{"id":104341,"date":"2026-07-16T20:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/tony-stewart-racing-heads-to-sonoma-with-mobil-1-johnsons-horsepowered-garage-on-board\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T20:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:44:07","slug":"tony-stewart-racing-heads-to-sonoma-with-mobil-1-johnsons-horsepowered-garage-on-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/tony-stewart-racing-heads-to-sonoma-with-mobil-1-johnsons-horsepowered-garage-on-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Stewart Racing Heads to Sonoma with Mobil 1, Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage on Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

The DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway marks the start of the second half of the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series schedule for the two-car team of Tony Stewart Racing. Leah Pruett will debut her Mobil 1 Top Fuel dragster livery while Matt Hagan returns to the Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage Dodge\/\/SRT Hellcat Funny Car, the scheme he\u2019s managed to pick\u00a0up both of his 2026 wins in.<\/p>\n

Returning to driving duties in 2026 after stepping out of the seat to start her family, Leah Pruett has already proven she and her Mobil 1 team should not be taken lightly. Currently sitting third in the Top Fuel championship standings, their 2026 campaign features a victory at the postponed New England Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, a runner-up finish at the Arizona Nationals, and a No. 1 qualifying position. Pruett enters this weekend after an uncharacteristically early exit at the most recent event in Norwalk, Ohio. For the first time in the 2026 season, Pruett had a first-round loss after qualifying No. 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning will never get old, and early round losses never stop stinging, but I think I\u2019ve learned that chasing a trophy isn\u2019t what produces your best performance,\u201d Pruett said. \u201cFocusing on being completely prepared, present, and executing every run is what gives you the best chance to win. Sonoma is one of the few tracks I haven\u2019t had some level of Sunday success at, so of course I\u2019d love to add it to that list. But if we\u2019re doing everything at the level we\u2019re capable of (and we are), I trust the result will take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

With two weekends away from the racetrack, Pruett is more than ready to head into the second half of the 2026 season. The recent hiatus from the track was far from downtime, it served as a vital preparation window, giving Pruett and her crew the chance to reset, refocus, and dial in their long-term championship strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really look at a break as stepping away from racing. It\u2019s another phase of preparing to race,\u201d Pruett explained. \u201cSometimes the most productive thing you can do isn\u2019t adding more work, it\u2019s giving your mind and body a chance to absorb all the work you\u2019ve already done, and working on more long-term goals. I definitely missed being in the car these last couple weeks because that\u2019s where I love to be. \u00a0 I also know that showing up restored is very different than just showing up eager. My goal is always to arrive with a full tank instead of running on whatever\u2019s left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Sunday success has eluded Pruett at Sonoma Raceway, she did capture the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifying position at the facility in 2022 and finished runner-up to Steve Torrence in an incredibly close 2021 final round. Torrence took the victory by a mere 0.0027 seconds. Pruett also can\u2019t deny the unique connection Sonoma has to her West Coast roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a specific memory, per se, but more of a true vibe, especially when being at the Heatwave [Sunglasses] booth signing for fans,\u201d Pruett added. \u201cThe Cali culture that the fans bring, mixed with the team at Heatwave and the product always being true to their own coolness is refreshing. No-one is chasing anything, everyone is just living and enjoying the weather, the track, the speeds and the surrounding cities. Overall, it\u2019s the vibe of racing at Sonoma that has always been my favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

For her Funny Car teammate, Matt Hagan and his Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage crew, Sonoma Raceway is one of the few tracks on the current NHRA schedule that they have not conquered. Hagan has been No. 1 qualifier three times (2009, 2013, 2025) and he has visited the finals at the Sonoma Nationals three times: (2012, 2019, 2021) but has never won. \u00a0 Most recently, he advanced to the semi-finals in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in the finals that many times in Sonoma and not getting it done is heartbreaking honestly. Besides our new tracks this season, that\u2019s the only track I haven\u2019t won at on tour. It\u2019s one that we really want,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had two wins with Jason Johnson this season and this weekend we\u2019re in the JHG car again, so maybe the luck continues and we can capitalize to get my first Sonoma Nationals win. I want that specialty wine goblet trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently sitting second in the Funny Car championship standings, Hagan\u2019s 2026 campaign has already been highly successful. The TSR pilot has captured two national event victories this season doubling up with boss Tony Stewart at the NHRA Winternationals and then picking up a hometown win at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee. Despite a first-round loss at the most recent event in Norwalk, Ohio, (just his second of the season), Hagan enters the Western Swing with plenty of momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we could get a win this year. We are already way further ahead this season than we were last season with two wins in our pocket and being second in points,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cThings are just going really well. We\u2019ve had a few races that we\u2019ve struggled at but at the end of the day, so has everybody else. We feel like we can capitalize on consistency and how well everybody\u2019s working together. I think we have just as good a shot as anybody, probably better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The momentum and consistency have Hagan eager to return to the seat of his JHG Dodge\/\/SRT Hellcat Funny Car after a busy two-week break.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two weeks felt like two months. I\u2019m just so ready to get back. We\u2019re going to be out there with the JHG crew, which is like family to me. We spent Fourth of July weekend with them at their house, but I got a lot of farming done too,\u201d said Hagan, an entrepreneur and ranch owner. \u201cIt\u2019s been super dry at home, we\u2019ve been in a drought, and we finally got some rain. So I can take a deep breath now\u2026 I know that I\u2019m leaving the farm in a good place, crops are going the way they need to and everything looks good. So I\u2019m just anxious to get back to the race track. Get to Sonoma and spend a couple weeks out west. Maybe get some wins and have some fun doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Competition at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals begins with four rounds of qualifying \u2013\u00a0Friday at 5:30 pm\u00a0and 8:10 p.m. and Saturday at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Sunday with a qualifying show at 10 a.m. ET\u00a0and eliminations at 10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on July 16, 2026. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post Tony Stewart Racing Heads to Sonoma with Mobil 1, Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage on Board<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway marks the start of the second half of the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series schedule for the two-car team of Tony Stewart Racing. Leah Pruett will debut her Mobil 1 Top Fuel dragster livery while Matt Hagan returns to the Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage Dodge\/\/SRT Hellcat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}