Pruett, TSR Dodge Team Battle Triple-Digit Heat to Record Top Fuel Final Round Finish at NHRA Arizona Nationals, Teammate Hagan Drives to Semifinals in Funny Car

March 23, 2026 , Auburn Hills, Mich. -  Drag racer Leah Pruett has many great memories at Firebird Motorsports Park, dating back to her Junior Dragster days and winning her first Top Fuel race in 2016. The new mother was seeking another one Sunday in the NHRA Arizona Nationals, reaching the final round in her Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Rayce Rudeen Foundation Dodge dragster. Pruett settled for an impressive runner-up finish in just her second race since returning to the cockpit, while TSR Dodge teammate Matt Hagan drove to the semifinals in the Funny Car class.
 
Pruett, who nearly won the 2023 NHRA Mission Top Fuel world championship before taking a two-year layoff to start a family with husband Tony Stewart, returned to action two weeks ago at the NHRA Gatornationals with a quarterfinal finish in her TSR Dodge Direct Connection dragster. This weekend at the Arizona Nationals, Pruett was set to fight for the race win after qualifying second Saturday at 3.788.
 
With air temperatures over 100 degrees and track surfaces over 140, all of the Nitro teams were studying their charts for the proper traction at the tricky track, and Pruett’s crew chiefs Neal Strasbaugh and Mike Domagala were no different. However, the TSR brain thrust was on its game Sunday with impressive round wins by Pruett over Cameron Ferre, Gatornationals winner Josh Hart and reigning NHRA Mission Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta.
 
After wins of 3.827, 3.887 and 3.887 in the early rounds, Pruett faced longtime rival Shawn Langdon, a fellow competitor in Junior Dragsters with Pruett. Langdon entered the final round with two consecutive Arizona Nationals titles (2024 and 2025), but Pruett had lane choice. Both drivers had nearly identical reaction times off the starting line, but Langdon’s 3.877 beat Pruett’s 3.930 for the California driver’s third straight Phoenix win.
 
Despite the final round loss, Pruett ranks fourth in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel points entering the next round on April 10-12 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.
 
“The attitude and confidence in our program really showed throughout the entire weekend of having a good handle on our horsepower level,” said Pruett, who had son, Dominic, in tow when she wasn’t in the car and talking with the team. “So, besides the final round win, I couldn't be more happy with my team, especially in these conditions. I am so grateful. This weekend was a great testament to my team and my crew chiefs (Strausbaugh and Domagala) who really carry the team. I feel ten times better than I did in Gainesville, and I didn’t think that that was possible.
 
"We're competitive and we're happy with our consistent runs and being quick given the hot conditions. But that doesn't mean that we're not allowed to take a moment and be a little bit bummed and upset about a final round that we all wanted really bad. It’s wild. Our crew chiefs were darn near perfect. And that's what we build on. That is momentum.”
 
Four-time NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, Pruett’s TSR teammate, was seeking another Arizona Nationals race win after qualifying fourth in the 16-car field in the nitro-burning TSR Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat.
 
Hagan, a past Arizona Nationals race winner in 2015, 2017 and 2019, took his 12,000-horsepower HEMI® engine-powered machine to round wins Sunday over former world champ Cruz Pedregon and new John Force driver Jordan Vandergriff.
 
Facing the No. 1 qualifier, Spencer Hyde, in the semifinals with a track surface of 144 degrees, Hagan jumped to a starting line advantage and held the lead until his mount lost traction at mid-track. Hagan regrouped and fought back to miss out at the finish line by a few feet with Hyde’s 4.185 to Matt’s 4.211.
 
“It was a super tricky weekend,” said Hagan, who heads to the NHRA Winternationals fifth in the Mission Funny Car points. “Obviously, the air temperature was super-hot, triple digits, as well as a hot track. I’m really proud of my TSR guys. They put a great racecar underneath me. There was a bad bump in the left lane and trying to navigate that bump with the heat was tough. When the car goes over that bump, it wants to spin the tires.
 
“With what we had in front of us, I was really proud that our guys were able to get me down on the track. In the second round, the crew clicked off the motor, and in third round, I clicked it off myself because I was over next to the wall due to some (cylinder) holes out. But we lost by less than half a car length. We're not beating ourselves. We are giving ourselves an opportunity to win. I just will try to turn some more win lights on and take race wins before we get too far into this season.”
 
TSR team owner Tony Stewart, driving the Elite Racing Top Fuel dragster, actually ran against his wife in qualifying for the first time in Top Fuel competition in Friday’s first qualifying round. Pruett beat Stewart to the finish line. Stewart qualified fifth at Phoenix and advanced to the quarterfinals after a strong 3.823 run against Shawn Reed. But in the quarterfinals, Stewart lost to Maddi Gordon, 3.851 to 3.950.

"I don't think Tony and I really got to enjoy our first head-to-head experience (in qualifying),” Pruett admitted. “With it being Q1 and the new schedules were printed, and we're like, ‘oh, yeah,’ we're gonna run each other. We actually had very similar performances as well. So, we have that first one out of the way, but I'm looking forward to when we get to absorb the moment more in the future.”

The NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., is the next NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series event scheduled for April 10-12 at Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. Nitro qualifying will begin on Friday, April 10, at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. PDT, while Saturday’s action is set for at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. PDT. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. PDT on Sunday, April 12. The Fox telecast will be viewed at 6:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. PDT on Fox Sports 1. 
   
For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com.
 
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
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.

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:

• 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
• 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 
• 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 conventionwith 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.

Purchase of a SIXPACK-powered Charger Scat Pack, Charger Daytona Scat Pack or Durango SRT Hellcat model includes one day of performance driving instruction at Radford Racing School, the official Dodge//SRT high-performance driving school.

Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, 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.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis (NYSE: STLA).
  
Mopar
Mopar is the global name for Stellantis genuine parts and authentic accessories.

A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over more than 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Follow Dodge, Mopar and Stellantis news and video on:

Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com
Mopar brand: www.mopar.com
Mopar blog: blog.mopar.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge and www.facebook.com/mopar
Instagram: @DodgeMoparMotorsports, @DodgeOfficial and @OfficialMopar
Twitter: @Dodge, @OfficialMopar and @StellantisNA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, www.youtube.com/c/mopar and www.youtube.com/StellantisNA