Story By: ASHLEY WILSON / TONY STEWART RACING – BRISTOL, TN
Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage
Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
June 7-9 | Bristol, Tennessee
Event Recap
Tony Stewart, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:
- Earned No. 15 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (6.909 ET at 92.23 mph)
- Earned No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.829 ET at 312.64 mph)
- Maintained No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 6.569 ET at 101.53 mph.
- Secured No. 8 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.901 ET at 311.20 mph.
- Round 1: 5.131 ET at 148.41 mph, lost to Doug Foley (3.878 ET at 301.74 mph)
- Currently ninth in the championship standings, 253 points behind Top Fuel leader Doug Kalitta
Matt Hagan, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
- Earned No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.125 ET at 291.89 mph)
- Fell to No. 12 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Hagan ran a 4.136 ET at 264.08 mph.
- Maintained No. 12 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.140 ET at 288.83 mph.
- Scored two bonus points for being the second-fastest car of the session
- Secured No. 12 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.134 ET at 301.87 mph.
- Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.951 ET at 321.65 mph, defeated Chad Green (4.009 ET at 318.39 mph)
- Round 2: 4.126 ET at 279.56 mph, defeated Bob Tasca III (7.292 ET at 85.62 mph)
- Semifinals: 4.096 ET at 296.89 mph, lost to Austin Prock (3.982 ET at 317.57 mph)
- Currently fourth in the championship standings, 117 points behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock
Notes of Interest
By advancing to the Semifinals, Hagan qualified to participate in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next event, the Virginia NHRA Nationals, where he will face a rematch against Austin Prock.
Hagan is the current track record holder at Bristol for speed with a run of 330.34 mph, a mark he set on Oct. 16, 2021.
Hagan and Stewart represented Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage (JHG) this weekend in Bristol. JHG was formed in 2021 and brings a passion and flare to the automotive world. They aim to inspire, drive and celebrate progress. JHG spans across Jason Johnson’s car collection featuring more than 200 sought after vehicles from classics, to hot rods and supercars. Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage’s mission is to preserve and showcase the automotive industry. The vehicles are driven to and displayed at events by Johnson and his team with the goal of growing interest and keeping car culture thriving. Johnson’s history in the industry began with Mather Auto Dismantler, Mather Mini Trucks and U-Pull It in Northern California. He later held an instrumental role in the growth and success of Copart, Inc., a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. JHG also serves as a primary sponsor of Elite Motorsports in the NHRA Pro Stock series.
Tony Stewart, Driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster
“Moral of the story, it’s just a frustrating weekend, honestly. Track conditions were tough. We are getting into the summer months, where we are going to have hot and challenging racetracks. I felt really good leaving Epping and was excited about coming here. We just couldn’t execute this weekend. We never really got the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage car in a happy place, where we felt like we could start pressing and moving the needle. We are struggling to find what this car wants right now. It is frustrating for all of us, especially Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief), Mike (Domagala – co-crew chief) and Ryan (McGilvry – car chief). It’s tough for the whole team, myself included. We just have to put it behind us. There’s nothing we can do to fix it. All we can do is focus on Richmond in a couple of weeks, then Norwalk and the Western swing. We will keep our heads to the ground and keep grinding away at it.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“It was a tricky weekend with a tricky racetrack. To see Dickie (Venables – crew chief) navigate it the way he did, I was pretty impressed. Obviously, lane choice was a big thing out there. We didn’t have it in the Semifinals. There was a car in a different class that had an oil-down before we ran in the left lane, so that really stunk. NHRA did a great job getting the lane ready to go, but we had to pull everything back and hope for the best. They (Austin Prock) ran strong beside us. Overall, I feel we had a pretty good weekend with a tricky track. We still have to get that win for Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, so hopefully we can celebrate in the winner’s circle soon with some American Rebel beer.”
Next Up
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Virginia NHRA Nationals June 21-23 at Virginia Motorsports Park.