Matt Hagan knows what it’s like to pilot the best nitro Funny Car in the NHRA, having won championships in 2011, ’14, ’20 and ’23.
Now, he’s doing his best to position himself for title No. 5. Hagan took another step in that direction Sunday, winning the inaugural NHRA Nationals at The Rock in Rockingham, N.C.
In the final round, Hagan clocked a 3.922-second elapsed time at 327.75 mph to defeat Paul Lee, who got loose off the starting line and crossed the outer boundary line.
“I’m glad the majority of our races are right here, and most of them are within two or three hours of my back door. So, it’s hard to be like, ‘Which one’s your home track?’ But what a great weekend, man. I mean, to come out here for the Rock and to see a sold-out crowd on Saturday and just to see the sport grow, I think that’s a big thing.
“I’m just glad that people show up to see it. It’s one of those things where we had a camera crew here this weekend, and it was kind of wild because they’re doing a little mini-documentary, and it was like I was trying to explain to them, like, how cool this is and how fast and loud and stuff, and they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ Then they get here and they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re right.’”
The triumph was the 59th of Hagan’s NHRA nitro Funny Car career and his fourth this season. He earlier in 2026 notched victories in Pomona, Calif., Bristol, Tenn., and Brainerd, Minn.
More importantly for Hagan is he moved into the lead in the championship standings, 84 points in front of Jordan Vandergriff.
On Sunday, Hagan, who qualified No. 8 in the Tony Stewart Racing entry, ousted Dave Richards, former Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps, J.R. Todd, and then Lee.
“Tony Stewart expects us to rise to the occasion, and he gives us all the parts and pieces and all the things that we need to do to do that,” Hagan said. “I think that mentally, gosh, this stuff is stressful, man. … I think the older I get, the more stress I feel with it. And before, I was kind of, I guess, younger and full of piss and vinegar, and I was like, ‘Whatever, let’s go. Bye.’ And now I’m just like, ‘Man, I don’t know.’ You know, it’s like wearing me out. But I’m blessed to be able to be in those situations. And I think that those situations don’t come around very often.
“This is our 59th Wally, so it’s like, how blessed are we? It is just unbelievable that I get to hang on to a great race car that the guys put underneath me and parts and pieces aren’t falling off of it and it’s going down the racetrack. I know that every time I sit in that car every Sunday morning, I have an opportunity to win, and that’s huge. There are a lot of guys who would love to have that opportunity, and we have that. So, it’s really up to me and up to our guys to rise to the occasion and do what we need to do as a group. So, very blessed for that.”
Hagan also knows the pressure is magnified in the six-race Countdown to the Championship that will decide who wears the 2026 crown.
“It’s super competitive. I mean, there’s six cars that could change the landscape at any given moment,” Hagan said. “And as much as I’d love to sit here and say how great we’re doing, it takes one or two races of going out the first round and it changes everything. …
“As much as you want to sit here and pound your chest and be like, ‘Oh, we’re doing great,’ humility goes a long way. Be humble, be grateful, dig, work hard, show up every day – and that’s what our guys are doing. We’ve been there, we understand how to win, but you can’t be complacent with what we have. We have to keep working hard and keep putting that foot forward.”
