TEXAS NHRA FALLNATIONALS RACE RECAP

TEXAS MOTORPLEX

MATT HAGAN
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge Funny Car

Unofficial Points Standing:
1st
Current Funny Car points leader and regular season champion
Four wins this season, Winternationals, Thunder Valley Nationals, Brainerd Nationals, Nationals at The Rock
59 career wins
Has visited six final rounds this season
14 season streak with at least three wins
Tied for winningest driver in Countdown history (19, tied w/ Greg Anderson)
Four-time world champion (2023, 2020, 2014, 2011)
Finished 2025 season runner-up

Qualifying:
No. 2, 3.855 seconds at 334.80 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 4
Q1: 3.911 at 333.88
Q2: 3.855 at 334.80
Q3: 5.237 at 139.44
Q4: 3.920 at 333.53

Race Results:
E1: 3.918 at 332.20 def. Hunter Green 9.466 at 91.42
E2: 3.948 at 331.37 def. Paul Lee 11.077 at 58.40
Semis: 3.931 at 335.10 def. Jordan Vandergriff 11.821 at 72.73
Finals: 4.050 at 316.57 lost to J.R. Todd 3.931 at 331.76

Quotes:

“When you come out here, you want to win every race. I mean, anybody that shows up here that doesn’t, I’m mad at them. All in all, big picture-wise, it was a great race day. We did what we needed to do. Put some distance between us and Jordan Vandergriff with that semifinal win and there were a lot of heavy hitters that lined up in second round and kind of hurt themselves,” Hagan said. “I’m just proud of my guys. They’re putting a great race car underneath me. We haven’t had a hole out at the step like that final round in like two years. That’s not normal and there was no reason for it. But it happened and so a win wasn’t meant to be.”

“Each Countdown race we’ve continued to build our points lead and that’s just what you have to do to win a championship,” Hagan said. “We’re just doing what we need to do to to keep things in place. Two more races to go, points and a half in Pomona, so that throws a little wild card in there, but if we continue the way we’re doing, things should work out the way they’re supposed to.”

LEAH PRUETT
Mobil 1 / Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel dragster

Unofficial Points Standing:
5th

13-time NHRA National Event Winner
Finished 2023 runner-up in championship points
Finished runner-up up at the 2026 NHRA Arizona Nationals
Has two No. 1s this season (Winternationals, Thunder Valley Nationals)
Won NHRA New England Nationals with No. 1 qualifying run Friday night at Bristol Dragway

Qualifying:
No. 5, 3.734 seconds at 323.74 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 3
Q1: 3.722 at 334.80
Q2: 3.697 at 334.20
Q3: 3.691 at 336.05
Q4: 3.721 at 333.14

Race Results:
E1: 3.684 at 338.86 def. Billy Torrence 3.731 at 336.80
E2: 3.735 at 335.57 lost to Antron Brown 3.696 at 338.40

Quotes:

“It is most definitely possible to have a great deal of success and also have disappointment at the same time. Portion of success for us is making six out of six laps good full pulls, capturing extra qualifying points and being one of the quickest cars in the qualifying sessions,” Pruett said. “Ultimately today, the biggest heartbreak of it, not necessarily losing in the second round, but being unable to capitalize on the points opportunity that rolled out ahead of us.

“The way we raced today was smart. With Tony Stewart third in points smoking the tires in the right lane, Doug Kalitta losing second round smoking the tires in the right lane, we made a couple small adjustments to make sure that we didn’t beat ourselves and that we would get down against Antron,” Pruett continued. “I most definitely rose to the occasion. I knew when I hit the tree I had a killer .034 light. Felt like we were doing good and trucking, and I was surprised the win light didn’t come on. Such a close race under .002 margin of victory. We did have a blower that did not perform as well as we thought it would and that dulled our power to a degree. So running a 3.73 didn’t cut it to advance into the semifinals.

“Points-wise, we’re sitting the lowest we’ve been all year and that is not a true representation of the status of this team. As good as we are in our completion rate and our improvements, the amount of final round appearances aren’t up to our standards,” Pruett said. “My favorite thing about this team is that we uncover weaknesses. If we find them, we don’t brush over them, don’t wipe them under a rug hoping they never happen again. We dig deep and try to get to the root of the problem and we do it altogether as a team. It’s why I continue to love this sport and love working with my team because of the way that we work together and dig out of the trenches together, and ride the highs.

“It’s a bad time of the year to somewhat be in a trench. We just have not had any particular great race day luck and setup, so to speak,” Purett said. “Those are the cards, and moving forward, we’re going to get a new deck of cards coming into Vegas, we’re going to play our very best hands every single time. Finishing out this season strong is the number one priority. Performing to this team’s expectations is our ultimate goal.”