NORWALK, Ohio (June 24, 2026) – Tony Stewart Racing hits the halfway mark of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season with this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park (SMP). Leah Pruett and her Dodge//SRT Top Fuel team will be looking for their second win of the season while Matt Hagan and the Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car team are looking for a second consecutive win, third of their 2026 season.
Pruett is coming off a busy weekend at Bristol Dragway where she picked up her 13th victory on Friday evening when she defeated points leader Shawn Langdon in the postponed NHRA New England Nationals final. It was her first win since returning to the seat after becoming a mother.
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Matt Hagan is also coming of a victorious weekend. The four-time world champion dominated the Thunder Valley Nationals entering race day as the No. 1 qualifier. He defeated Jon Capps, earned a bye run into the semi-finals where he took down two-time and reigning world champion Austin Prock before denying Daniel Wilkerson his first career Funny Car victory.
“The win in Bristol had so much excitement, especially with the JHG crew being there and then attending their open house last Friday near Nashville. It was great to get to celebrate with everyone and it really made it come full circle,” Hagan said. “We’re definitely carrying momentum into Norwalk, which seems to be another hot tricky racetrack sometimes, but you know one thing about SMP and (track owner) Bill Bader is they put on an awesome event. They’ll fill the stands and that’s why we have to make sure we put on a great show.”
Hagan’s win at Bristol Dragway extended to 14 the number of consecutive seasons in which he has won multiple events in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He first hoisted the NHRA 75th Anniversary Diamond Wally alongside team owner Tony Stewart earlier this year at the Winternationals. The 57-time event winner has had only one first-round exit so far this season and his No.1 qualifying position also extended his streak of seasons with at least one start from the top spot to 14.
“The momentum and success so far this year has been great,” said Hagan who jumped from fourth to second in the Funny Car points standings with his last win. “We’ve been in some really difficult conditions and I think that’s why you’ve seen different winners throughout the season, there’s not just been somebody that’s just dominating. Our team has done a really impressive job of adapting. Hopefully that reigns true this weekend in Ohio too.”
Off the dragstrip, Hagan will be participating in the intense and entertaining ice cream eating contest that has become synonymous with SMP and the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.
“I’ve been training. My son has been helping me, feeding me ice cream between push-ups and sit-ups, between sets on the punching bags. We’ve been watching past contests and taking notes. It’s going to be a big ordeal,” Hagan said. “Competition is competition. I don’t care if we’re eating ice cream, racing lawn mowers or Fuel Funny Cars, winning is winning. Have to get those bragging rights. Jianna [Evaristo] (Pro Stock Motorcycle) is the reigning three-time champ, we’ve got to take her down. Time for a regime change. I think I got this. I mean a pint of ice cream is a handful to me so let’s go!”
“The win in Bristol had so much excitement, especially with the JHG crew being there and then attending their open house last Friday near Nashville. It was great to get to celebrate with everyone and it really made it come full circle,” Hagan said. “We’re definitely carrying momentum into Norwalk, which seems to be another hot tricky racetrack sometimes, but you know one thing about SMP and (track owner) Bill Bader is they put on an awesome event. They’ll fill the stands and that’s why we have to make sure we put on a great show.”
Hagan’s win at Bristol Dragway extended to 14 the number of consecutive seasons in which he has won multiple events in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He first hoisted the NHRA 75th Anniversary Diamond Wally alongside team owner Tony Stewart earlier this year at the Winternationals. The 57-time event winner has had only one first-round exit so far this season and his No.1 qualifying position also extended his streak of seasons with at least one start from the top spot to 14.
“The momentum and success so far this year has been great,” said Hagan who jumped from fourth to second in the Funny Car points standings with his last win. “We’ve been in some really difficult conditions and I think that’s why you’ve seen different winners throughout the season, there’s not just been somebody that’s just dominating. Our team has done a really impressive job of adapting. Hopefully that reigns true this weekend in Ohio too.”
Off the dragstrip, Hagan will be participating in the intense and entertaining ice cream eating contest that has become synonymous with SMP and the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.
