TONY STEWART RACING PHOTO
The second annual SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout is an invitation-only race featuring standout drivers from the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock categories.
Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Top Fuel | Funny Car
SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout
Feb. 6-8 | Bradenton, Florida
EVENT OVERVIEW
Thursday, February 6 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on FloRacing.com)
* Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 7:30 p.m. EST
Friday, February 7 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on FloRacing.com)
* Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 12:30 p.m. EST
* Nitro qualifying session (Q3): 4 p.m. EST
* Nitro qualifying session (Q4): 7:30 p.m. EST
Saturday, February 8 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on
FloRacing.com)
* Round 1: 1:45 p.m. EDT
* Round 2: 4 p.m. EDT
* Finals: 7 p.m. EDT
NOTES OF INTEREST
* The second annual SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout is an
invitation-only race featuring standout drivers from the Top Fuel, Funny
Car and Pro Stock categories. It will also feature three Sportsman
racing classes – Top Sportsman, Stock and Super Stock). In
collaboration with the Professional Racers Organization (PRO), Bradenton
Motorsports Park and FloRacing, the event will once again take the
motorsports world by storm with incredible side-by-side racing, a unique
chip draw elimination format, record-setting speeds and a fan-friendly
atmosphere. Tony Stewart Racing [1] (TSR) brings two entries – one in
Top Fuel for Tony Stewart and one in Funny Car for 52-time Funny Car
winner and four-time NHRA champion Matt Hagan.
* Stewart and Hagan enter Bradenton representing Johnson’s
Horsepowered Garage and American Rebel Beer respectively.
* Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage [2] (JHG) is the primary partner of
Stewart this weekend in Bradenton. 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.
* Coming into the PRO Superstar Shootout, Stewart has made 20 career
Top Fuel starts in the NHRA. Hagan has made 352 career NHRA Funny Car
starts.
* Hagan finished the 2024 NHRA season fourth in the Funny Car
standings, while Stewart finished ninth in the Top Fuel championship
standings in his rookie season.
* Hagan secured the No. 6 qualifying position and advanced to the
Finals at the 2024 PRO Superstar Shootout, where his 3.872 ET at 329.75
mph lost to Austin Prock’s 3.845 ET, 332.43 mph run. Stewart’s wife
Leah Pruett piloted the Top Fuel Dragster at last year’s event. She
qualified No. 8 and advanced to the Semifinals, where her 3.741 ET at
328.38 mph lost to Doug Kalitta’s 3.709 ET, 330.63 mph run.
* Following qualifying on Friday night at the PRO Superstar Shootout,
competitors who have qualified for the 8-car field will participate in a
random chip draw to determine who they’ll face in the first round of
eliminations on Saturday.
* Fans can watch the PRO Superstar Shootout live on FloRacing.com.
* Fans can join Hagan and Stewart at a public all-driver autograph
session on Thursday from 5:00-5:30 p.m. EST. Fans can also join Hagan
and Stewart at a Funny Car/Top Fuel autograph session on Friday from
5:30-6:00 p.m.. Both sessions will be located at the SCAG trailer.
* Hagan will participate in a Funny Car driver Q&A on Thursday at 4:30
p.m. EST, prior to the all-driver autograph session.
* Following on-track action on Saturday night, fans can catch a
concert by American Rebel CEO Andy Ross. The concert is free to attend
and will take place near the starting line on the American Rebel Beer
stage.
TONY STEWART, DRIVER OF THE JOHNSON’S HORSEPOWERED GARAGE DODGE//SRT TOP
FUEL DRAGSTER
As a member of the Professional Racers Organization (PRO) board, how
special is this event to you?
“I think it’s exciting because you have teams and drivers that got
together and decided to hold their own race and you know all the work
that everyone has done. There’s a real core group of about three
people that have been really digging in and handling all the details of
the event for PRO. It’s great for all of us to be able to go down and
get our season started off with some testing and then have an event at
the same time and place. The event had such a great feel last year,
I’m really excited about going back. The atmosphere was extremely laid
back. I feel like it’s a great opportunity to get the rust knocked off
from the off-season and get back in the car and doing what we love the
most and that’s being at the racetrack and driving really fast race
cars.”
Once qualified, competitors that have advanced to Saturday’s 8-car
field for eliminations will take part in a random chip draw to determine
who they’ll line up against in Round 1. What level of excitement will
that bring to the event?
“I’ve never been part of a chip draw like that, especially in drag
racing, so I think it adds just a different element to it. It’s
exciting because obviously instead of having the number one qualifier go
up against number eight on Saturday, you don’t know who you will get.
It could be one versus two and it could be seven versus eight run each
other, but that’s the exciting part about the chip draw so it’s a
wildcard factor. It can really change the complexion of a race day.
It’s not something that I think we want to do all the time, but for a
special event like the PRO Superstar Shootout, I think it’s an awesome
element that just adds another level of excitement to it.”
MATT HAGAN, DRIVER OF THE AMERICAN REBEL BEER DODGE//SRT HELLCAT FUNNY
CAR
You advanced to the Finals at last year’s PRO Superstar Shootout. How
excited are you to return to Bradenton Motorsports Park and what are you
looking forward to the most at the event?
“We have a new crew chief and a new guy working on the bottom end of
the race car coming into Bradenton. We’ll view the event as one big
test session to get back into the groove of things and make sure the
guys are a well-oiled machine. It will be nice to make a few runs for
Knud (Mike Knudsen – crew chief) to get comfortable and get our
procedures down on the starting line. It is nothing new since he’s
been tuning the car already and we’ve won a few races with him making
the call. Everything is about routine, so it’ll be good to get that
down. I think we will even test prior to Gainesville, so the more reps
we get in, the more natural things will come.”
American Rebel Beer CEO Andy Ross will be performing a concert on
Saturday at the conclusion of racing. How special will it be having him
a part of the event knowing you’re representing his company on your
Funny Car?
“I’m looking forward to running the American Rebel Beer Funny Car
and having Andy Ross at Bradenton. I’m really pushing hard for Andy to
get their beer up and running and they have a great thing going. We’re
happy to be promoting his brand. They continue to open in more states
and new bars across the country, so it’s been really neat watching
them grow. I’m excited to represent them.”
-TSR-