NHRA WINTERNATIONALS RECAP

MATT HAGAN WINS NHRA 1000TH FUNNY CAR RACE;
LEAH PRUETT ADVANCES TO QUARTERFINALS

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, fifth 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 en route 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.

MATT HAGAN
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

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)

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

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

12-time NHRA National Event Winner
Finished 2023 runner-up in championship points
Two previous wins at NHRA Winternationals (2017, 2021)
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.

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

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.”