TONY STEWART RACING PHOTO
Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
* Q1 on Friday was canceled due to a shortened day with weather
* The second qualifying session on Friday was canceled due to rain
* Q3 on Saturday was canceled due to a shortened day with weather
* The second qualifying session on Saturday was canceled due to rain.
With the cancelation of qualifying, the ladder was set based upon
championship points standings coming into the event, which had Stewart
qualify in the No. 5 position.
* Eliminations at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals were canceled due to
adverse weather and unsafe track conditions.
* Finished fifth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 243 points
behind champion Doug Kalitta
Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
* Q1 on Friday was canceled due to a shortened day with weather
* The second qualifying session on Friday was canceled due to rain
* Q3 on Saturday was canceled due to a shortened day with weather
* The second qualifying session on Saturday was canceled due to rain.
With the cancelation of qualifying, the ladder was set based upon
championship points standings coming into the event, which had Stewart
qualify in the No. 5 position.
* Eliminations at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals were canceled due to
adverse weather and unsafe track conditions.
* Finished second in the Funny Car championship standings, 101
points behind champion Austin Prock
NOTES OF INTEREST
* Hagan has now won at least three tour events in 13 consecutive
seasons, which is the longest active streak in the sport and the second
longest in history (John Force won three or more events in 18 straight
seasons from 1990 through 2007). Hagan’s 2025 wins came at the NHRA
Northwest Nationals in Kent, Washington, the NHRA Midwest Nationals in
St. Louis, and the NHRA Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas.
* Hagan entered the season finale with 18 wins in Countdown races, the
most among Funny Car drivers and second most overall behind only Pro
Stock veteran Greg Anderson (19).
* Hagan earned Tony Stewart Racing’s first Funny Car championship at
the 2023 In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. It marked Hagan’s fourth Funny
Car championship, where he became just the fourth Funny Car driver to
win as many as four championships after John Force, Kenny Bernstein and
Don Prudhomme. Hagan will remain in search of his fifth World
Championship.
* The In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals concludes Stewart’s second season
in the Top Fuel Dragster class. Next year, Leah Pruett returns to the
TSR Top Fuel Dragster after stepping aside to start a family with
Stewart. Stewart will move to the Elite Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster
seat.
* Pruett and Stewart’s son Dominic James Stewart celebrated his
first birthday at the NHRA Finals. Dom was born one year ago on race day
at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
TONY STEWART, DRIVER OF THE TSR DODGE//SRT DIRECT CONNECTION TOP FUEL
DRAGSTER
“There is one thing that is undefeated in this world and that’s
Mother Nature. It’s unfortunate, but it is the right decision. I
don’t think you are going to hear anyone in the pit area get upset
about this call. This is one that is out of our control, and, as racers,
we always want to be in control of everything. Hey, at least Dominic had
a great first birthday party. Every time that I want to be disappointed
in how the Countdown went, I have to remind myself of what the goal was
this year. It was literally to see the needle move in the right
direction with the team. At the end, we were a contender to win races,
and we let a couple slip through the cracks. But we won two races and
the regular season championship. It definitely checked the right box to
see the needle move in the right direction. An Indy win would have been
nice, but there was a bigger prize with the regular season points title
there. You look back on the season, and it could have been a little
better. But you look at Matt’s (Hagan) side with the Funny Car, and to
have a whole new crew chief combination with Mike (Knudsen) and Phil
(Shuler), and to see those guys perform well and be in a position to win
a championship. It was a long shot, but they were right there. That is
literally all you can ask for. I think everyone is excited to have Leah
(Pruett) back in the TSR Top Fuel car and I’m excited to get the
opportunity to race against her next year. We are excited for the 2026
season.”
MATT HAGAN, DRIVER OF THE TSR DIRECT CONNECTION DODGE//SRT HELLCAT FUNNY
CAR
“As a competitor, you want to run this thing out, but I think we just
wanted our shot to go for the championship. We wanted to fight for the
championship that we have been working towards all year long. The end
result was they (Austin Prock) were three rounds ahead of us. The NHRA
came to our team owner, our marketing partners, and the crew and asked
what we wanted to do today. The decision was made across the board that
this was the proper decision with the weather. It was best for safety
with the sand trap full of water and it definitely stings. You come here
to Pomona as a competitor, and you want to have a shot at the title. We
just ask for that opportunity and we had that. Mother Nature didn’t
give us that chance this weekend. It would be awful to see someone go
out and crash a car or get hurt. It just wasn’t meant to be. But,
overall, for our new crew chief (Mike Knudsen) to have to call all of
the shots and at all of the races and his note pad was all new at all of
the racetracks. Mike had to make those ‘gut’ decisions and to win
three races and finish second in the championship was a great season.
I’m super proud of all of my crew guys as they are wrenching on the
car and the car was solid all year. The whole crew is coming back for
2026 and I’m very excited about that. I know what we just did as a
first-year team and I’m very excited for the future.”
NEXT UP
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season kicks off March
5-8 with the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.