NHRA POTOMAC NATIONALS PREVIEW

MECHANICSVILLE, Md. (May 28, 2026) – Entering a three-race swing, Leah Pruett’s Rinnai Top Fuel dragster and Matt Hagan’s American Rebel Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car teams head to Maryland International Raceway just outside of Washington D.C. for the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals presented by JEGS.

For Leah Pruett, the seventh of 20 races on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series schedule offers an opportunity to extend the consistency her Rinnai Top Fuel dragster team has been experiencing. Pruett has raced her way out of the first round of eliminations at every event so far this season. That consistency added with their streak of qualifying in the top half and a runner-up finish at the Arizona Nationals has the Pruett third in the Top Fuel standings, just 165 out from the No. 1 spot and 45 points over husband Tony Stewart, who sits in fourth.

“I think this Rinnai team is looking forward to the potential for real fast and quick runs at Maryland International Raceway. The new package we’ve been working on boasts in that direction. So, if all the atmospheric conditions are right with being that close to the sea, if we can get our consistency down with this package, it could be a really promising weekend and an awesome show for the fans,” Pruett said. “I have been to that racetrack before as a spectator, so I’m familiar, a little bit with the layout and the size. NHRA has done a great job helping to cater what we do at some of these smaller race tracks. I think they proved that in Valdosta at South Georgia Motorsports Park, not as many classes racing but keeping everything on time with constant competition, weather permitting. We’ll all find out together what the track surface is like, but I think there’s a chance for some impressive numbers.

“I’m looking forward to meeting the fans, I’m sure we’ll see some familiar faces from Virginia maybe Pennsylvania or even North Carolina,” Pruett continued. “I hear from fans all the time that they wish we raced more in the Northeast so this delivers and I’m glad we could bring the NHRA tour their way.”

A win this weekend for Matt Hagan and his America Rebel Dodge team would mean the Funny Car points lead. Their victory at the 1000th Funny Car race at the NHRA Winternationals along with three semi-final finishes and no first-round losses has the four-time world champ within nine points of leading the Funny Car standings.

Hagan and the America Rebel team are coming off a semi-final finish and No. 9 qualifying effort at the most recent event near Chicago. En route to Hagan’s 100th final round and an eventual win, the American Rebel team will be looking for their first No.1. qualifying spot of 2026 and a chance to extend to 14 the number of consecutive seasons Hagan has started from the front of the field.

“We’re rolling into Maryland next, a new racetrack for everybody. It’s been so long since I’ve been in Maryland, so I’m looking forward to it. I tested there in a Funny Car, and I burnt the clutch out of it because I didn’t know there was a stop in it. They gave it back to me in a Ziploc bag. So, we’re going to try to do a little better than that when we show up there this weekend,” Hagan said. “I just hope for a good racing surface. Lane choice is crucial and it’s so easy to lose lane choice sometimes just by having a cylinder out or your driver can lose it for you by staging it too far and trying to get a good reaction time. So hopefully the facility is great. It’ll be cool, though, new fans, new excitement, new deal.

“I think that’s the biggest thing is that you come out to a race and you’re always meeting new folks at the ropes, getting their responses and how they react to what we do,” Hagan continued. “I’m sure we’re going to have a little carryover from other areas, fans who have been before which will be great to see, but to pull in new fans, that’s exciting. It’s a new group of people that get to experience NHRA Drag Racing, that’s going to be cool for sure.”

With their semi-final efforts in at the Route 66 Nationals outside of Chicago, both Pruett and Hagan will have a rematch with their third-round opponents thanks to the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Contested during Saturday qualifying, Hagan and Pruett will each have a chance to redeem themselves from their semi-final losses while earning championship bonus points and a cash prize.

Competition at the NHRA Potomac Nationals begins with four rounds of qualifying Friday at 1:30 and 4 p.m. and Saturday at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Eliminations are slated for Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) and FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX). Qualifying shows will air Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. Eliminations will air Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.