A dropped cylinder cost Hagan the Texas final, but the semifinal win over Vandergriff widened the gap. Pawuk gave the 354-cubic-inch Charger Drag Pak its first Factory Stock win.
Austin Prock won the Midwest Nationals to climb within 106 points, while TSR teammates Leah Pruett and Tony Stewart both fell in the Top Fuel quarterfinals.
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.
A rookie who qualified last beat Hagan's Purple Haze Dodge in the final, but the four-time champion heads to Rockingham still leading the Funny Car standings.
Leah Pruett's Top Fuel dragster and Matt Hagan's Funny Car will wear Charger Super Bee graphics and color-shifting Purple Haze paint at the first NHRA national event in Michigan since 1960.
A runner-up finish at the U.S. Nationals was all Hagan needed: he beat Ron Capps in a semifinal that doubled as a title decider and enters the Countdown as the No. 1 seed.