“I’ve been training. My son has been helping me, feeding me ice cream between push-ups and sit-ups, between sets on the punching bags. We’ve been watching past contests and taking notes. It’s going to be a big ordeal,” Hagan said. “Competition is competition. I don’t care if we’re eating ice cream, racing lawn mowers or Fuel Funny Cars, winning is winning. Have to get those bragging rights. Jianna [Evaristo] (Pro Stock Motorcycle) is the reigning three-time champ, we’ve got to take her down. Time for a regime change. I think I got this. I mean a pint of ice cream is a handful to me so let’s go!”
“Winning Epping in Bristol, for me personally was probably the most profound win. Bigger than my first one, bigger than U.S. Nationals in Factory Stock, a double up in Dallas with Hagen, which was at the top of my all-time wins. This one just really stands out because of how we got there,” Pruett said. “From a team perspective, my evolution as a driver coming back into the seat, the things that I struggled with, the things that I focused hard on to maintain and capture and improve on.”
Pruett went on to secure the Thunder Valley Nationals No. 1 qualifying position, the 17th of her career, second of the season before having a second-round exit during Sunday’s eliminations. The Dodge Top Fuel team continues to impress reaching the midway point of the season not having conceded a first-round loss.
“Me specifically in the car this year, having to re-calibrate myself—my emotions, my intensity, my focus. We came up with a plan. We had a crew chief-driver full conversation intervention that was data-backed. You can’t have perfection without progress,” said Pruett “I’ve been working on my reaction times. I’ve been working at getting them in the low .070s, coming into this weekend in Norwalk, hopefully I’ll live in the .060s. That’s been the systematic strategic goal. We’re not going to win a championship .072-ing them to death. That’s not going to work. My team is giving me the best race car, and I’ve got to get those lights down so that I can give them my best.”
The last time Pruett raced at SMP was in 2023 when she dominated the weekend as the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier and went on to win the event for her 11th career victory defeating Kyle Wurtzel, Mike Salinas, Austin Prock and Justin Ashley along the way.
Pruett will start competition this weekend lined up against a familiar foe in qualifying, her husband, Tony Stewart.
“When we go to Norwalk, Tony and I will be against each other in Q1 as we have been for a number of races,” Pruett said. “Trust me, fans, we’re not trying to not run each other. We’re trying to run each other just later on in the day on Sundays.”
Competition at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park begins with four rounds of qualifying Friday at 5 and 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at Noon and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are slated for Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on Sunday with a qualifying show at noon ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will air Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Pruett went on to secure the Thunder Valley Nationals No. 1 qualifying position, the 17th of her career, second of the season before having a second-round exit during Sunday’s eliminations. The Dodge Top Fuel team continues to impress reaching the midway point of the season not having conceded a first-round loss.
“Me specifically in the car this year, having to re-calibrate myself—my emotions, my intensity, my focus. We came up with a plan. We had a crew chief-driver full conversation intervention that was data-backed. You can’t have perfection without progress,” said Pruett “I’ve been working on my reaction times. I’ve been working at getting them in the low .070s, coming into this weekend in Norwalk, hopefully I’ll live in the .060s. That’s been the systematic strategic goal. We’re not going to win a championship .072-ing them to death. That’s not going to work. My team is giving me the best race car, and I’ve got to get those lights down so that I can give them my best.”
The last time Pruett raced at SMP was in 2023 when she dominated the weekend as the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier and went on to win the event for her 11th career victory defeating Kyle Wurtzel, Mike Salinas, Austin Prock and Justin Ashley along the way.
Pruett will start competition this weekend lined up against a familiar foe in qualifying, her husband, Tony Stewart.
“When we go to Norwalk, Tony and I will be against each other in Q1 as we have been for a number of races,” Pruett said. “Trust me, fans, we’re not trying to not run each other. We’re trying to run each other just later on in the day on Sundays.”
Competition at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park begins with four rounds of qualifying Friday at 5 and 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at Noon and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are slated for Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on Sunday with a qualifying show at noon ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will air Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
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