Unlike when John Force was in his heyday winning 14 of 16 NHRA Funny Car championships from 1990-2006, there is no dominant team this season.
Matt Hagan, a four-time NHRA nitro Funny Car champion – 2011, 2014, 2020, and 2023 – is proving once again that he can’t be overlooked.
On Sunday, Hagan won his second race of 2026, snaring the title at the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series’ 25th annual Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.
Hagan, in his Tony Stewart Racing Dodge, clocked a 4.125-second time at 310.91 mph in the finals to defeat Daniel Wilkerson, who slowed to a 6.317-second lap at 128.89 at Bristol Dragway.
“I’m just that old plow horse that goes out there and gets it done. I’m not pretty like Leah [Pruett] and famous like Tony [Stewart], but I just go out there and you look at the end of the day and the field’s plowed. I tell you to have Leah win this weekend on Friday to finish up the deal here at Bristol [the rained-out finals from Epping, N.H.], and then for us to come out here and win with JHG here, and then us just beat the rain, man. You know, dealing with the weather and Safety Safari and all the stuff they did for the track to … put a good racetrack underneath us. It’s great, man.”
This was Hagan’s 57th career NHRA nitro Funny Car win. In 2026, he has won Wallys at the Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., and in Bristol. Hagan now has two career victories in Bristol (2015, 2026).
“Bristol is very special to me because, like, I know I say Bristol’s my home track, and Charlotte’s my home track, and Richmond’s my home track, and I got a lot of home tracks, man, you know? So, it’s kind of one of those things where we’re blessed to be here,” Hagan said. “It’s been a minute since I won here, and last time I won here it was like Father’s Day weekend, and I was crying like a freaking sobbing kid, you know what I mean? It was so emotional.
“My dad bought a suite here, and it was one of those things where I was like, ‘Well, at least I got to get out the first round.’ Because it’s got to be worth the money. So, kind of one of those deals. But it is, it is home. I mean, we have signage up here on the track with my beef sticks, and I’m trying to promote those, and if you don’t know about them, go buy a beef stick, please. … It’s just a special track and what a special weekend for TSR, too, for Leah to finish up strong here and for us to win the race.”
Hagan was quick to credit his crew to get him into the winner’s circle.
“My guys, they did a great job. It was a challenging, challenging weekend,” Hagan said. “I don’t know if we ran on eight cylinders on any run. You know, it was a driving job out there as far as keeping it in the groove and doing different things like that. But Daniel Wilkerson was driving his ass off, man. And that kid, he’s a good kid, and his family is just amazing. His dad, Tim, is just … somebody you like, and they’re just good people.
“I was rooting for the kid, but I was like, ‘Don’t root for him too hard.’ It’s one of those things where his win is coming, and I know he’s done really well and been successful tuning. But that’s the atmosphere out here in NHRA, right? Like, we have good, salt-of-the-earth people, man, and it’s just good weekends. You come together and you come out here and you … feel like you’re part of a family. I think that’s why I’ve been doing it for 20 years. Anything else, I probably would have packed it up and gone on and moved on to something else. But I just love doing it and am blessed to do it.
“We have a good group of guys, man, and they dig deep and they work hard for you, it’s just something that you can’t buy. You have to have a good group of people to do this. We’ve raced against people out here who are billionaires, you know what I mean? I always drive home that you can have all the money in the world and buy all the parts and pieces, but it still has to come together, and the people are what makes it come together.”
With his latest win, Hagan moved up to second in the points standings, 24 points behind leader Ron Capps, who was ousted in the semifinals by Wilkerson.
“It’s always satisfying to win one because you never know when your next win is going to come – if it ever comes. And it’s just kind of one of those things where I think as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to kind of take it in and appreciate it a little bit more,” Hagan said. “It used to always be like, ‘Cool, we won this one, on to the next.’ … And now it’s like, I’m going to go back home to mow my grass and kind of kick my feet up and drink a few American Rebel beers and kind of soak it all in. …
“They’re all special, man. I don’t know how you can really rank them. Obviously, you know, the U.S. Nationals is big and winning that one with my family and being Father’s Day and stuff is kind of, you know, like I said, probably bigger than that.”
