Tony Stewart Racing Gears Up for Sonoma with Powerful Team Partners

Tony Stewart Racing enters the 2026 season’s second half at Sonoma Raceway, seeking momentum at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals this weekend. Execution across both cars will define the return.

Leah Pruett debuts Mobil 1 Top Fuel livery. Matt Hagan resumes in the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat. Sponsorship visibility and operational sharpness frame TSR’s objectives.

Pruett sits third in Top Fuel. Results include Bristol victory at the rescheduled New England Nationals, a Phoenix runner-up, and a No. 1 qualifier. Sonoma offers another efficiency test.

Norwalk exposed Top Fuel volatility. She qualified third yet lost early. Preparation, staging discipline, and clutch decisions remain central, especially with warm track conditions likely on Friday.

The mid-season pause aided clarity. Pruett and crew consolidated data, refined objectives, and aligned resource use for the Western Swing, prioritizing repeatable setups over peak-only performance.

Sonoma history encourages. Pruett topped qualifying in 2022 and lost the 2021 final to Steve Torrence by 0.0027 seconds. She values the venue’s feel and engaged West Coast crowd.

Hagan pursues a first Sonoma Raceway win. He owns three poles and three final appearances here. His 2026 includes Winternationals and Thunder Valley victories, placing him second in Funny Car.

A 2025 semi-final marked his recent high. He calls Sonoma unfinished business for the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage group, which seeks cleaner Saturdays to strengthen Sunday positioning.

Norwalk’s first-round exit, only his second this year, tempered momentum. The car’s baseline appears stronger than 2025, supporting confidence entering the resource-heavy Western Swing.

A rare rainy spell helped Hagan reset off-track. With ranch tasks handled, attention returns to crew coordination, turn-around times, and lane-choice calls.

Sonoma features four qualifying sessions: Friday at 5:30 p.m. and 8:10 p.m., then Saturday at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations start Sunday at 11 a.m.

FOX Sports 1 airs a qualifying show at 10 a.m., then eliminations from 10 p.m. ET. Our wider Sonoma weekend coverage complements the broadcast detail.

For Hagan, a breakthrough here would harden title credentials. For Pruett, incremental gains and clean first laps remain the route to sustained pressure on championship rivals.

TSR’s margins rest on execution. Staging precision, clutch strategy, and track-reading could convert promise into Sunday progress at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

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Lanie Buice

Lanie Buice covers Late Model Dirt Cars, Sprint Car, and USAC Silver Crown events with trackside reporting and exclusive driver interviews. His feature-race recaps keep fans in the dirt-racing community informed on qualifying results, heat-race action, and main-event outcomes.