Charlotte Advance for the NHRA Four-Wide Carolina Nationals

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
NHRA Four-Wide Carolina Nationals
Sept. 19-21 | Charlotte, North Carolina

Event Overview

Friday, Sept. 19 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
• Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 4:45 p.m. EDT
• Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 7 p.m. EDT

Saturday, Sept. 20 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
• Nitro qualifying session (Q3): 12:30 p.m. EDT
• Nitro qualifying session (Q4): 3 p.m. EDT

Sunday, Sept. 21 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
• Round 1: 11:30 a.m. EDT
• Round 2: 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Finals: 3:20 p.m. EDT

TV coverage on FS1
• Sunday, Sept. 21: Qualifying show recapping Friday and Saturday’s action (10 a.m. EDT)
• Sunday, Sept. 21: Finals show (12 p.m. EDT)

Notes of Interest

• The NHRA Four-Wide Carolina Nationals near Charlotte, North Carolina, is the 16th race on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ 20-race schedule and it serves as the second race in the six-race Countdown to the Championship. Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) drivers Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan are eyeing a title run in their respective Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions. This year’s Countdown marks Stewart’s second appearance in the NHRA postseason and Hagan’s 13th consecutive appearance.

• Stewart is currently second in the Top Fuel standings heading into the second round of Countdown, 18 points behind leader Doug Kalitta. Hagan is fifth in the Funny Car standings, 55 points behind leader Austin Prock.

• Direct Connection is the primary partner of Stewart and Hagan this weekend in Charlotte. 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.

• Stewart and Hagan competed at Charlotte April 25-27 in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Stewart secured the No. 8 qualifying position after four qualifying sessions, and advanced to the Finals on Sunday, where he finished third behind Shawn Langdon and Justin Ashley. Antron Brown finished fourth. Hagan secured the No. 8 qualifying position at the Four-Wide Nationals and advanced to the Finals. Hagan finished third behind Austin Prock and Ron Capps. Alexis DeJoria finished fourth.

• 2025 marks the first time the NHRA has held four-wide events at Charlotte in both the Spring and Fall events.

• The Four-Wide Carolina Nationals will serve as Stewart’s 36th career Top Fuel start. It’ll be his fourth overall start at Charlotte and his second in the Carolina Nationals. For Hagan, the Carolina Nationals will be his 368th career Funny Car start. It’ll be his 32nd overall start at Charlotte and his 17th in the Carolina Nationals.

• Stewart is seeking his first victory in the Four-Wide Carolina Nationals, as well as his first No. 1 qualifier at the event. In 2024, Stewart secured the No. 14 qualifying position and his 4.299 ET at 220.48 mph lost to Doug Kalitta’s 3.894 ET at 306.67 mph in Round 1 of eliminations.

• Converting the Carolina Nationals to the four-wide format could prove fortuitous for Tony considering the success he has had in such events. Although he has yet to win a four-wide race at Charlotte, he won his very first drag race on April 16, 2023 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he prevailed in Top Alcohol Dragster in the four-wide event at that facility. Two years later, on April 13, 2025, he won his first Top Fuel trophy in the same event on the same track. Earlier this year, he reached the final quad at the spring four-wide at Charlotte. In his first appearance in the Carolina Nationals last September, he qualified 14th but was ousted in round one.

• Hagan has four career wins at Charlotte – two in the Carolina Nationals and two in the Four-Wide Nationals. His Carolina Nationals wins came in 2011 and 2014 while his Four-Wide triumphs were earned in 2013 and 2024. In his first Carolina Nationals win on Sept. 18, 2011, Hagan’s 4.130 ET at 301.06 mph defeated Mike Neff’s 4.431 ET at 202.79 mph. Hagan scored his second Carolina Nationals win on Sept. 20, 2014 when he defeated John Force. Hagan ran a 4.212 ET at 297.81 mph while Force fouled at the start, negating his run of 4.140 ET at 309.77 mph.

• Hagan has two No. 1 qualifiers at the Carolina Nationals, which came in 2011 (3.995 ET at 316.23 mph) and 2024 (3.832 ET at 333.25 mph).

• In four-wide racing, Hagan has won more quads (22) and advanced to more final quads (15) than any other driver, regardless of category, and his three wins (two a zMAX Dragway and one at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) are the most by an active Funny Car driver (John Force and Robert Hight also have three wins). Overall, he’s won four times at zMAX Dragway. At only two tracks has he won more often – Pomona (7 times) and Dallas (5 times).

• Hagan was the first Funny Car driver to break the four-second barrier when he completed a run of 3.995 seconds in 2011 at Charlotte. His milestone run was commemorated with a sign on the retaining wall near the starting line.

• The Mopar CAP (Career Automotive Program) will be partnering with TSR on Friday for the fourth of seven events this season. CAP consists of strategic alliances between Stellantis and over 100 colleges and trade schools teaching technical curriculum integrated into the school’s general automotive program, so that students can become certified Stellantis technicians.

• Leah Pruett will be available to speak with the media in the zMAX Dragway Media Center on Friday from 2:00-2:30 p.m. EDT. It was recently announced that Pruett will be returning to Top Fuel competition in 2026 after stepping out the last two seasons to start a family with Stewart.

Tony Stewart, Driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster

The NHRA will be competing in a four-wide event for the first time during the Countdown at Charlotte. What dynamic will that bring to the fight for the Championship?
“Charlotte is going to be an interesting weekend. It’ll be the first time we’ve had a four-wide event in the Countdown. We’ll have to bring out a backup car. It’s a car that’s ran before, so Monday we tested with Leah behind the wheel just to make sure all the systems ran correctly. It’s an unfortunate situation, but I have a lot of confidence in PBRC (Precision Built Race Cars). They build our chassis, so going from one car to another is no drama. They build very repeatable cars, so that’s a strength for us to have that second car in the bullpen. You hate to have to get it out in the Countdown, but it’s the cards we were dealt and I have the confidence the car will be just as good as the one we crashed last weekend in Reading. Doug (Kalitta) gained points on us last weekend, but we have a chance in Charlotte to win another four-wide event like we did in Last Vegas. I love the four-wides, so if we have a race to rebound, this is the one to do it at.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

The NHRA will be competing in a four-wide event for the first time during the Countdown at Charlotte. What dynamic will that bring to the fight for the Championship?
“The four-wide events create their own challenges because you can’t see when the other two cars leave the starting line. In the Countdown, you have to go to the end. Whether your car has a hole out or it’s on fire, you have to go to the end. The racing is risky, but we’ll be pushing everything to the limit. We’ll have one less round of racing, so everything will count. We stayed over in Reading to test, so that gave us a better idea of where the car is at heading into Charlotte.”
 
-TSR-

Contact Ashley Wilson
Tony Stewart Racing
(303) 594-8147 or [email protected]