The final joust to win NHRA’s 1000th Funny Car race came down to two familiar combatants. And their final round occurred well after dark, as the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ Lucas Oil Winternationals suffered a weekend filled with strange occurrences and what seemed like a bazillion stoppages on all three days of competition.
As darkness descended and temperatures dropped, that final round came down to two former teammates who have fought one another almost 90 times in competition. It was Matt Hagan’s Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat against Ron Capps and his Ron Capps Motorsports’ Toyota GR Supra. In their rivalry, Capps had a slight advantage overall, while Hagan has run past Capps in final rounds 9-6. Make that 10-6, advantage Hagan, who came from his fourth seeded slot to beat the second seed by a minuscule .0071 seconds, or about three feet!
In his 99th career final round, Hagan earned his 56th Wally winner’s trophy and his first in NHRA’s 75th diamond anniversary season. This was his fifth Lucas Oil Winternationals victory and eighth time winning at historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Capps, looking for his 59th win and fifth in this Winternationals event, had to be satisfied with tying Hagan for the points lead in this third of 20 races on the 2026 calendar.
Hagan, a four-time NHRA Funny Car titleholder, beat Spencer Hyde’s Jim Head Racing Ford Mustang in the first round, took out local racer Jason Rupert’s Ford in the quarters and defeated No. 1 qualifier J.R. Todd’s GR Supra in the semifinals to meet Capps, who defeated part-timer Dylan Winefsky in a pedalfest, set low ET of the quarters over Alexis DeJoria’s John Force Racing (JFR) Chevrolet SS and held off rookie Jordan Vandergriff’s similar JFR Chevy in the semifinals to meet his former teammate.
Both drivers recognized the significance of their final round appearances and the levity of being the winner of this 1000th race in Funny Car’s 60th year. “This (Pomona) racetrack has showed me so much love over the years,” Hagan said. “It’s a magical place because champions are crowned here at the end of the year. We used to start here, and we finish here, and those so many great memories made at Pomona. So,” he regaled, “history was made here with the 1000th Funny Car race. That is super, super special and I’m just very, very blessed to be a part of that. It just hasn’t really set in yet… “
Capps was equally effusive. “You really couldn’t ask for a better final in a lot of different ways,” he said. “It was really mano a mano with both teams. I get up for racing Matt; he was a teammate of mine for a long time and I know how good he is. To me, that’s like a ‘Snake’ and ‘Jungle Jim’ race back in the day. I’m bummed it didn’t go our way, but at the same time we have a good hot rod and we moved up in points.”
Before that final round Top Fuel had its own battle royal between one of the sport’s best leavers, Justin Ashley and one of its newer stars,, Tony Stewart. Ashley came into the finals with a trio of .025 reaction times and wins against rookie standout Maddi Gordon, No. 1 qualifier Leah Pruett and reigning world champ Doug Kalitta before meeting up with Tony Stewart, who’s been racing for nearly half a century but only in NHRA straight-line competition for a couple of seasons. While Ashley pulled a .036 RT to Smoke’s .047, the Elite Motorsports racer tracked his competitor down by the60-foot mark and earned his third career Wally trophy and first of 2026.
“I’ve been [in NHRA] for five years, but it doesn’t take long to realize how special Pomona is in drag racing. To be able to come here, and especially on an anniversary for NHRA you couldn’t ask for a better scenario for me. The only thing that would have made it better is if we met Leah in the finals. But for Matt to win the 1000th Funny Car race here, and to be here on NHRA’s 75th anniversary, and win here at the Winternationals, that is huge!”
Greg Anderson earned his 113th Pro Stock victory by beating his KB Titan Racing teammate and reigning champion Dallas Glenn in the final round. In another tight race here Anderson’s 6.505/209.88 bettered Glenn’s close 6.526/208.94. It was vindication for the veteran, who had hoped to take his 2025 title fight to Glenn at this track last November but was stymied by torrential rains. As he tied legend John Force with eight wins at this track, following his No. 1 and being quickest in every round of eliminations, Anderson acknowledged, “I came to the racetrack today with a lot of confidence. I felt good. I knew I was going to have a great hot rod. It’s been great all weekend,” he said.
Some of the issues that caused this race to take place in darkness included wet weather problems in the morning – NHRA had dictated an earlier start that didn’t work out – and, actually throughout the day. It took the Safety Safari until about 12:30 to clear and clean the dragstrip, but that was only the beginning. For the second time in two days, eight-time Top Fuel champ and Rick Ware Racing driver Tony Schumacher had a rear end failure. It took the crews two hours to clean it on Saturday, but they were a bit quicker on Sunday. Sporadic rain showers and an issue with the track’s sprayer that preps the surface caused further delays. Semifinals didn’t start until after 6:30, when the sun had already set.
Although she qualified first and had a bye in Round 1, Leah Pruett’s day came to a close against Ashley in the second round, after the New York native knocked out Maddi Gordon in the first round, bringing that driver back to earth again. At least until the next race – for both Pruett and Gordon. Tasca Racing finally had a good qualifying session on Saturday, with new driver Austin Prock taking the No. 5 slot. He was gone after the first round when a safety concern stopped the car downtrack and shut it off. Yes, it was a strange weekend of racing! Dylan Winefsky kept his momentum going, qualifying for his second straight race; he succumbed to Capps in the first round. KB Titan’s Dave Connolly subbed for Cody Coughlin in Pro Stock and took that Chevy to the semifinals!
On Saturday night the Top Alcohol Dragster of James Hampton had a violent collision in the right lane after being loose almost from the tree. He went over the wall and sustained a broken forearm, left wrist, C7, bruised clung, rib fractures and a possible broken back, according to his daughter Jess Hampton.
Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge featured the semifinalists from Phoenix: Maddi Gordon, Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta and Leah Pruett in Top Fuel; Matt Hagan, Spencer Hyde, Paul Lee and Ron Capps for Funny Car and Pro Stock standouts Aaron Stanfield, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Dallas Glenn and Greg Stanfield. In the finals, reigning Top Fuel champ Kalitta got the better of Gordon (but not by much, running 3.747/333.66 to Gordon’s 3.798/327.98. Hagan got Paul Lee in Funny Car, 3.940/329.58 to 4.198/236.71. Dallas Glenn beat Aaron Stanfield in Pro Stock.
Their team is only three races old, but the grit shown by Elite Motorsports in taking on Tony Stewart as the driver of their Top Fuel car paid off mightily, as Mike Green and Joe Barlam were able to get their driver past the acknowledged best drragster leaver on-site, Justin Ashley. One could feel Stewart’s confidence after the second round of play, when he beat Gainesville winner Josh Hart, who had traction issues. Earning his third Top Fuel victory, Stewart gave plenty of credit to his wife, Pruett and to Matt Hagan, both of whom have been critical to his understanding how to make one of these cars work. He gave special nods to Pruett: “Everything that I’ve done in the sport is because of her. I’ve had a thousand questions and every time there’s an answer it leads to more questions! Now I’m here holding a Wally trophy in NHRA’s 75th anniversary. It’s just super special; it’s awesome.”
The 2026 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season has its one – and only – four-wide contest in two weeks on the zMAX Dragway track in Charlotte, scheduled for April 24-26.
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