NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS: TONY STEWART RACING PREVIEW

KENT, Wash. (July 23, 2026) — The Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, the 11th event on the 20-race Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series schedule, marks the second leg of the West Coast swing for Leah Pruett and the American Rebel Light Beer Top Fuel team and Matt Hagan and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car team.

Pruett, a 13-time NHRA event winner and 2023 Top Fuel Championship runner-up, comes into Seattle currently sitting third in points. Pruett picked up her first win of the season, and first since returning to driving duties after becoming a mother, at the postponed NHRA New England Nationals completed at Bristol Dragway during the Thunder Valley Nationals. She’s had two No. 1 qualifying positions at Arizona Nationals and the Thunder Valley Nationals.

The Top Fuel standout has had only one first round exit through the first 11 events and has qualified in the top half of the field all but once. She’s coming off a No. 9 qualifying effort and semi-final finish at the Sonoma Nationals in Northern California.

“I think Seattle, for us, is going to be an even bigger rebound than what Sonoma was from Norwalk where we exited early on race day,” Pruett said. “All the way around, Seattle should be better. In a season like this where you have 15 cars a lot of the time, including in Seattle, that No. 1 qualifying spot is a well-deserved position with a gift that keeps on giving. What we learned in Sonoma, we’ll be applying to Seattle and hitting it really hard right of the trailer.”

While Pacific Raceways presents its own unique challenges on the circuit, Pruett is focused on turning past hurdles into success behind the wheel of her Top Fuel entry.

“Seattle is one of the tracks I’ve spent the least amount of time on as a driver from running with part-time teams for a number of years, but I have also made it to the finals there before,” said Pruett who finished runner-up by only .004-seconds at the event in 2018. “I’ve had some big explosions and concussions of my own at that track, so I’m ready to make some new good memories there. This team has been consistent and trending in the right direction. It’s beautiful up in the Northwest and the forecast looks fast, so I’m excited and optimistic to get this American Rebel Light Beer car in the winner’s circle. It will be the last time I’ll have this livery so it would be nice to retire this scheme on a high note.”

Pruett’s teammate, Matt Hagan, a four-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion and 57-time national event winner, returns to Pacific Raceways as the defending Funny Car winner. Last year’s Seattle victory over Ron Capps marked Hagan’s first win of 2025 and his first alongside crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler. Over the course of 31 races together, the trio has now recorded four victories, with two already this season.

“Seattle is one of those places that looks great, but we’ve had some challenges to deal with in the past,” Hagan said. “If you look at Seattle, that was our first win last year. We’re already two races ahead of that into the middle stretch of the season. Even last year we were in contention for the championship, so we’re in a good spot this year with two wins for the JHG folks already. That’s no reason for us to let up, though. A bit of a misstep the last two races but we’re learning a lot. We can’t afford to get two steps behind, we just have to keep plugging away. Hopefully, even if we struggle to find our normal baseline like we sometimes do around Seattle, we can go out there and get it done again. Going back-to-back at Pacific Raceways is the goal, so let’s see what we can do.”

Hagan picked up his first win of the season at the NHRA’s 1000th Funny Car race, the Winternationals, where he shared the winners circle with boss Tony Stewart. Hagan followed up the victory with a second win at JHG’s home event in Bristol, Tennessee, the same weekend Pruett picked up her first win of the season.

With a 23-13 career round record, three final-round appearances (2012, 2013, 2025), two wins (2013, 2025), and one No. 1 qualifier (2018) at Pacific Raceways, Hagan is hoping for more success to make a jump from his fourth place points standings after a first round exit in Ohio and a quarterfinal finish at the most recent event in Northern California wine country.

Competition at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways begins with four qualifying sessions Friday at 2 and 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m. Final eliminations are slated for Sunday at 10 a.m. Television coverage will begin with two qualifying shows on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Friday at 10 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations will air on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.