NHRA ARIZONA NATIONALS PREVIEW

LEAH PRUETT RETURNS TO SITE OF FIRST TOP FUEL WIN
MATT HAGAN CONFIDENT IN TRICKY CONDITIONS

CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 18, 2026) – Tony Stewart Racing’s Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan are set to take on the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park, the second of 20 events on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season. Purett, who has a residence in Lake Havasu, will compete for her home crowd in the vibrant Rayce Rudeen Foundation livery on her Top Fuel dragster while Hagan will sport the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage colors on his Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car.

This will be the only event Pruett will feature Rayce Rudeen Foundation on the side of her dragster. When Rayce Rudeen lost his battle with addiction in 2016, his family vowed to help prevent others from suffering the same loss—and with that, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation was born. The foundation honors Rayce’s memory by creating a supportive community in which everyone can access prevention, treatment, recovery, and family support resources—free from stigma.

The Rayce Rudeen Foundation implement a diverse approach in working with various organizations to make a sustainable impact in communities by focusing on prevention, treatment, recovery, and support. They encourage a healthy and productive life, free from the disease of addiction and strive to address gaps in the systems of care for those who are struggling with substance misuse.

“All of us, fans and racers alike, have more than love of horsepower in common. More than likely we all know someone who is fighting addiction or trying to find support for one in need. The purpose of us flying the Rayce Rudeen Foundation colors on such a large scale is to bring awareness to the resources within communities, fight the stigmatism of recovery, and promote support systems for families navigating trying times,” Pruett explained. “This is something that hits deeper than racing. To represent that and bring awareness to it on a national stage—it’s something I’m really proud of.”

Pruett, who is making her second competitive appearance since reclaiming her Top Fuel dragster seat after starting a family, will be racing for her third win at Firebird Motorsports Park. She’s coming off a No. 3 qualifying position and quarterfinal exit at the Gatornationals.

“Coming into the weekend, I feel really good, comfortable with every lap, and really focused on building momentum with this team,” Pruett said. “Everyone knows Phoenix is going to be wild hot, even with early qualifying, there still will be some really hot scenarios. I’ve become increasingly impressed with [crew chiefs] Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala’s tuning adaptability given tough conditions.

“I’m focused on one thing, and that’s improving as a driver every lap. I don’t feel the extra pressure of Phoenix, because we’re already giving everything we have. I feel pressure most when I’m more afraid of failing, than looking forward to the possibilities and results of succeeding,” Pruett continued. “Knowing what it’s like to win in Phoenix, and have dedicated crews of fans, with custom ‘GO Leah GO’ shirts, and chants on the way to lanes, is a super high level of awesome that is just the starter kit of the Phoenix momentum and fun. Needless to say. I’m eager to see what we can do this weekend.”

The 12-time event winner got her first Top Fuel victory at the facility in 2016 and then turned around with a new team and took home the Wally again in 2017.

“Phoenix is my adoptive home race for sure. Even before I moved to Arizona. I have always felt the love of the Phoenix fans, like they’ve taken me in as one of their own. Ten years ago, I was an underdog, fairly new on the pro scene, and found myself gravitating and connecting with so many west coast nitro loving people. They really made me feel at home. They made winning my first Top Fuel race even better,” said Pruett who was also the No. 1 qualifier in 2017. “There weren’t many similarities about my back-to-back wins in Phoenix; They were with completely separate teams, cars, and crew chiefs. Which proves to me that Phoenix loves new energy, and that’s exactly what I have this year.”

Her TSR Funny Car teammate Matt Hagan is also no stranger to success at Firebird Motorsports Park. The four-time world champion has raced his way to five final rounds in the desert and picked up three victories in 2015, 2017 and 2019. He has also been No. 1 qualifier three time in 2015, 2020 and most recently in 2022.

“Phoenix is one of my favorite races to come to. Everything is great about this place, the atmosphere, who knows, I’d get a winter home here if I could, maybe one day. It’s going to be hot, kind of crazy hot but [crew chiefs] Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler have proven they can do really well in the heat. We were one of the few cars to go down the hot racetrack during qualifying over the Gainesville weekend. So, I have a lot of confidence with us moving into some of these hotter races,” Hagan said. “We’ll be racing earlier, which is a good call on NHRA even though it’s a little tougher on the guys with the early mornings, but we want to put on a great show for these fans. It could be a lot of pedal and we’ll have to adjust but one thing about Phil and Mike and our car chief Alex Conaway is they do a great job with that so I’m excited to see what we have in our arsenal.”

Hagan is coming off a No. 5 qualifying position and quarterfinal exit at the NHRA Gatornationals a showing that has him entering the Arizona Nationals with his JHG Dodge team fifth in points. Last year at Firedbird Motorsports Park, Hagan qualified 10th before having a quarterfinal exit.

“It’s our first race of the year with JHG and I’m excited. Jason Johnson, his wife Nikki, Nate and Genelle Cox, the whole family have become really good friends. I think we need to pull a Phoenix win out for them this year,” Hagan said. “I’ve had a lot of luck here, there’s a good vibe and just feels natural. We have a great car and proven we can get down a tricky racetrack, our team is all working well together, it’s a great group, I know I’ve got some work to do after that holeshot loss in Gainesville but we have the pieces to get the job done and I would love nothing more than to do it this weekend with the whole JHG group here.”

Competition at the FMP Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park begins with four nitro qualifying sessions Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. each day. Eliminations are slated for Sunday at 10 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) starting with a qualifying shows Friday at 10 p.m. ET and Sunday at noon ET. Eliminations will air Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.