NHRA NORWALK NATIONALS RACE RECAP

NHRA NORWALK NATIONALS RACE RECAP
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT MOTORSPORTS PARK

LEAH PRUETT
Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster

Unofficial Points Standings: 3rd

Qualifying: No. 3
3.731 seconds at 334.07 mph

Bonus Qualifying Points: 3

Q1: 16.288 at 36.34
Q2: 3.806 at 330.72
Q3: 3.731 at 334.07
Q4: 4.557 at 165.31

• 13-time NHRA National Event Winner
• Finished 2023 runner-up in championship points
• Finished runner-up up at the 2026 NHRA Arizona Nationals
• Second No. 1 of the 2026 season
• No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Winternationals
• Won NHRA New England Nationals with No. 1 qualifying run Friday night at Bristol Dragway
• First round loss was the first of the season.

Race Results:
E1: 3.781 seconds at 332.26 mph lost to Antron Brown 3.763 at 333.16

“We got a bad draw in the first round after qualifying third this weekend and had to go against the guy (Antron Brown) who won the last race at Bristol. You always know if they have a tough qualifying that they can pick up their momentum for the first round. Everything changes on race day. Our team isn’t down and the car ran within reason.

“It’s our first time losing in the first round this year. It was bound to happen as the season moved on. Our goal is that this is the one and only first round loss. I’d rather do it now than in the Countdown. It stings a bit with so many family and friends and being so close to Dodge’s headquarters in Detroit.

We did win here the last time I raced in 2023, but even then we had one of our most troubling weekends. I’m just anxious for the West Coast swing now.”

MATT HAGAN
Dodge//SRT Hellcat
Funny Car

Unofficial Points Standings: 2nd

Qualifying: No. 5
3.912 seconds at 329.67 mph

Q1: 3.992 at 327.43
Q2: 6.219 at 109.56
Q3: 3.912 at 329.67
Q4: 3.917 at 329.02

• Four-time world champion (2023, 2020, 2014, 2011)
• Finished 2025 season runner-up
• Won the NHRA Winternationals, NHRA’s 1000th Funny Car race and the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway
• 14 season streak with at least two wins
• Won the Thunder Valley Nationals in 2015
• Has raced to 100 final rounds
• Won at Summit Motorsports Park in 2018

Race Results:
E1: 4.308 seconds at 213.40 mph lost to Daniel Wilkerson 3.935 at 327.59

“You have to take the good with the bad sometimes. In the last race, we had Dan (Wilkerson) in the final and we got the win. It’s like you flip a coin sometimes. Sometimes it lands on your side and sometimes on their side. That’s why it was the ‘marquee matchup’ today. It was the toughest pairing of the first round.

“Obviously, Dan and his guys didn’t do the best job in qualifying (No. 12), but they did a great job in the first round. For us, it was some stuff that was going on in the bellhousing. It’s nice that Knud (Mike Knudsen, crew chief) and Shuler (Phil Shuler, crew chief) were able to figure out what was going on with the car. It was uncharacteristic to smoke the tires that far out down the track. Usually, when we get past the tree, we go on to a solid run.

“All in all, we learned a lot this weekend coming off the Bristol win. But it just wasn’t our day. He had me covered up on the tree too. The kid was up for me at the start. He came over to me after the round and said, ‘remember that!’ But we are going to regroup for the West Coast swing in Sonoma and Seattle next month. We won Seattle last year, and I have never won at Sonoma. That is the only track I haven’t won at on the current tour. So, I know we will be ready for that one.”

-TSR-