Charlotte Event Recap for the NHRA Carolina Nationals – Hagan Runner Up

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Top Fuel | Funny Car
NHRA Carolina Nationals
Sept. 20-22 | Charlotte, North Carolina

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the Mahindra Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 10 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.796 ET at 325.69 mph)
• Fell to No. 13 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Stewart ran a 4.164 ET at 203.55 mph.
• Fell to No. 14 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.801 ET at 326.08 mph.
• Secured No. 14 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.797 ET at 329.18 mph.
• Eliminated following Round 1 on Sunday:
• Round 1: 4.299 ET at 220.48 mph, lost to Doug Kalitta (3.894 ET at 306.67 mph)
• Currently eighth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 174 points behind leader Antron Brown
Matt Hagan, driver of Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 1 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.865 ET at 331.94 mph)
• Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session
• Maintained No. 1 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.832 ET at 333.25 mph)
• Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session
• Maintained No. 1 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.532 ET at 187.63 mph.
• Secured No. 1 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.158 ET at 234.86 mph.
• Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.976 ET at 320.97 mph, defeated Dave Richards (4.095 ET at 305.36 mph)
• Round 2: 3.978 ET at 318.77 mph in a bye
• Semifinals: 4.002 ET at 316.38 mph, defeated Bob Tasca III (4.009 ET at 319.60 mph)
• Finals: 3.958 ET at 324.98 mph, lost to Austin Prock (3.924 ET at 326.48 mph)
• Currently fourth in the Funny Car championship standings, 153 points behind leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• Hagan advanced to the Finals in both zMAX Dragway events this season. He has made five final-round appearances at the Carolina Nationals (2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2024).
• Hagan’s No. 1 qualifying position marked his second of the 2024 season, with the 64th NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California being his first No. 1 start of the season. This weekend’s No. 1 qualifier marks Hagan’s second at the Carolina Nationals (previous No. 1 start came in 2011).
• Stewart and Doug Kalitta were selected as the Round 1 Marquee Matchup. The pair have motorsports history outside of the NHRA, having competed against each other in the past in sprint cars. Kalitta won the 1994 USAC sprint car championship and Stewart finished 10th that same year.
• Stewart represented Mahindra at the NHRA Carolina Nationals. Mahindra will be celebrating 30 years of business at the start of October.

Tony Stewart, Driver of the Mahindra Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster

“This just wasn’t our weekend at all. We qualified 14th and the car just didn’t make it down the track during the money run on Friday night. It was on pace to be a top-five run and it didn’t make it. We just missed things. It wasn’t what cost us the first round loss today, but we had a very uncommon error that was made today. We addressed it, but there are human beings that touch these things and sometimes mistakes are made. We are One Team, All Team and all of the guys rallied around what happened. We have each other‘s backs. It’s not the way we wanted to leave Charlotte, especially with having so many friends, NASCAR team members and former teammates out here. We wanted to have a good showing in front of all those people, and it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“It was a good weekend for JHG. We were trying really, really hard to get that guy (Jason Johnson) a win. Jason has been a loyal supporter of mine over the past few years and especially at TSR. The win is coming, it’s just a matter of time with how hard this group works behind the scenes. I would have liked to have pulled the car in the winner’s circle, but we will get there. Overall, it was a good, healing moment for our guys. It’s been a minute since we had an opportunity to try and win one. I’m proud of my guys. They put a great race car underneath me. The car is responding to what they are asking it to do. It looks like we have a hot rod, so we will roll into St. Louis and see what we can do there.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Midwest Nationals Sept. 27-29 near St. Louis, Missouri. It is the third event in the Countdown to the Championship and the fourth-to-last race of the season.

-TSR-

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