Matt Hagan Beats Paul Lee at Rockingham Again, 18 Years Later, and Stretches His NHRA Lead
The four-time champion's first nitro win came at Rockingham against the same driver in 2008. This one, his fourth of 2026, more than triples his lead with four races left.
In April 2008, Matt Hagan won the first national event of his nitro career at Rockingham Dragway by beating Paul Lee in the final. On Sunday, he returned to the North Carolina track and did it again. This time, the win came with an NHRA championship in sight.
Hagan's Tony Stewart Racing Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car ran 3.922 seconds at 327.75 mph in the final of the inaugural NHRA Nationals at the Rock, while Lee's car lost traction halfway down the track. The result is Hagan's fourth win of 2026 and his 59th in NHRA competition. It also stretches the narrow lead he carried out of the Countdown opener in Michigan.
From 23 points to 84
Hagan left Michigan 23 points ahead of rookie Jordan Vandergriff. After Rockingham the margin is 84, according to NHRA. J.R. Todd sits third, 106 points back.
Qualifying didn't hint at that. Hagan started eighth, then ran between 3.916 and 3.941 seconds in all four elimination rounds. He beat Dave Richards first, then three-time champion Ron Capps, who arrived fourth in points and 63 behind. In the semifinal he beat former champion Todd. It was Hagan's fourth straight final.
Hagan gave much of the credit to crew chief Mike Knudsen, who is only about a year and a half into the job. He was careful not to call the title settled.
"The points chase is super competitive. There are six cars that could just change the landscape at any given moment."
The stakes are historic. Hagan, who clinched the regular-season title at Indianapolis, shares the mark of four Funny Car championships with Don Prudhomme and Kenny Bernstein. A fifth would break that tie and leave only John Force ahead of him. Dodge says every one of Hagan's 59 NHRA wins has come in its cars. Only Force and Capps have won more Funny Car races.
Sunday also marked NHRA's return to Rockingham for the first time since 1998. Hagan's 2008 win there came in IHRA competition, in just his second Funny Car start.
Pruett gains a spot by a thousandth
In Top Fuel, teammate Leah Pruett opened against Tony Schumacher. The eight-time champion will take over her TSR Dodge dragster in 2027, when Pruett steps away to focus on growing her family with husband and team owner Tony Stewart. She won 3.775 to 3.776, getting to the stripe first thanks to a quicker launch.
Her quarterfinal against Will Smith was even tighter. Both cars ran 3.772 seconds, and Smith's reaction time settled it. Even so, Pruett moved from fifth to fourth in points.
Stewart smoked the tires in his R+L Carriers/Elite Motorsports dragster and lost to Clay Millican in the first round, but he stays third. The Top Fuel headline belonged to Shawn Langdon. He won his third straight race with a 342.73-mph final, the first 340-mph pass in Rockingham history.
What's next
The Countdown moves to the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis on Oct. 2–4. Sunday's eliminations air on FOX in two parts, at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET. Hagan will race in the same Dodge he drove at Michigan, where it wore the Purple Haze livery. After St. Louis, three races will remain.
