Leah Pruett Misses Seattle NHRA Victory By Inches

🕑7 min read

Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) came within inches of leaving Pacific Raceways with another NHRA victory Sunday, but the final few feet of the racetrack worked against both Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan at the Muckleshoot Casino NHRA Northwest Nationals.

Pruett advanced to the Top Fuel final round in the American Rebel Light Dodge dragster, while Hagan took the Johnson Horsepowered Garage (JHG) Dodge//SRT HELLCAT Funny Car into the semifinals. Both drivers delivered consistent passes throughout eliminations, but each ultimately lost an extremely close race at more than 330 mph.

For Pruett, the runner-up finish continued an impressive return to competition following her two-year break from full-time NHRA racing. For Hagan, the semifinal appearance provided additional confidence that his Dodge//SRT Funny Car is moving in the right direction as the regular season approaches its final stretch.

Pruett Charges Into The Final Round

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Pruett entered Sunday’s eliminations ranked third in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel standings and immediately faced a difficult path through the bracket.

She opened eliminations with a victory over Will Smith before defeating defending U.S. Nationals winner Justin Ashley. That second-round matchup was another major test for the TSR team, but Pruett and her crew delivered the performance needed to advance.

The semifinal round placed Pruett against 2026 NHRA Gatornationals winner Josh Hart. Pruett recorded another strong run to reach the final and maintain lane choice against reigning Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta.

Kalitta and Pruett have plenty of history. Kalitta narrowly defeated Pruett for the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel championship, and Sunday’s final provided another close battle between the two longtime competitors.

Pruett’s Dodge-powered dragster made a clean 3.689-second run, but Kalitta produced a 3.677-second pass to claim the victory. The difference amounted to only a few feet at the finish line.

Although Pruett missed her second victory of the 2026 season, the Seattle performance added another final-round appearance to her comeback campaign. She previously won the New England Nationals and finished runner-up at the Arizona Nationals.

“I think if there’s one race to portray absolute teamwork, this was it,” Pruett said. “That’s what this weekend has shown us. We can put everything we’ve got into it. We can run these high 60s, but it’s going to take a whole lot more. It is a sport of engineering. The biggest disappointment of the day was, yet again, not being able to run my husband (Stewart) in the semis. I might have had a little extra motivation against Josh (Hart) since he ruined my date with Tony. What a heck of a race we both had.

“One thing is for sure, when you look at a ladder like we had throughout the day, there was no taking anyone lightly from burnout to turnout. That’s how our American Rebel Light Beer Dodge team operates; we don’t take anyone lightly. In that final round, we pushed Doug Kalitta’s team to run well. They knew we were coming for them. We were right there with him. Once Matt (Hagan) went out in the semis of Funny Car, we were ready to defend his 2025 title in Top Fuel. Gaining a runner-up finish, it was a strong way to end the Western Swing. It’s the momentum we wanted. This weekend was not good enough for any of us. Our heads aren’t low, but it’s not the results we want. We know the results we do want are not far behind.”

Pruett remains third in the Top Fuel standings heading into the NHRA Brainerd Nationals.

Hagan Loses Semifinal By 0.0022 Seconds

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Hagan arrived at Pacific Raceways as the defending Northwest Nationals Funny Car winner and showed the consistency needed to contend for another trophy.

The four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion opened eliminations with a 3.936-second victory over Blake Alexander. He followed that performance with a 3.930-second pass against Paul Lee, earning a place in the semifinals against former world champion J.R. Todd.

Hagan reacted first and carried an early advantage in the Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT HELLCAT. Todd slowly closed the gap as the two Funny Cars approached the finish line.

Todd’s 3.913-second run narrowly defeated Hagan’s 3.929. The margin of victory was only 0.0022 seconds, leaving Hagan just a few feet short of returning to the final round.

Todd went on to win the event, earning his first victory of the 2026 season.

While the result was disappointing, Hagan’s three elimination runs were separated by only seven thousandths of a second. That level of consistency is encouraging as crew chief Mike Knudsen and the TSR team continue preparing for the Countdown to the Championship.

“It was a great two weeks in Sonoma and Seattle,” said Hagan, whose Dodge//SRT HELLCAT ran 3.936, 3.930 and 3.929 in eliminations. “We have taken some Saturdays and worked on some things as we head to the Countdown. I feel very confident that Mike Knudsen (Hagan’s crew chief) is really getting a handle on what we are trying right now. And the car is responding well. So, that should give us some promise as we head forward. I know we are all stacked up in the (Funny Car) points. We are going to sit fifth right now, but it’s just five or ten points difference in the standings. It’s very close from fifth to second.

“We are rolling into Brainerd now, and we are going to do some testing the Monday after that race. Our team’s brain trust is definitely moving in the right direction with these new changes. We have two wins so far this year and I would have liked to get another one here. We are going to throw more things at the car now before they reset the points after Indy (for the Countdown). Then we can battle it out for a championship.”

Hagan remains fifth in the NHRA Mission Funny Car standings, with only a small points gap separating several of the leading championship contenders.

Stewart Misses Potential Matchup With Pruett

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TSR team owner Tony Stewart was also attempting to advance in Top Fuel while driving the R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports dragster.

A victory over Hart in the quarterfinals would have created a semifinal matchup between Stewart and Pruett. However, Stewart’s dragster smoked the rear tires, allowing Hart to advance.

Pruett then defeated Hart in the following round, once again preventing the husband-and-wife competitors from racing each other during Top Fuel eliminations.

Stewart and Pruett remain the only married couple competing in the NHRA’s professional nitro categories. Their next opportunity to face each other will come at Brainerd.

Teams Head To Brainerd Next

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Despite leaving Seattle without a trophy, the Northwest Nationals showed that both TSR Dodge entries have the speed and consistency to compete deep into eliminations.

Pruett completed the Western Swing with a runner-up finish and remains firmly positioned among the leading Top Fuel championship contenders. Hagan also remains within striking distance in Funny Car as TSR continues experimenting with its setup before the points are reset following the U.S. Nationals.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns Aug. 21 through Aug. 23 for the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in Minnesota.

Friday qualifying is scheduled for 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. CDT, followed by Saturday sessions at noon and 2:30 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled to begin Sunday at 11 a.m. CDT. FS1 will broadcast the elimination coverage Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

2026 NHRA Top Fuel Standings

2026 NHRA Funny Car Standings