NHRA U.S. NATIONALS RACE RECAP

MATT HAGAN WINS REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP EN ROUTE TO RUNNER-UP FINISH

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 07, 2026) — Matt Hagan and the Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car team picked up the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series regular season championship Sunday at the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Hagan, a four-time world champion, will start the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoffs, from the No. 1 spot after a pivotal semi-final matchup against three-time world champion Ron Capps. Hagan and the Dodge team powered their way to a 4.020-second pass at 327.35 mph to defeat Capps’ 9.500 at 69.72 after smoking the tires in the right lane.

“This Funny Car field is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen. I mean, Ron Capps is my hero, man. And those guys over there, they kill it. They led the points all year long, but they made a few mistakes, and we came in here towards the end and scooped up some points and made it happen,” Hagan said. “I just can’t say enough about my guys, man. You know, obviously, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conway and Phil Shuler, that group has been great, and Tony Stewart allowed that to happen, put them together, made sure we have what we need, parts and pieces. This Dodge Hellcat Funny Car is on a tear right now. It’s my group of guys, all this goes to them, this just isn’t possible without our group. I’m just very thankful, blessed and all greatness comes from God through Jesus Christ.”

With the regular season crown, Hagan and the Dodge crew not only have the points lead heading into the championship hunt but earned a $150,000 pay day.

In his fourth final round of the season, Hagan’s 4.030-second pass at 318.84 mph wasn’t enough to better Jack Beckman’s 3.965 at 327.35. It was Hagan’s 102nd career final round, third at the U.S. Nationals.

The Countdown to the Championship begins with the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, September 25-27.

MATT HAGAN
Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

Funny Car

Unofficial Points Standing:
1st
Won the U.S. Nationals in 2016
Has five No. 1s at The Big Go (2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Runner-up in 2026 PlayNHRA All Star Funny Car Callout
Current Funny Car points leader and regular season champion
Three wins this season (Winternationals, Thunder Valley Nationals, Brainerd Nationals)
14 season streak with at least three wins
Four-time world champion (2023, 2020, 2014, 2011)
Finished 2025 season runner-up

Qualifying:
No. 5, 3.980 seconds at 323.19 mph
Q1: 3.988 at 326.40
Q2: 4.950 at 159.97
Q3: 3.979 at 327.59
PlayNHRA All Star Callout
Q4: 3.947 at 331.77 def. Spencer Hyde 3.976 at 325.22
Semis: 3.979 at 328.78 def. Alexis DeJoria 4.530 at 191.97
Q5: 4.290 at 227.19 loss to Jack Beckman 3.980 at 323.19

Race Results:
E1: 3.917 at 333.25 def. Hunter Green 4.002 at 313.95
E2: 3.959 at 330.96 def. Paul Lee 4.007 at 323.66
Semis: 4.020 at 327.35 def. Ron Capps 9.500 at 69.72
Finals: 4.030 at 318.84 lost to Jack Beckman 3.965 at 327.35

Quotes:
“This Funny Car field is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen. I mean, Ron Capps is my hero, man. And those guys over there, they kill it. They led the points all year long, but they made a few mistakes, and we came in here towards the end and scooped up some points and made it happen,” Hagan said. “I just can’t say enough about my guys, man. You know, obviously, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conway and Phil Shuler, that group has been great, and Tony Stewart allowed that to happen, put them together, made sure we have what we need, parts and pieces. This Dodge Hellcat Funny Car is on a tear right now. It’s my group of guys, all this goes to them, this just isn’t possible without our group. I’m just very thankful, blessed and all greatness comes from God through Jesus Christ.”

“In the final, I was tickled that we went up there and didn’t smoke the tires. It was the kiss of death going in the right lane late in the day. It always seems that, from the semis on, the right lane is a bear. My guys — Mike (Knudsen), Phil (Shuler) and Alex (Conaway) and the crew — were racing methodical, and they gave us a shot if (Jack) Beckman had a hole out (cylinder) or smoked the tires. We were going to be right there to take the win. It wasn’t the result that we wanted, but, at the end of the day, we came away with the regular season championship and the $150,000 that goes with it. I think we won about $180,000 this weekend. That race with my buddy, Ron (Capps), was heads-up and real dogfight in the semis. That was great and we wrapped up the points lead heading into the ‘Countdown.’

I think everyone is seeing that this Dodge//SRT Hellcat has to be something to deal with in the final six races. We just need to keep doing what we have been doing in the last few races. We won at Brainerd and runner-up here. If we can win three of the six races in the Countdown, we can take another title. And this TSR Dodge team is very capable of it.”

LEAH PRUETT
Dodge Top Fuel Dragster

Unofficial Points Standing:
3rd

Runner-up at the U.S. Nationals in 2020
Won first #2Fast2Tasty of the season on Saturday
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, 3.710 seconds at 332.18 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 2
Q1: 3.769 at 331.04
Q2: 3.889 at 292.20
Q3: 4.786 at 151.58
Q4: 3.756 at 329.18

Race Results:
E1: 3.713 at 333.66 def. Josh Hart 3.869 at 282.84
E2: 3.975 at 265.38 def. Maddi Gordon 4.126 at 216.24
Semis: 5.172 at 183.42 lost to Shawn Langdon 3.816 at 332.51

Quotes:
“What an incredible and memorable weekend. We ultimately qualified fifth, but we hung onto third for quite some time. We had the most consistent car in qualifying, getting our first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty win of the entire season in pretty spectacular fashion. I think right there is a good moment marker for our team, beating Doug Kalitta on a racetrack surface at the highest, most prestigious facility that we run at. It helped catapult our way into continued consistency.

“There’s nothing like Indy nerves coming into race day on Monday. Our team did a really good job managing the ever changing conditions for our four day long event. We felt as good as we could going into the semi-final round, but we also were very much aware historically, you’re hard pressed to find a nitro car that makes it off the starting line in the right lane. We’re not saying that the track is particularly bad, but somehow given the limited cars that run once you get into Monday, the greasiness that comes up, the right lane seems more susceptible to being difficult. We planned for that, but there wasn’t any more backing up we could do, resulting in very unfashionable tire smoke.

“We could be disappointed we don’t win, but we already knew we were locked into third in points, we’re hunting down this opportunity to meet my husband in the final, which we still have yet to race head to head, we did not make any particular mistakes. We just did not have equality in the racing opportunity. And same thing goes, for Tony (Stewart) and Doug (Kalitta) on the other side of the ladder.

When I say an intense and memorable weekend, Tony and I both got to be at the top end to see Matt capture that regular season championship, celebrate that with him and the team, but then also lock back in because they both needed to finish the race. In regards to our particular team, everything is at the top frontal cortex in our brain, if we had to do this again, if this scenario comes up in the countdown, what would our other moves be? This could happen again, having to manage a tricky racetrack, so we’ll be more ready for the opportunity.

“Leaving Indy third in points, that’s the highest point standing I’ve ever started the Countdown. In 2023, I left Indiana fifth and made it all the way to fighting for a championship at the final round of the final race. I know sometime this weekend was national roller coaster day and it kind of felt like that today, but it is a privilege to have the pressure and to have the opportunity to harness it round after round. We are conditioning ourselves to make proper moves. This is a really good start to the run at the championship for us.”