Wins don’t come easy in NHRA’s pro classes, and that definitely was the case for Hagan on Sunday because of the track conditions.
“Just to see the adversity that the team goes through and what we got to work through out here with these hot conditions,” Hagan said. “A 140-degree racetrack makes it challenging for anybody out there. Then when the weather comes in and changes the conditions and you have to adapt to that, it’s always tough and it’s challenging. I’m always just kind of in awe to watch these creatures do what they do and the adjustments they have to make and all the things that can go wrong. I mean, we were up there in the semis. We had the car up in the air and they lost a nut and they were trying to fish it out and figure out where that was at – and when I was trying to get dressed in the pit and dragging it up here.
“I mean, so there’s always little things here and there that the fans don’t see or they don’t capture on TV and you’re pushed for time and this and that and you’re trying to make the rounds, and it makes it special. When it does and then if it doesn’t, you always got that excuse that was like, ‘Well, that was not great.’ But there’s some, sometimes when you get up, you’re like, you can’t tie your shoes and then other days you can’t do anything wrong. You just never know what you’re going to get. I think that’s why we show up and race them on Sunday.”
On Sunday, Hagan ousted Jon Capps, had a bye run as the No. 1 qualifier in a short field, then defeated two-time reigning champion Austin Prock, and then Wilkerson.
The fact that Wilkerson was appearing in only his second career final round and searching for his first NHRA Funny Car Wally wasn’t lost on Hagan.
“Like I said, I was rooting for him. I actually had a lot of fun today racing everybody,” Hagan said. “I mean, even me and Prock in the semis … that kid likes to stage last and I was like, ‘I don’t mind staging first, but I ain’t doing it today. So we sat there for a while on the starting line, and he staged and it was just one of those things where I don’t really care either way, but like when someone, you know, you start getting the routine and tendencies and stuff and, you know, you can tell that it upsets them, I mean, why wouldn’t you try to do stuff like that as a driver? But it is just having fun. At the end of the day, you go over there and shake the kid’s hand and wish him the best. But I mean, it was just … it was, I had a fun day on the starting line. I had a fun day racing the car, just overcoming the adversity that we had to get through today.
“Daniel, you know, I was rooting for the kid. I was like, ‘Hey, if he beats us, he beats us.’ But it’s not going to be because we didn’t do our job. Sometimes it’s just … you’re on the backside of a good drag race and that’s what I’d hoped for if we didn’t win this thing, it was just going to be on the backside of a good drag race.”
During Hagan’s two decades of competing in the NHRA ranks, he has seen his share of great drivers enjoying winning streaks, but he tries not to pay attention to who is leading the pack. Rather, he focuses on what he can take care of himself.
“I think that when you have one guy dominating, people go up there and make mistakes,” Hagan said. “They try to do things that they shouldn’t. The biggest thing I think I’ve learned, with championships and different things like that and dealing with pressure, is you gotta let it come to you. Because I think a lot of people don’t deal with pressure well. No one does.
“But when you go up there trying to make things happen, you force the issue and then you make mistakes, right? And you just gotta keep doing what you’ve done to get yourself in that position and allow it to come to you. That’s some of the best advice I got early on in my career – don’t chase it away from yourself, let it come to you. So, as things happen and you get one guy dominating, people go up there trying to push too hard and then they beat themselves and then that person keeps dominating. … I love seeing the diversity that we’ve had this year. I mean, I think it’s [Ron] Capps and you have Chad Green that’s won twice and us now. I mean, other than that, we’ve all had new winners. It was great to see Beckman win on Friday. It’s always exciting when we have new blood in here and everybody’s chasing these diamonds, man. You want to see everybody get them. I just want to get a few more than everybody else.”
Hagan said the best racing advice that he received was given to him before he even started driving a Funny Car.
“Actually, it was Mike Ashley, when I was Pro Mod racing and he was kicking my ass all the time,” Hagan said. “I was up there trying to do stupid stuff and make stuff happen. And he came to me right before I won my first championship and he said, ‘Kid, you’re doing everything right.’ And then he said, ‘Just let it come to you.’ And I did and we won the championship.”
