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• Four-time world champion Matt Hagan continued his push for a fifth title in new Dodge
Charger Super Bee and Purple Haze color-themed Funny Car at Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Four-time world champion Matt Hagan raced his unique Dodge Charger Super Bee and Purple Haze color-themed Funny Car to the final round Monday in the rain-delayed inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by Mopar at the fast US 131 Motorsports Park, as Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge teammate Leah Pruet exited early in Top Fuel competition on Monday. Hagan, the 2026 NHRA regular season Funny Car champion, entered the 15th event of the 20-race NHRA Mission Drag Series as the points leader and continued his front-running position with an impressive run to the final round with victories over Joey Haas, Alexis DeJoria and championship rival Jack Beckman to take on Jordan Vandergriff for the coveted NHRA "Diamond Wally Parks" trophy. Hagan was seeking his fourth win of the year and 59th career Funny Car triumph, all in Dodges. In the critical semifinals, Hagan bettered Beckman off the starting line with an advantage as both drivers recorded 3.864-second runs at the exact same speeds of 333.09 mph. That set up Hagan to take on Vandergriff for the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals title. In the final, Vandergriff bested Hagan when the Dodge racer's car smoked its tires and the California driver drove to a 3.858 to take the victory. Despite the loss, Hagan remains the Funny Car points leader with a 23-point margin over Vandergriff heading to this weekend's (Sept. 25-27) race, the NHRA Nationals at the Rock in Rockingham, N.C. "Debuting the Dodge Purple Haze Super Bee colors this weekend was pretty awesome for the Dodge Great Lakes Nationals," said Hagan. "Obviously, we would have loved to win this one in Michigan for the Dodge folks. We were pressing for the final. We had lane choice and we wanted to get in a strong run. Mike (Knudsen, crew chief), Phil (Shuler, co-crew chief) and Alex (Conaway, car chief) put a good car under me this weekend. And I was able to help the team with a pedal job in the first round and hole shot in the semifinals. Hope that makes up for some of the times I mess up. Now we'll roll into Rockingham next weekend with the points lead. That is a big race for me with friends and family. "We want to put this Dodge in the winner's circle, and we were close today. But I think we will. That semifinals race with Jack (Beckman) was unbelievable. To have the same exact ET (elapsed time, at 3.864 sec.) and speed (333.09 mph). How do you draw that up? It came down to reaction time off the line. I have a lot of respect for Jack. He was my teammate for many years. And that John Force camp will be tough the rest of the year. Hats off to Mike (Knudsen) to put a race car under me to compete with those Force cars."
Pruett, who qualified 12th in the 16-car field, was hoping to improve on her third position in the Top Fuel points in the first race of the six-race "Countdown to the Championship." However, her 3.766 wasn't good enough to best Smith's 3.699 pass. Pruett currently ranks fifth in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel standings as the NHRA campaign heads to the inaugural NHRA Nationals at the Rock. "I think the phrase, just a bad deal, comes into play this weekend," said Pruett, who returned to Top Fuel this year after a two-year layoff to start a family with her husband, Stewart. "It started in qualifying. We really struggled and that seeded us against the only dragster that had made it down all four qualifying runs. Throughout qualifying we made some big moves, but we don't have a consistent package for these conditions. I think you can be disappointed and hopeful at the same time. That's the gist of it here. "It was a Dodge race, new car livery, opportunity to build a platform for these cool track conditions, but we didn't get the win light in that first round. It was only the second time this season. We know there's a chance we'll use what we learned later in this Countdown. I couldn't be more eager to get back in the Dodge Top Fuel dragster. Maybe I'll have a chance to get back to being the fastest Stewart in the household too. Tony just took that label today in the second round, but I'll remind him I'm still the quickest."
The new Charger Super Bee and Purple Haze livery was featured on the TSR Dodge nitro cars of drivers Hagan and Pruett during the weekend at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals after an unveiling of the machines Tuesday at Stellantis Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. The nitro action for this weekend's NHRA Nationals at the Rock in Rockingham, N.C., gets underway on Friday, Sept. 25 with qualifying rounds at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. EDT. Saturday's qualifying rounds are set for noon and 2:30 p.m. EDT. Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. EDT. The final eliminations will be shown on the Fox Sports 1 network at 3 p.m. EDT.
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