MATT HAGAN WINS NHRA 1000th FUNNY CAR RACE – NHRA Photo
POMONA, Calif. (April 12, 2026) – Matt Hagan and the Johnson’s
Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car team capped off the
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip with
Hagan’s 56th career victory not only taking home an NHRA 75th
Anniversary Wally but the 1,000th NHRA Funny Car event trophy.
Hagan took down three-time Funny Car world champion and most recent NHRA
event winner Ron Capps in the final round. Hagan handled the JHG Dodge
Hellcat to a 3.876-second pass at 330.39 mph to defeat Capps’ 3.893 at
334.32. It is Hagan’s eighth overall victory at In-N-Out Pomona
Dragstrip, fourth at the NHRA Winternationals.
“I’m trying to catch Capps on overall wins [Ron Capps has 78 career
victories]. But he has 20 years of racing on me. One thing about Ron is
he’s just a great driver. He took me under his wing when I was first out
here, and we got into all kinds of trouble together too. So, when we
race each other, even back in the DSR days, we really throw it down,
especially in the final round,” Hagan said. “Pomona Dragstrip has shown
me so much love over the years. It’s a magical place, because champions
are crowned here at the end of the year. There’s just so many great
memories made here. It felt like the championship, because the lights
were on just like the World Finals in the fall. When you pull up to the
starting 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 car up there off the line.
“It was just our day. I was telling team owner Tony Stewart that
sometimes you wake up and you’re just like, ‘All right, today’s good.
Like, I can tie my shoes today. It’s going to be a good day.’ But to win
with Bossman (Tony won in Top Fuel) and double up is special and Leah
[Pruett] was No. 1 qualifier and we won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty
Challenge on Saturday. Plus having the JHG folks here, the only thing we
didn’t leave with was the change under the bleachers. So, it’s been a
great weekend,”
Hagan continued. “History was made here with the 1000th
Funny 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. To drive
for Tony, be a teammate to Leah, to have this group of people. We’ve
surrounded ourselves with great people from the media folks down to the
guy that puts the oil in the car. We’ve been blessed to have an elite
group of folks here. It’s a family within a family. I’m proud to be a
part of it and we’re gonna hopefully do a lot more of this in the
future.”
Hagan started the day as the No. 4 qualifier defeating 2025 Rookie of
the Year Spencer Hyde and enroute to the finals also picked off Jason
Rupert and JR Todd.
In Top Fuel, Leah Pruett and the Rinnai Tankless Water Heater team
earned a bye first round with their No. 1 qualifying position and had a
solid 3.703-second pass at 334.73 mph with a .064 reaction time that
came up short on a holeshot by .0222-seconds to Justin Ashley’s .025
reaction time and 3.720 pass at 336.07.
Tony Stewart Racing continues the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing
Series season with the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway just
outside of Charlotte April 24-26.
-30-
MATT HAGAN
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Unofficial Points Standings: Tied No. 1, 251
Qualifying:
No. 4; 3.940 seconds at 329.58 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 1
Q1: 5.007 at 152.61
Q2: 4.037 at 324.75
Q3: 3.997 at 325.45
Q4: 3.940 at 329.58
* Four-time world champion (2023, 2020, 2014, 2011)
* Finished 2025 season runner-up in the championship points standings
* Previously won at the NHRA Winternationals in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023
* Now has six final round appearances
* No. 1 qualifier at the event in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2024
* Winningest active Funny Car driver at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip now
with eight victories total at the facility, second overall only to
legend John Force who has 17
* Winternationals is one of five events in which he has won at least
30 rounds of racing (along with Charlotte 2, Las Vegas2, Dallas and St.
Louis)
Race Results:
E1: 3.892 at 332.92 def Spencer Hyde 9.122 at 94.49
E2: 3.906 at 329.34 def Jason Rupert 9.479 at 78.47
Semis:3.886 at 330.39 mph def JR Todd 7.861 at 82.85 Finals: 3.876 at
330.39 mph def Ron Capps, 3.893 at 334.32 mph
LEAH PRUETT
Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Top Fuel Dragster
Unofficial Points Standings:
No. 5, 220
QUALIFYING
No. 1; 3.724 seconds at 329.75 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 4
Q1: 3.808 at 325.85
Q2: 3.724 at 329.75
Q3: 5.890 at 111.44
Q4: 3.794 at 328.22
* 12-time NHRA National Event Winner
* Finished 2023 runner-up in championship points
* Two previous wins at NHRA Winternationals (2017, 2021)
* Was No. 1 qualifier in 2017
* The last time Pruett was in the driver’s seat at In-N-Out Pomona
Dragstrip was the 2023 NHRA Finals in a winner-takes-the-championship
final round. She finished runner-up in the race and third in the
championship points standings.
* Originally from Redlands, California.
Race Results:
E1: Bye, 6.721 at 99.54 mph
E2: .064 RT, 3.703 at 334.73 lost on a holeshot to Justin Ashley, .025
RT, 3.720 at 336.07
Quotes:
“Overall, a phenomenal weekend. Starting with the very first day. Having
a provisional No. 1 spot, and I think the entire paddock was thinking
that won’t hold, everybody should go quicker and move around that,”
Pruett said. “Everyone had the same challenges throughout the weekend.
And for that 3.72 to hold, really maximized the value of what this
Pomona race was. Not only did we get the points that go with being No. 1
qualifier, but you get that bye run in the first round and then the
opportunity to dial in the car. We took every opportunity there. Pushed
hard. And it was a little too much, and that’s okay. We were able to
properly prepare for our second round against Justin Ashley who keeps
doing what they do.
“Those that don’t know how the day went, we had several hours between
sessions and there was a lot of going back and forth. Are we racing? Are
we not? Things are changing. There are more delays. Rain is coming, rain
is here, rain is gone, in and out of the car. So we were maintaining
anticipation, adrenaline and race mentality for a long amount of time.
I’m very proud of how we all performed. Technically, yes, that was a
holeshot loss. We had a quicker car over Justin Ashley’s, but he is out
of this world on the starting line, and I think everyone knows that,”
Pruett continued. “For me personally, I’ve been beyond dedicated to
finding light in a tunnel of reaction times, and, finally, I’m proud of
my personal performance because I have made gains and I feel like I can
continue in that direction.
“This entire Top Fuel field is insane. Cars are running within a couple
hundredths of each other. In eliminations, drivers are just diving those
reaction times down, and it would be incorrect for me to say that it
hasn’t taken me a couple races to get to where I’m at. And that’s
okay. I knew that I wasn’t gonna give up,” Pruett explained. “We had a
lot of momentum in Phoenix. We continued that momentum here and just
because we didn’t get past the second round does not mean that momentum
has stopped in any way. Actually, I feel like, coming out of E2, on all
fronts, pushes us right to where we want to be for Charlotte in a few
weeks.”