Tony Stewart Racing delivered a pair of NHRA national event wins at Bristol Dragway over the weekend, with Leah Pruett claiming the rain-delayed New England Nationals Top Fuel final Friday night and Matt Hagan taking the Thunder Valley Funny Car title Sunday.
Pruett had waited five days to finish the New England matchup against Top Fuel points leader Shawn Langdon after rain washed out the final round the previous Sunday at Epping. The delay cost Langdon momentum from three consecutive Top Fuel victories going into Bristol. Pruett ran a 3.794 to Langdon’s 3.852 for her 13th career Top Fuel win and first since Texas in 2023, before she stepped away for two seasons to start a family with her husband, team owner Tony Stewart.
The 3.794 also put Pruett on the pole for Sunday’s Thunder Valley eliminations. She posted a 3.770 in the opening round but drew Langdon again in the quarterfinals, where her 12,000-horsepower dragster smoked the tires off the line and Langdon advanced. Pruett remains third in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel points heading into the Norwalk round June 26.
Hagan, a four-time Funny Car world champion, qualified No. 1 at Bristol and drove past Jon Capps, reigning champion Austin Prock, and Wilkerson for his 57th career Funny Car win, all with Dodge. His starting line reactions carried the day: 0.073 against Capps, 0.062 against Prock in the semifinals, and 0.032 in the final against Wilkerson for a 4.125 winning pass. The Virginia driver was racing at his home track and took his first Bristol win since 2015.
The semifinal against Prock was the tightest matchup. Prock held lane choice, but Hagan’s crew chiefs Mike Knudson and Phil Shuler dialed in a 4.079 to Prock’s 4.212 in heat and humidity that made the track surface unpredictable all weekend. The Bristol victory was Hagan’s second of 2026 after winning the NHRA’s 1,000th Funny Car race at the Winternationals in April. He sits 24 points out of the Funny Car points lead.
Stewart, the team owner and a past Bristol oval winner, advanced to the semifinals in his R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports Top Fuel dragster after beating Justin Ashley and rookie Maddie Gordon. He lost to Langdon’s 3.791 with a 3.921 and remains fourth in Top Fuel points.
The NHRA tour moves to Norwalk, Ohio, for the Summit Racing Nationals June 26–28. Qualifying opens Friday at 6 p.m. EDT.
Source: Dodge. Images courtesy of Dodge.
