The Countdown to the Championship rolls into World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis for the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, and Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) enters the third event of the six-race playoff with strong momentum and a new primary paint scheme on display.
In Top Fuel, Leah Pruett will pilot the Pellera Top Fuel Dragster for the first time, debuting a primary scheme that highlights an essential technology partner within TSR’s competition operations. In Funny Car, four-time World Champion Matt Hagan arrives in St. Louis fresh off an emotional and dominant victory at Rockingham Dragway, taking the points lead behind the wheel of his American Rebel Light Beer Dodge Funny Car.
Pruett is set to fly the primary colors of Pellera on her Top Fuel dragster for the first time this weekend. The partnership represents a core component of TSR’s analytical and data-driven approach to track performance.
“I am very excited to have Pellera on the side of our Top Fuel dragster in St. Louis,” Pruett said. “They are such an important part of our TSR Nitro program: helping us make competitive decisions, running predictive modeling, building dashboards and algorithms that help us create maximum traction and maximum horsepower on the track. We’ve seen the improvement year over year.
“Personally, I’ve grown as a student of the sport through this partnership, so it’s going to be an awesome weekend celebrating what they’ve helped us build,” Pruett continued. “What better way to say thank you to a partner than land ourselves in the winner’s circle on Sunday using the solutions they’ve helped us create.”
Pruett is looking for her second win of the season first at St. Louis. The last time she competed in the Midwest Nationals (2023), Pruett rallied to the final round from the No. 8 qualifying position battling past Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence before coming up short to Clay Millican by only .017-seconds in the finals. Pruett does have a win at the facility from racing Factory Stock showdown in 2018.
In Funny Car, Hagan enters the NHRA Midwest Nationals not only with significant wind in his sails after capturing a crucial victory at Rockingham Dragway, but as the defending event champion. His win last weekend was his fourth of the season, 59th of his career and tied him for the winningest driver in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship. It was his 19th Countdown race victory, matching him with Pro Stock legend Greg Anderson.
“We had a great weekend in Rockingham, great for our team, but also great for the sport: selling out the place in a new market, and we’re in the history books, first NHRA Nitro Funny Car team to capture victory at ‘The Rock’” Hagan reflected. “Big picture, that win, that race day, beating Ron Capps on the way to the finals to give us some breathing room in points, that was important. We did a really good job as a team putting four runs together on Sunday and executing on what we needed to do. (Crew Chief) Mike Knudsen is only a year and a half in and we’ve won so many races already together and here we are battling it out for my fifth championship, it’s super special. So, I’m excited to get to St. Louis where we’ve had success in the past.”
In his last 14 appearances at WWT Raceway, Hagan has visited the final round seven times picking up wins in 2021, 2023 and 2025. He was also No. 1 qualifier in 2013, 2015 and 2021.
“Everybody looks at points; that’s what we’re all out here doing. We’re doing our job on our end, and our boss, Tony Stewart expects us to rise to the occasion,” Hagan said. “The level of competition in Funny Car…in the 20 years that I’ve been doing this, I’m not sure that I’ve seen this type of level of competition. Humility goes a long way. Be humble, be grateful, dig, work hard, and show up every day. Every time I sit in that car every Sunday morning, I have an opportunity to win, and that’s huge. The chemistry with this team is there, and as successful as I’ve been in the past, I’ve never had what I have right now with this TSR group.”
