• 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
  • Postponed a day due to rain, the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals finished Monday at US 131 Motorsports Park with Hagan advancing to Funny Car final round
  • Hagan, a 58-time career winner all in Dodge Funny Cars, lost in the final round to rookie Jordan Vandergriff, but the Virginia racer remained in the NHRA Mission Funny Car points lead
  • It was Hagan’s 111th NHRA Funny Car final round appearance, but his car smoked the tires to Vandergriff’s 3.858 as the NHRA tour heads to Rockingham, N.C., next weekend (Sept. 25–27)
  • Earlier in cool conditions (58 degrees), Hagan defeated Joey Haas, Alexis DeJoria and Jack Beckman in a dramatic semifinal round when both drivers clocked 3.864 at 333.09 mph runs
  • Hagan’s TSR Dodge teammate Leah Pruett suffered a quick exit Monday in tough track conditions when her Super Bee/Purple Haze Dodge Top Fueler lost in the first round
  • Pruett entered the opening race of the six-event “Countdown to the Championship” third in points with solid performances this year in her return to Top Fuel action after a two-year layoff
  • After welcoming her son, Dominic, in November 2024, Pruett won the New England Nationals in June as well as being runner-up at Phoenix and Brainerd after the first 14 2026 races
  • Pruett ranks fifth in NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings as the 20-race national tour heads to Rockingham, N.C., this weekend (Sept. 25–27) in the NHRA Nationals at the Rock
  • 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
  • TSR team owner Tony Stewart continued his successful season in the Elite Motorsports Top Fuel dragster with a semifinals finish after recording a blistering 343.51 mph in second round
  • 600-horsepower 2027 Dodge Charger Super Bee Launch Edition was on display during race weekend at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals

September 22, 2026, 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.”

Hagan’s TSR teammate, Leah Pruett, had an early exit at Monday’s rain-delayed final eliminations when her unique Dodge Purple Haze Super Bee-design Top Fuel dragster lost to Will Smith in the opening round of action in tricky track conditions that included 58-degree weather on Monday morning.

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.”

TSR team owner Tony Stewart drove his R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports Top Fuel dragster to a semifinals finish Monday that included a blistering 343.51 mph speed in a second-round win over four-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown. Stewart’s new speed was the fifth best in NHRA drag racing history.

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.For more information on NHRA, visit NHRA.com.

Dodge
For 112 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Today, that legacy roars louder than ever in the lineup of Dodge, America’s performance brand.

The arrival of the new 600-horsepower 2027 Dodge Charger Super Bee Launch Edition — the quickest, fastest and most powerful SIXPACK Charger and the highest specific horsepower muscle car ever — is the newest addition to the award-winning Dodge Charger multi-energy lineup, which also features:

  • SIXPACK-powered 420-horsepower Dodge Charger R/T with the most standard horsepower of any muscle car
  • 550-horsepower Dodge Charger Scat Pack, powered by the 3.0L twin-turbo SIXPACK high-output (H.O.) engine — the most powerful Hurricane engine in production
  • Quickest and most powerful AWD muscle car in the all-electric 670-horsepower Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack

Every Charger comes standard with all-wheel drive and offers two-door coupe or four-door sedan configurations — because with performance comes choice.

The Dodge lineup is also fueled by the most powerful gas SUV ever, the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, powered by the legendary supercharged HEMI V-8 engine. The Durango SRT Hellcat Jailbreak breaks free from convention with the three-row SUV, unlocking more than 16 million potential customization combinations. The Dodge Durango R/T 392 delivers the most horsepower per dollar for a gas SUV, and the 360-horsepower 5.7-liter Durango GT HEMI AWD remains the most affordable AWD V-8 in the industry.

The purchase of a SIXPACK-powered Dodge Charger Super Bee Launch Edition, Charger Scat Pack, Charger Daytona Scat Pack or Durango SRT Hellcat model includes one day of performance driving instruction at Radford Racing School, the official Dodge//SRT high-performance driving school.


Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news, including daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis (NYSE: STLA).

Mopar
Mopar is the global name for Stellantis genuine parts and authentic accessories.

A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over more than 88 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Follow Dodge and company news and video on:
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: dodge.com
Direct Connection: DCPerformance.com
Facebook: facebook.com/dodge
Instagram: @dodgeofficial
X: @dodge and @StellantisNA
YouTube: youtube.com/dodge, youtube.com/StellantisNA

The post Hagan Advances to Finals at Rain-delayed Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Early Exit for Pruett in Dodge Top Fueler in Tough Track Conditions appeared first on Matt Hagan Racing.

Continue reading...