Information By: ASHLEY WILSON / TONY STEWART RACING – NORWALK, OH
Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
June 28-30 | Norwalk, Ohio
Event Recap
Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
- Earned No. 18 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (5.280 ET at 130.59 mph)
- Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.748 ET at 322.65 mph)
- Fell to No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.752 ET at 326.87 mph. Stewart faced Doug Kalitta in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Kalitta’s 3.709 ET, 334.90 mph run defeated Stewart.
- Secured No. 5 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.729 ET at 325.85 mph)
- Ran a 3.769 ET at 324.75 mph in Round 1 of eliminations on Sunday, lost to Jasmine Salinas (3.750 ET at 329.34 mph)
- Currently ninth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 365 points behind Top Fuel leader Doug Kalitta
Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
- Earned No. 4 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.947 ET at 323.12 mph)
- Fell to No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.931 ET at 328.22 mph)
- Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.903 ET at 322.50 mph). Hagan faced Austin Prock in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Prock’s 3.878 ET, 330.55 mph run defeated Hagan.
- Secured No. 6 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.884 ET at 322.73 mph)
- Advanced to the Semifinals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.914 ET at 325.06 mph, defeated Cruz Pedregon (3.999 ET at 327.03 mph)
- Round 2: 3.900 ET at 327.82 mph, defeated Blake Alexander (3.951 ET at 321.88 mph)
- Semifinals: 7.730 ET at 120.25 mph, lost to Ron Capps (3.910 ET at 330.80 mph)
- Currently third in the Funny Car championship standings, 181 points behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock
Notes of Interest
In the first 10 races of the season, Hagan has advanced to the Semifinals three times and has advanced to the Finals four times, collecting two wins in Charlotte and Chicago.
By advancing to the Semifinals, Hagan qualified to participate in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series event, the NHRA Northwest Nationals, where he will face a rematch against Ron Capps.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals marked Stewart’s second straight race qualifying in the top-half of the field (PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals outside Richmond was the previous event).
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals marked a quasi-home race for Dodge, with their headquarters located 150 miles north of Norwalk in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Following Norwalk, teams will prepare to head west for the Western Swing in Seattle and Sonoma. Hagan and Stewart will both be running their Dodge Direct Connection schemes in Seattle, with Hagan representing Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage in Sonoma and Stewart representing Rinnai.
Tony Stewart, Driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster
“I was really proud of the guys with weather expected on Saturday, we knew Friday was really important. We had cylinders that went out in the first run, so they had to shut me off. In the second session, it was very legitimate that it could have set the field. We were at the back of the field and had to post a good time and were able to do that moving up to fifth. On Saturday, we had two good runs. The track got better and faster, so we bumped ourselves back up to fifth at the end of the day. I was proud of our qualifying effort. We’ve qualified inside the top five the last two events (third in Richmond), so I’m proud of that. We just need a little luck to go our way and we need to smooth some edges out I our program on race day. We had a mistake that cost us some speed today in our run. We have potential, we just have to put it all together. There are some loose ends we have to tie up. It felt very weird this weekend not having the G.O.A.T. (John Force) with us. We are still thinking about John and their whole family. It’s a tough time for them and to not be at the track when you’re supposed to be at the track, it’s a hard feeling. It was great the team had the cars here and Austin (Prock) continued to race. I know John would want that. I’m glad John is plugging away. He’s a tough guy and doesn’t have any quit in him.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“It’s always great to have the Dodge family out here. Mark Whitney brought some interns and his family out, which was great. We’ve advanced to the Semifinals the last three races in a row and have some momentum going into the Western Swing in a couple weeks. It will be nice to get a little break. I get to take my kids to the beach, so I can’t wait to watch them play in the sand and water and work on my tan. We’re praying for John Force. It’s just not the same out here without that guy. It was great news today to hear he had opened his eyes and was talking and knew who he and who the girls are. We’re thinking a lot about him. He’s a big part of drag racing out here. When you think about things like that, it keeps everything in perspective about how little it matters to lose a round. I know everyone is working towards making these cars even safer. We get to represent Dodge again in Seattle. We have one win there, so I’m looking forward to hopefully making it to the Finals and getting another win. We’ll keep working at it.”
Next Up
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Northwest Nationals July 19-21 at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington.