Racing legend Tony Stewart captured his first NHRA Top Fuel victory on Sunday at the 25th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, while Matt Hagan showed moments of brilliance despite a challenging final round in Funny Car competition.
After earning NHRA Rookie of the Year honors last season and reaching the final round two weeks ago in Pomona, Stewart finally sealed the deal in Las Vegas. Qualifying fifth with a third-round pass of 3.821 seconds at 321.96 MPH, Stewart showed consistency and determination throughout elimination rounds.
In the opening round, Stewart grabbed the holeshot over Steve Torrence with a .071 reaction time to Torrence’s .092, posting a solid 3.864 at 321.19 MPH for a narrow .0032-second victory. The second round saw challenging conditions for all drivers, but Stewart advanced with a 3.943 at 303.50 MPH, winning by .1199 seconds while strategically shutting off early.
The final quad featured Stewart against reigning world champion Antron Brown, Justin Ashley and Jasmine Salinas. Stewart was third off the line with an .082 reaction time and powered his 11,000-horsepower Rayce Rudeen Foundation Dodge//SRT® dragster straight down the groove to a winning time of 3.870 seconds at 317.42 MPH. He crossed the finish line just .0182 seconds (about 8 feet) ahead of Brown, who finished as runner-up with a 3.912 at 302.35 MPH. Ashley took third with a 3.965 at 304.25 MPH, and Salinas, who lost traction and clicked it off, finished fourth with a 4.237 at 196.67 MPH.
“It’s unreal. I haven’t been around NHRA that long and I realize it takes a long time to win a race in this series, but everything in my career, I never had to wait over a year to win a race. I always figured it out in the first year, and multiple ones normally, so I’m just very appreciative of this win,” Stewart said in the winner’s circle.
“Last year was so stressful after Leah [Pruett, wife] almost won a world championship, and I get in the car last year, and the people in the stands think I’m the reason the car sucks,” Stewart continued. “It wasn’t that we had bad people tuning on it, it was just it was a different combination. There were different variables that change my body weight is different, tubing changes from rules changes but it was still really frustrating we could not get on a path to where we could make gains last year.”
The victory was made even more special when Stewart’s wife Leah Pruett brought their son Dom to the stage during celebrations. “I think probably the one thing that may not sink in as much right now, but when Leah brought [son] Dom up on the stage there, that’s an emotion that you can’t even think about or dream of. When I saw her coming up those steps with him, my heart stopped. That was a feeling I’ve never had in my life before, and I have a feeling when we lay down and put my head on a pillow tonight, that’s going to be the one thing that I want to reflect on the most tonight.”
The win propelled Stewart to second place in the championship standings, now sitting just 16 points behind leader Shawn Langdon after four events in the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
In Funny Car action at the Las Vegas 4-Wide Nationals, Matt Hagan qualified his Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Funny Car in 12th position with a 4.071 at 315.19 MPH pass in the second round of qualifying. Direct Connection served as Hagan’s primary partner for the Las Vegas event, providing high-performance “ready to run” parts directly from the factory for muscle car enthusiasts.
Despite his mid-pack qualifying position, Hagan showcased his championship experience in eliminations. In the first round, he hazed the tires in the middle of the run but stayed with it and won with a 4.142 pass at only 264.39 MPH, demonstrating his ability to manage the car through adversity.
The second round saw all four drivers struggling with the track conditions in the 85-degree heat (10% humidity, 4,338 feet adjusted altitude). Hagan again made the best of a difficult situation, posting a 4.126 at 304.05 MPH to advance to the finals with a margin of victory of .0323 seconds. As noted in the event coverage, “It just goes to show how important it is to keep your head in the game and get the car through the beams. You never know if your opponents are going to have a little more trouble than you may be having during a pass.”
Unfortunately, the final quad proved too challenging for Hagan. Facing Austin Prock, Paul Lee and Dave Richards in 86-degree heat with 8% humidity (4,381 feet adjusted altitude), Hagan left the starting line with a .071 reaction time but lost traction about 400 feet into the run. Forced to shut down his Funny Car, he coasted through the finish line in fourth place with a 7.965 at 87.66 MPH while Prock took the event win with a 4.009 at 316.01 MPH.
Despite the final round disappointment, Hagan’s overall performance kept him firmly in championship contention. After four events in the 2025 season, Hagan sits fourth in the points standings, just 44 points out of first place.
This marked the fourth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
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