winner Josh Hart in the first round of eliminations with a superb 3.713 and then defeated the Summit Nationals champion and ‘Rookie of the Year’ candidate Maddi Gordon in the quarterfinals.

As the track and air temperatures rose in the afternoon, Pruett’s semifinals opponent, former world champion Shawn Langdon, held the lane choice in the semifinals. The Arizona racer’s TSR dragster jumped to the starting line advantage, but her car’s rear tires lost traction, and Langdon moved on to the final round where he defeated Stewart.

Despite the semifinals loss, Pruett didn’t go empty-handed during the U.S. Nationals weekend. She defeated the current Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta in the popular Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Qualifying final race. Pruett’s 3.873 easily bettered Kalitta’s 4.502 in scoring her first Mission win since the Bristol event in 2023.

‘What an incredible and memorable weekend,’ Pruett said. ‘We had the most consistent car in qualifying, getting our first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty win of the entire season in pretty spectacular fashion. There is a good moment marker for our team, beating Doug Kalitta on a racetrack surface at the highest, most prestigious facility that we run. It helped catapult our way into continued consistency.

‘There’s nothing like Indy nerves coming into race day on Monday. Our team did a really good job managing the ever-changing conditions for our four-day long event. We felt as good as we could going into the semifinals, but you’re hard-pressed to find a nitro car that makes it off the starting line in the right lane. We could be disappointed we didn’t win today, but we already knew we were locked into third in points. Tony and I both got to be at the top end (of the track) to see Matt capture that regular season championship and celebrate that with him and the team. Leaving Indy third in points, that’s the highest point standing I’ve ever started the Countdown. This is a really good start to the run at the championship now.’

Stewart, the Motorsports Hall of Famer and TSR team owner, drove his R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports Top Fueler to a second consecutive U.S. Nationals Top Fuel final round Monday after wins over T. J. Zizzo, former world champion Antron Brown and Kalitta. In the final round, Langdon’s 3.804 topped Stewart’s 3.904, but the Indiana driver moved to fourth in the Top Fuel points entering the upcoming six-race ‘Championship Countdown.’

Sweden’s Ida Zetterström returned to NHRA Top Fuel action at the U.S. Nationals in her Bandero Tequila/Dodge Europe dragster and qualified well with a seventh starting position in the 16-car field. However, her dragster lost traction against Brown in the first round of eliminations Monday.

Two-time defending Flexjet Factory Stock Showroom champion Mark Pawuk drove his 2026 Empaco Dodge Charger Hustle Stuff Drag Pak machine to quarterfinals Monday in the tough 25-car field, the largest FFSS lineup of the 2026 NHRA national tour.

Comella scores fifth Sox-& Martin HEMI Challenge title in six years
Stephen Comella continued his domination of the Sox & Martin HEMI Challenge after opponent Jason Line fouled in the final round on Friday at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. Comella previously earned Hemi Challenge titles in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. There was no winner in 2025, but Comella took his fifth championship in 2026.

The inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lake Nationals presented by Mopar makes its debut on Sept. 18-20 with nitro qualifying opening the action on Friday, Sept. 18, at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. EDT. Saturday’s qualifying action is set for noon and 2:30 p.m. EDT with Sunday’s final eliminations scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EDT. The final eliminations will be televised on Fox Sports 1 Sunday at 2 p.m. EDT/11 a.m. PDT.

For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com.

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The @DodgeMoparMotorsports 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.

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