Information By: ASHLEY WILSON / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN
Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
NHRA Northwest Nationals
July 19-21 | Kent, Washington
Event Overview
Friday, July 19 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 4:30 p.m. PDT/7:30 p.m. EDT
Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 9:15 p.m. PDT/12:15 a.m. EDT
Saturday, July 20 (Nitro Qualifying & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
Top Fuel qualifying session (Q3) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge – Round 1: 2:30 p.m. PDT/5:30 p.m. EDT
Funny Car qualifying session (Q3) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge – Round 1: 3 p.m. PDT/6 p.m. EDT
Top Fuel qualifying session (Q4) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge – Finals: 4:45 p.m. PDT/7:45 p.m. EDT
Funny Car qualifying session (Q4) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge – Finals: 5:15 p.m. PDT/8:15 p.m. EDT
Sunday, July 21 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
Round 1: 10:30 a.m. PDT/1:30 p.m. EDT
Round 2: 12:30 p.m. PDT/3:30 p.m. EDT
Semi-Finals: 2:10 p.m. PDT/5:10 p.m. EDT
Finals: 3:35 p.m. PDT/6:35 p.m. EDT
TV coverage
Friday, July 19: Qualifying show (7:30 p.m. PDT/10:30 p.m. EDT on FS1)
Sunday, July 21: Qualifying show recapping Saturday’s action (10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT on FS1)
Sunday, July 21: Finals show (1 p.m. PDT/4 p.m. EDT on FOX)
Notes of Interest
The NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington, marks the first stop of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ two-week long Western Swing. The DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway will follow Seattle July 26-28. The NHRA Northwest Nationals is the 11th event on the NHRA’s 20-race calendar.
Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) brings its two fulltime entries – one in Top Fuel for Top Fuel rookie Tony Stewart and one in Funny Car for 51-time Funny Car winner and four-time champion Matt Hagan.
Coming into Seattle, Stewart is currently ninth in the Top Fuel standings, 365 points behind leader Doug Kalitta. Hagan is currently third in the Funny Car standings, 181 points behind leader Austin Prock.
Direct Connection is the primary partner of Stewart and Hagan this weekend in Seattle. With muscle car enthusiasts looking for “ready to run” parts, Direct Connection serves as the source for high-performance parts and technical expertise straight from the factory.
The NHRA Northwest Nationals will serve as Stewart’s 11th career Top Fuel start and his first at Pacific Raceways. For Hagan, this will be his 343rd career Funny Car start and his 14th at the track.
Stewart is eyeing his first victory in the NHRA Northwest Nationals, as well as his first No. 1 qualifier at the event.
Hagan won the NHRA Northwest Nationals in 2013. His 4.171 ET at 294.75 mph run defeated Bob Tasca III (5.324 ET at 164.81 mph). Hagan also has one No. 1 qualifier at the event, which came in 2018 (3.913 ET at 324.75 mph).
Hagan’s crew chief, Dickie Venables, earned his first career victory as a solo crew chief at Pacific Raceways in 2002 with John Force Racing and driver Tony Pedregon, when the crew chief of record, John Medlen, was sidelined with medical issues and was unable to make the trip.
The NHRA has added a fourth qualifying session at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, for fans to get a special opportunity to watch nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel Dragsters make a pass under the lights Friday night. As part of the evening, drivers will be participating in a Power Hour autograph session in the pits at the ropes from 6:15-7:15 p.m. PDT.
By advancing to the Semifinals at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Hagan qualified to participate in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, where he will face a rematch against Ron Capps.
Hagan will participate in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge autograph session on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PDT, which will take place at the Mission Foods tent in the pits.
Pruett and Stewart will participate in a Fan Fest autograph session on Thursday from 6:00-7:00 p.m. PDT at the Dave & Busters at The Outlet Collection (1101 Outlet Collection Dr. SW, Auburn, WA 98001).
On Friday between 6:15-7:15 p.m. PDT, various drivers, including Hagan, will participate in a NHRA dunk tank next to the Nitro Alley stage in the pits. Fans will be able to purchase between one to three throws to try and dunk a driver. The proceeds will be going to DRAW (Drag Racing Association of Women). DRAW provides financial and emotional support to individuals injured in drag racing accidents.
Tony Stewart, Driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster
Seattle is the first race of the two-race Western Swing and starts the second half of the season. Going into this race what are the short-term and long-term goals with four races remaining in the regular season until the Countdown?
“We’re just trying to keep building off the momentum that we’ve had the last couple weekends, even though we don’t have the results to show for it. It’s a work in progress and I’m still learning as a driver. Our team is still trying to figure out how to work around the variables that we seem to be fighting this year, so it’s just a work in progress. We don’t have a lot of time left before the playoffs to get where we need to be, so we’re pushing really hard. We tested to try to work on some things, so we’ve been working really hard.”
The NHRA has added a Friday night qualifying session for the fans, which will be the first night run under the lights at Pacific Raceways. Talk about the special atmosphere that creates for the fans.
“I’m excited for the West Coast swing. I haven’t even been to Seattle yet, which I’m looking forward to. I’m excited that the promoters were willing to do a fourth run and do a night session on Friday for the fans, so I’m really proud and happy to be a part of that. Going to Sonoma after Seattle will be great. It’s a place that I’ve had a lot of success and is one of my favorite racetracks. It will be a pretty neat weekend having had the opportunity run the road course in the past and now the dragstrip, so I’m excited for it.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Seattle is the first race of the two-race Western Swing and starts the second half of the season. Going into this race what are the short-term and long-term goals with four races remaining in the regular season until the Countdown?
“I think we need to use these next four races to really get our car dialed in and develop a bit more consistency. I’m confident we can do that before the Countdown starts. Once the Countdown gets here, I think you need to win two or three of those six races to be a contender for the championship again. We won two races last year in the Countdown and it still came down to the very last race for all three of us. I think these next couple races are super important to keep us on the path we want to be on. There are still a couple things we’re trying to work through, so hopefully the testing we have coming up will help with that also.”
The NHRA has added a Friday night qualifying session for the fans, which will be the first night run under the lights at Pacific Raceways. Talk about the special atmosphere that creates for the fans.
“It’s always awesome whenever we get to run under the lights. I wish we had more races at night because it makes for great conditions and it’s an awesome show for our fans. Any time fans get to see six foot flames coming out of the car at 300 miles per hour, it’s a really neat show.”