2026 TSR SEASON PREVIEW

TSR SEASON PREVIEW:
LEAH PRUETT RETURNS; MATT HAGAN LOOKS TO CONTINUE MOMENTUM

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Feb. 19, 2026) – The two-car team of Tony Stewart Racing is set to kick off the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season. Leah Pruett returns to the seat of the Top Fuel dragster after a two-year hiatus, while four-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan is looking to carry over momentum from a second-place finish in 2025.

Both teams were back on the drag strip February 17-20 for NHRA / Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) testing at Gainesville Raceway in Florida, two weeks ahead of NHRA’s 75th Anniversary season-opener.

Pruett, a 12-time NHRA national event winner, has taken back the seat of her Top Fuel dragster just 15 months after giving birth to her first child, Dominic. For ten races Pruett’s dragster will feature a Dodge livery with their historical Fratzog logo. The Fratzog, uniquely named by one of their designers, was used by Dodge on vehicles between 1962 and 1976. For the remaining races, Pruett’s livery will rotate between Mobil 1, Rinnai, Rush Truck Centers, Rayce Rudeen and American Rebel.

“Our team prepared very well to optimize our time at this test session, and it is showing. Every lap has been extremely strategic, from riffling through new fuel systems, rear ends, engine tune, long game dynamic strategies and a long list of new / different parts and systems to making sure our spare car is 100% fully functional,” Pruett said. “I love being back. Every part of it. The focus, the hustle, the long days and nights, the progress, the immediate turnarounds, the satisfaction that I do not feel that I have been out of the seat for two years, the positive results of applying new strategies inside the cockpit that work, and kicking others to the absolute curb. It sounds funny, but I’ve let all superstitions go, and even frames of mind that have held me bound. Which is absolutely freeing.

“Although I am happy with my cadence and my brain’s processing speed of where I am on the track while I’m in the car, I’m looking forward to dialing in details in the cockpit that have worked for me so far,” Pruett continued. “There are no substitutions for laps, no matter how many times I run scenarios in my brain. So, I’ll take as many hits on track as I can get.”

Pruett’s Top Fuel team will be led by co-crew chiefs Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala with Ryan McGilvry serving as car chief.

“The team dynamic honestly couldn’t be a more Mobil1 well-oiled machine. Sure, all of our bodies hurt a bit from moving, grooving, lifting, and hustling in ways that the off season doesn’t replicate, but our leadership from Neal and Mike continues to be profoundly strong,” said Pruett. “We are a team that values thorough communication, collective focus, and never individual ego.”

In Funny Car, Matt Hagan, who had three wins in five final round appearances and was only 101 points back from a championship crown in 2025, will also sport the Dodge livery with the Fratzog logo for ten races. Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, American Rebel Light Beer and Shelor Motor Mile will also be in rotation as primary sponsors as Hagan looks for his fifth world title.

“If you do the math, and I’m not great at math, but I think this is my 19th year now. Definitely not that rookie feeling anymore. It’s one of those things where it’s always great to get back in the car, make a hit, just kind of knock that rust off. During the offseason, our guys have worked pretty hard on some stuff with motor combos, and I think you just want to see how all that kind of stuff shakes out. Plus, we got a new chassis, new pipe and you’re making some adjustments here and there, just seeing if the car works,” Hagan said. “I’ve had seasons where we come out here, and we shook 20 times, and come to find out some pipes and different things from back in the day were put in the wrong place, you know? You just never know how testing’s going to go but, the chassis seems to be great. We shook down our old car and then put it in the box so we could just kind of focus on this new one a little bit to see what we can do and how it’s going to respond. All in all, I feel great about it.”

Hagan’s Funny Car team will continue to be led by co-crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler with Alex Conaway as car chief.

“The charisma, the energy, the feel of being here, knocking the rust off, it’s been great with the guys. Everybody is pretty much back from last year and the team is strong. We got one new kid on tire and body, but it’s been going well,” Hagan said. “I’m excited to start the season. We’ve had a couple good days of testing so far. Anything can happen with nitro cars, you can have the greatest test session and then the last couple runs, blow it up. So, it’s just a matter of seeing what we can do and how we can keep progressing forward.”

Pruett and Hagan will begin their hunt for championship crowns at the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway March 6-8 in Florida.