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Matt Hagan remains the driver to beat in the NHRA Funny Car championship chase. As of October 7, 2026, the four-time world champion holds the unofficial points lead with 2,402, thanks to a semifinal finish in the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals at St. Louis that produced five qualifying bonus points and two round wins in his American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car. He travels to the Texas NHRA FallNationals with a 72-point margin over Jordan Vandergriff and three races left in the Countdown to the Championship.
Hagan opened race day at World Wide Technology Raceway from the No. 3 qualifying spot, having posted a best elapsed time of 3.882 seconds across qualifying. The five bonus points he collected during the sessions added directly to his championship total. When eliminations began, he made that starting position pay off. A 3.935-second pass at 331.12 mph dispatched Terry Haddock in the opening round, and a 3.925-second run at 331.28 mph ended Spencer Hyde's day in round two.
The two round wins put the American Rebel-backed Hellcat into the semifinals, where the weekend reached its decisive moment.
Hagan's bid for the St. Louis trophy ran into Vandergriff in the final four, and the result was decided almost immediately: the car lost traction shortly after launch, and by the time Hagan gathered it back up, Vandergriff was gone. TSR's race recap said the crew had changed the supercharger before that round, a sign of how aggressively teams are working the setup window this late in the season.
Hagan kept the loss in perspective. "We had a great weekend in this American Rebel Light Beer Dodge Funny Car, nothing to hang our heads about," he said in the team's published recap. The bigger picture was intact: he left St. Louis still holding the points lead.
Unofficially, Hagan sits at 2,402 points, Vandergriff is 72 behind, and St. Louis winner Austin Prock trails by 106. Over three races, that gap can be workable for the chasers if Hagan stumbles just once. NHRA's Countdown format compresses the margins, which makes qualifying bonus points and first-round wins disproportionately valuable.
For Hagan, the equation is straightforward: keep putting the American Rebel Light Beer Funny Car into the late rounds on Sunday. If he does that, Vandergriff and Prock have to chase not just one driver, but a team that has been operating at championship level since August.
Hagan already owns four Funny Car titles, from 2011, 2014, 2020, and 2023. A fifth would place him with John Force as the only drivers to reach that milestone in the class, per NHRA. He carries 59 career Funny Car wins into the final three races, a resume that makes the current points lead less a surprise and more the continuation of a pattern.
Before the Countdown started, Hagan had already locked up the 2026 regular-season championship at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, taking the No. 1 seed into the six-race playoff. His four season wins came at the Winternationals in Pomona, the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Brainerd, and the Nationals at The Rock. The September 27 victory at Rockingham was his 59th in Funny Car and his fourth consecutive final-round appearance heading into St. Louis.
The American Rebel program's season changed direction on August 23, when Hagan won at Brainerd. He beat Vandergriff in that final and eliminated Prock to get there, then left with the points lead. The symmetry carries through: Vandergriff and Prock are the exact two drivers now closest to Hagan in the standings.
Tony Stewart Racing's Funny Car effort, led by crew chief Mike Knudsen, Phil Shuler, Alex Conaway, and the rest of Hagan's crew, has provided the foundation for the run. Hagan has repeatedly credited the preparation and environment at TSR, and American Rebel's relationship with the organization dates to a multiyear agreement announced in 2023.
TSR's Leah Pruett introduced a new purple Pellera livery in St. Louis and left Missouri fourth in the unofficial Top Fuel standings. She qualified eighth, earned three bonus points, and defeated Kyle Wurtzel in round one before bowing out to Shawn Langdon, the eventual event winner, in the quarterfinals. Her crew worked through mechanical setbacks across the weekend, keeping the team's attention locked on the last three events.
American Rebel Holdings (OTC:AREB) uses the TSR partnership to connect racing audiences with American Rebel Light Beer and with the public company itself. The slogan on the can, "America's Patriotic, God-Fearing, Constitution-Loving, National Anthem-Singing, Stand Your Ground Beer," is reinforced every time the Hellcat goes down the track. The company also sees distributor and retailer engagement as part of the package.
American Rebel congratulated NHRA on its 2027 media agreements with FOX Sports, The CW Network, and FloSports, which NHRA projects will reach more than 125 million households. For the beer brand, more races on more channels means more exposure to adult fans who match its message.
Texas Motorplex's fast surface and unpredictable October conditions demand a horsepower-heavy setup and quick adjustments. Las Vegas brings elevation and cool evening temperatures that shift tune-up windows. Pomona, the sport's traditional finale, has settled more championships than any other venue and punishes the unprepared. Hagan's veteran crew has tuned for all three environments for years; execution, not reputation, will decide the title.
Three re-air windows remain for fans who want to see the action again: Wednesday, October 7, 9:00–11:00 a.m. ET on FS2; Thursday, October 8, 12:00–2:00 a.m. ET on FS2; and Thursday, October 8, 9:00–11:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
Andy Ross, chairman and CEO of American Rebel Holdings, summed up the weekend from the company's perspective: "Matt came into St. Louis with the points lead, put American Rebel Light Beer into the semifinals, and left with the field still chasing him. He is a true American Rebel, and we are proud to have our name on his car as he goes after his fifth world championship."
Three races remain. The lead is 72. Vandergriff and Prock are within reach if Hagan slips, but nothing about his recent form suggests a slip is coming. The American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat has reached the final round in four of its last five appearances, and the one exception was a semifinal where the car lost traction within a few feet of the line. Hagan is out front, with history in view and a team built for exactly this kind of finish. Win Hagan Win. Win Rebel Win.
