LEAH PRUETT Returns to TSR Dodge Top Fuel for 2026 NHRA Championship Chase

February 20, 2026

• LEAH PRUETT makes her long-awaited return to the cockpit of the TSR Dodge Top Fuel dragster for the 2026 NHRA season after a two-year hiatus to start a family. The 12-time national event winner stayed involved as a team consultant during her break, welcoming son Dominic in November 2024, but the competitive fire never dimmed. Testing the new chassis reminded her exactly why she belongs behind the wheel of a 12,000-horsepower nitro-burner, with her brain catching up to 300-mph reality and championship ambitions firmly intact.
• The 2026 season brings an unprecedented dynamic to NHRA Top Fuel competition: for the first time, PRUETT and husband Tony Stewart could face off in eliminations, with Stewart campaigning an Elite Motorsports entry while she pilots the TSR dragster. Stewart’s practical approach — “If I win, I advance; if Leah wins, my team advances” — masks what could be the sport’s most compelling storyline. PRUETT made her intentions crystal clear: “If I have to race Tony, then I’m set to beat him and he knows it.”
• While PRUETT’s return generates headlines, four-time champion Matt Hagan quietly positions himself for another title run in the TSR Dodge//SRT HELLCAT Funny Car, entering his remarkable 19th season with Dodge — the longest active driver-manufacturer partnership in NHRA Funny Car. His 55 career wins all came in Dodge machinery, and after three victories in 2025’s late-season surge with crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler, the pieces are aligning for championship number five. The Red, White, and Blue livery debuts at Gainesville, where Hagan’s multi-time winner status gives TSR a proven commodity while PRUETT chases her first Top Fuel crown.

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