Tony Stewart – NHRA Photo
Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
71st Annual NHRA U.S. Nationals
Aug. 27-Sept. 1 | Indianapolis
EVENT RECAP
Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel
Dragster:
* Earned No. 10 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.744
ET at 328.78 mph)
* Maintained No. 10 provisional qualifying position based off of
Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 6.858 ET at 95.54
mph.
* Maintained No. 10 provisional qualifying position based off of
Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 5.776 ET at 119.36
mph.
* Maintained No. 10 provisional qualifying position based off of
Friday’s Q1 run. In Q4 on Sunday, Stewart ran a 3.778 ET at 330.47
mph.
* Secured No. 10 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run.
In Q5 on Sunday, Stewart ran a 4.865 ET at 149.40 mph.
* Advanced to the Finals on Monday:
* Round 1: 3.716 ET at 334.65 mph, defeated Steve Torrence (3.741 ET
at 331.20 mph)
* Round 2: 3.802 ET at 328.06 mph, defeated Kyle Wurtzel (4.454 ET at
177.65 mph)
* Semifinals: 3.837 ET at 325.85 mph, defeated Jasmine Salinas (10.754
ET at 73.87 mph)
* Finals: 3.815 ET at 321.88 mph, lost to Justin Ashley (3.839 ET at
326.16 mph)
* Currently leading the Top Fuel standings heading into the
Countdown to the Championship (there will be a points reset for the
Countdown to the Championship). Stewart won the Regular Season
Championship by 39 points over Shawn Langdon (Stewart – 1,138, Langdon
– 1,099).
Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny
Car:
* Earned No. 4 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.893
ET at 330.88 mph)
* Maintained No. 4 provisional qualifying position based off of
Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.958 ET at 329.42
mph.
* Maintained No. 4 provisional qualifying position based off of
Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.312 ET at 218.62
mph.
* The PlayNHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout served as Round 4 of
qualifying, where Hagan maintained the No. 4 provisional qualifying
position. Hagan ran a 3.931 ET at 328.62 mph, defeating J.R. Todd (9.289
ET at 80.77 mph).
* Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session
* In the PlayNHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout Semifinal, which did not
serve as Round 5 of qualifying, Hagan ran 3.965 ET at 330.07 mph, losing
to Austin Prock’s 3.910 ET at 333.66 mph.
* Secured No. 5 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In
Q5 on Sunday, Hagan ran a 4.968 ET at 154.55 mph.
* Advanced to the Round 2 on Monday:
* Round 1: 3.887 ET at 334.73 mph, defeated Cruz Pedregon (3.912 ET at
309.34 mph)
* Round 2: 5.936 ET at 146.80 mph, lost to Alexis DeJoria (3.935 ET at
331.85 mph)
* Currently third heading into the Countdown to the Championship,
behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock (there will be a points reset for
the Countdown to the Championship)
NOTES OF INTEREST
* Stewart clinched the 2025 NHRA Regular Season Championship. He
entered race day third in the Top Fuel point standings behind Shawn
Langdon and Doug Kalitta. Stewart became the Regular Season Champion
following his Round 2 win over Kyle Wurtzel, due to points leader Shawn
Langdon losing in Round 1 and second-place Doug Kalitta losing in Round
2.
* Stewart advanced to the Finals in his second NHRA U.S. Nationals
appearance. His previous best was a Semifinal appearance in 2024, where
he lost to Steve Torrence. The Indiana native has a long history of
racing in Indianapolis, having competed at the Indianapolis Raceway Park
(IRP) oval and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in IndyCar and NASCAR.
Stewart won NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 in 2005 and 2007.
* Hagan earned the 2025 overall #2Fast2Tasty championship, having
collected 16 Mission Foods points in 2025. Those points will be added to
the reset heading into the start of the Countdown to the Championship at
Maple Grove Raceway.
* Hagan has advanced to the Countdown to the Championship for the 13th
consecutive year.
* Hagan is the track record holder at Indianapolis in both time and
speed (3.799 seconds, 338.77 mph), which he set on Friday, Sept. 1,
2017. The 3.799-second mark is a personal best and it made Hagan just
the second Funny Car driver to break the 3.800 second barrier.
TONY STEWART, DRIVER OF THE TSR DODGE//SRT DIRECT CONNECTION TOP FUEL
DRAGSTER
“I was not happy on Saturday after the second run, but it got way
better after that. It’s all about the crew chiefs (Neal Strausbaugh
and Mike Domagala) and what we were missing. Once they found it and put
it all back, the car was responding like it was earlier in the year when
we were clicking rounds off. It is hard not to be disappointed when you
have the quickest car in the final and didn’t turn on the win light.
Justin (Ashley) is just tough. I had a good light (0.053) and he had a
great light (0.027). It’s hard to hang your head after that. We all
have to figure out what he is doing and how he is doing it. There is a
reason that he is number one in the class on reaction times. We just
have to do our work and get better in the category. Looking back at
Saturday, I would not have predicted that we would get to the U.S.
Nationals final round. Winning the Top Fuel Regular Season Championship
is massive for us in my eyes. It took 14 weeks to win a regular season
championship, and it took four good rounds to win today. I’m not
taking away from this race by any means. There was nothing I wanted more
than to win the final round and take the U.S. Nationals trophy. I’m
extremely proud of what we did for 14 weeks to win the regular season
championship. I think there are things this weekend that we hit on for
the ‘Countdown.’ We realized what we were missing on the last few
races. I feel that we are in as good of a spot as we can be for the next
six races. We just need to execute in these next six races. Every round
of qualifying is going to matter. I have been involved in so many points
championships in so many different series that anytime there are points
available, you need to score as many as possible. The bonus points for
the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty events will be very important. It always
comes down to the end of the year. Matt (Hagan) won the Funny Car title
in 2023 in the final Pomona round. Leah (Pruett) and Doug (Kalitta) went
right down to the final Top Fuel race of the year. We are getting ready
for that final push now.”
MATT HAGAN, DRIVER OF THE TSR DIRECT CONNECTION DODGE//SRT HELLCAT FUNNY
CAR
“It was a long week at Indy, and we were testing here last week too.
We gave it a valiant effort this week. I’m super proud of Tony, Leah
and guys to win the Top Fuel Regular Season Championship. They picked up
$150,000 for the title. I’m happy for Dodge, Direct Connection,
Rinnai, American Rebel Beer, JHG and our other sponsors. It’s a team
effort on both sides here at TSR. Our Funny Car team got the Mission
#2Fast2Tasty Season Funny Car Championship too on Sunday. I really love
that ‘Taco Tussle’ during the qualifying rounds. It’s exciting for
the fans too. It’s been a while since I won Indy (2016) and it is
going to be another year now. We had a couple of hundred more horsepower
that we expected for that run. I don’t know if it was a tune-up
situation or the track just got hotter. It’s nice to have more
horsepower, but it’s just how you use it. It’s a nitro car and
it’s always unpredictable with a 12,000-horsepower monster. The
regular season is over, and we’ll reset everything for the next six
races. We have been running better in qualifying, and we can be
consistent in eliminations too. The win at Seattle showed that. I’m
very proud of our TSR Direct Connection crew and I’m anxious to see
what we can do in the next six races. I know we’ll be ready to go at
Reading.”
NEXT UP
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is
the 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish Sept. 11-14 at
Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. It is the first race in
the six-race Countdown to the Championship, where the top-10 drivers in
each of the four professional categories – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro
Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – vie for the title in their respective
divisions.
-TSR-