Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Event Recap

Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

April 29 – May 1 | Charlotte, North Carolina

Event Recap

Leah Pruett, driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster:

●  Earned No. 4 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.730 ET at 319.29 mph).

●  Earned No. 2 qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.686 ET at 327.51 mph).

●  Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session.

●  Maintained No. 2 qualifying position from Q2. Pruett’s Q3 run on Saturday was a 3.773 ET at 326.40 mph.

●  Secured No. 2 qualifying position based off Q2 run on Friday. In Q4 on Saturday, Pruett ran a 3.734 ET at 329.10 mph. 

●  Round 1: 3.741 ET at 323.89 mph, lost to Brittany Force (3.732 ET at 329.67 mph) and Spencer Massey (3.749 ET at 323.27 mph). Tony Schumacher (3.753 ET, 320.89 mph) was also defeated by Force and Massey.

●  Currently 13^th in the Top Fuel championship standings, 268 points behind points leader Force. 

Matt Hagan, driver of the Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car:

●  Earned No. 4 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.890 ET at 329.42 mph).

●  Earned No. 2 qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.867 ET at 330.55 mph).

●  Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session.

●  Maintained No. 2 qualifying position from Q2. Hagan’s Q3 run on Saturday was a 7.052 ET at 96.43 mph.

●  Secured No. 2 qualifying position based off Q2 run on Friday. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.921 ET at 328.70 mph. 

●  Scored one bonus point for third-quickest run of the session.

●  Advanced to Round 2 on Sunday:

    ●  Round 1: 3.895 ET at 331.69 mph, defeated Blake Alexander (5.652 ET at 127.04 mph) and Paul Lee (13.325 ET at 62.51 mph). Mike McIntire Jr., also advanced to Round 2 (3.966 ET at 316.01 mph).     

●  Round 2: 8.168 ET at 91.59 mph, lost to Ron Capps (3.954 ET at 323.89 mph) and Mike McIntire Jr. (4.031 ET at 312.64 mph). J.R. Todd was also defeated in Round 2 (10.389 ET at 89.36 mph). 

●  Currently leads the Funny Car championship standings with a 22-point advantage over Robert Hight.

Notes of Interest

●  Hagan was selected as the NHRA’s Funny Car “Marquee Matchup” for Round 1 of eliminations against Alexander, Lee and McIntire.

●  Pruett’s No. 2 qualifying position was her highest start through the first six events of 2022. 

●  Pruett was selected as the NHRA’s Top Fuel “Marquee Matchup” for Round 1 of eliminations against Force, Massey and Schumacher. 

●  Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) hosted nearly 400 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) guests throughout the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. SHR is the NASCAR team Stewart co-owns with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas. SHR is just nine miles north of the track in Kannapolis, North Carolina. 

●  Hagan will make his milestone 300^th career Funny Car start in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ next event May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Leah Pruett, Driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster

“I think determination is our key factor here. Having five plain runs down the track and chipping away at it, we are a product of the short end of the stick of a really good race. We missed it by just a couple thousandths to advance. Going into Richmond, we will take a lot away from this weekend from the warm track to our warmup and setup. I started out really hitting the tree well in qualifying. As I tried to work on it, I actually graduated the other way. I didn’t have the peak performance that I wanted on Sunday, but it was almost enough to get the job done. I will be right back on my Christmas tree every day and we will be making sure all eight of our Mopar cylinders are lit. The execution of this team has been impeccable, and that’s why we have the consistency that we have. We will continue that and look forward. My consolation prize is that I get to spend a lot of time with the fans here in Charlotte. In between this weekend and Richmond, we’re working on a spare car, so a lot is happening between now and then.” 

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“I’m glad the four-wides are behind us. I would’ve loved to have won it, but it’s a chaotic event. It’s a great show for the fans, but what we normally do is repetition, doing the same thing every time. Swapping lanes, trying to figure out who did what, who to pick and who did what is a lot going on. At the end of the day, we still leave here with the points lead. We’ve gone some rounds, we’ve been qualifying well, and the car is running good. There will be peaks and valleys with drag racing, that’s just part of it. There will be a lot of highs and a lot of lows and a little in between. I would’ve loved to have won for Shelor Motor Mile and my family’s company. Maybe we will get them in Richmond. I’m looking forward to crawling back in a racecar and keep what we’re doing going.” 

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule is the Virginia NHRA Nationals May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond.