Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals Advance

Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals

Sept. 2-5 | Indianapolis 

Event Overview

Friday, Sept. 2 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 7:30 p.m. EDT

Saturday, Sept. 3 (Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout and Funny Car Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Nitro qualifying session (All Top Fuel entries not in the Callout): 2:15 p.m. EDT
• Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout – Semi-Finals: 2:40 p.m. EDT  
• Nitro qualifying session (Funny Car): 2:45 p.m. EDT
• Nitro qualifying session (All Top Fuel entries not in the Callout): 6 p.m. EDT
• Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout – Final: 6:25 p.m. EDT
• Nitro qualifying session (Funny Car): 6:30 p.m. EDT

Sunday, Sept. 4 (Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout and Top Fuel Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Nitro qualifying session (All Funny Car entries not in the Callout): 1 p.m. EDT
• Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout – Round 1: 1:20 p.m. EDT  
• Nitro qualifying session (Top Fuel): 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout – Semi-Finals: 2:45 p.m. EDT  
• Nitro qualifying session (All Funny Car entries not in the Callout): 4:30 p.m. EDT
• Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout – Finals: 4:55 p.m. EDT  
• Nitro qualifying session (Top Fuel): 5 p.m. EDT

Monday, Sept. 5 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Round 1: 10 a.m. EDT 
• Round 2: 12:30 p.m. EDT 
• Semi-Finals: 2 p.m. EDT 
• Finals: 3:55 p.m. EDT 

TV coverage on FS1/FOX

• Sunday, Sept. 4: Qualifying show recapping Friday’s action (1 p.m. EDT on FS1)
• Sunday, Sept. 4: Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout  (4 p.m. EDT on FS1)
• Sunday, Sept. 4: Qualifying show recapping Saturday’s action (5:30 p.m. EDT on FS1)
• Monday, Sept. 5: Finals show (12-2 p.m. EDT on FS1 and 2-5 p.m. on FOX)

Notes of Interest

• The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals Sept. 2-5 at Indianapolis Raceway Park is the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season finale. The Big Go marks the 16^th race on the 22-race calendar before the Countdown to the Championship begins Sept. 15-18 with the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) brings its two fulltime entries to Indianapolis this Labor Day Weekend – one in Top Fuel for 10-time event winner Leah Pruett and one in Funny Car for three-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan. 

• At the conclusion of the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals, the top-10 drivers in the standings in each of the four professional categories of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – qualify for the Countdown to the Championship. The top-10 drivers in each class then compete in the final, six-race playoffs to vie for the title. Coming into Indianapolis, Pruett is tied with Shawn Langdon for sixth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 445 points behind leader Brittany Force with a 122-point margin over 11^th-place Clay Millican. Hagan, meanwhile, is second in the Funny Car championship standings, 250 points behind leader Robert Hight with an insurmountable 641-point advantage over 11^th-place Jim Campbell, thereby securing his spot in the Countdown.

• The Big Go is always a big deal, and the points that can be earned in the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals reflect the magnitude of the event. Round wins are worth 1.5 times more at Indianapolis (30 points per round). Pruett and Hagan will also participate in five qualifying rounds, versus the standard three or four rounds at all other events. At the conclusion of the weekend, points will be adjusted for the start of the Countdown to the Championship. First and second place will be separated by 20 points, while the remaining top-10 driver are separated in 10-point increments.

• The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals is a marquee weekend for TSR and team partner Dodge. Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection adorn Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster and Hagan’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car this weekend at Indianapolis. Dodge Power Brokers serves as the exclusive source for Direct Connection, Dodge’s factory-backed performance parts program, which is equipped with staff trained to deliver a performance-focused customer service experience.

• Pruett and Hagan will participate in a Dodge Drive Event Aug. 29-30 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The Dodge Drive Event is presented by Dodge and Radford Racing School. With help from Pruett and Hagan, as well as Radford Racing School and Dodge Thrill Ride instructors, fans have a unique opportunity to experience the driving capabilities of five high-performance Dodge models: Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, Charger Scat Pack, Durango SRT Hellcat and Durango SRT 392 AWD. Pruett and Hagan will also participate in a Dodge autograph session on Friday from 6-6:30 p.m. EDT and again on Saturday from 12:45-1:15 p.m. EDT. Both sessions take place in the pits at the Dodge display. 

• The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals will serve as Pruett’s 187^th career Top Fuel start and her eighth in the event. It will mark her 11^th overall start at Indianapolis, which includes three special-event starts in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For Hagan, this will be his 309^th career Funny Car start and his 14^th in the U.S. Nationals. It will mark his 17^th overall start at Indianapolis, which includes three pandemic-related special-event starts in 2020. 

• Pruett is seeking her first victory in the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals. However, she has been in the winners’ circle at Indianapolis when she defeated Mark Pawuk in an all-Dodge Factory Stock Showdown event in 2018. Pruett was also the No. 1 qualifier at that event at 8.022 seconds. In Top Fuel, her best result came in 2020 when she beat Tony Schumacher and Steve Torrence in the second and third rounds, respectively, before losing to Shawn Langdon. Pruett is seeking her first No. 1 qualifier at the event. 

• Hagan won Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals in 2016. His run of 3.964 ET at 327.43 mph defeated Del Worsham (3.958 ET at 324.20 mph). Hagan also has five No. 1 qualifiers at Indianapolis, which came in 2010 (4.039 ET at 299.86 mph), 2013 (4.007 ET at 319.22 mph), 2014 (3.998 ET at 318.99 mph), 2016 (3.858 ET at 330.80 mph) and 2017 (3.799 ET at 338.77 mph).  

• 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. In addition to his 2016 victory in the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals, Hagan won two of the three special events contested at Indianapolis in 2020 during the COVID-19 shortened season. On July 12, he beat Tommy Johnson Jr., to win the E3 Spark Plugs Nationals and on July 19 he beat Jack Beckman to win the Summernationals. In no other event has Hagan qualified No. 1 more often than he has in the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals. He has started No. 1 five times and has been a top-three starter eight of the last 11 years. He did not compete in last year’s even after contracting COVID. 

• Hagan and seven of his Funny Car counterparts have a race within the race at Indianapolis. On Sunday, the inaugural Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout pits the top-eight Funny Car drivers against one another in a winner-take-all event worth $80,000 and televised live on FOX. Hagan earned the third seed in the specialty race by way of his second-place finish in the 2021 championship combined with his qualifying positions in the first two events of the 2022 season – the NHRA Winternationals Feb. 17-20 in Pomona, California, and the NHRA Arizona Nationals Feb. 25-27 in Chandler. Hagan is joined in the Callout by reigning Funny Car champion Ron Capps and fellow Funny Car drivers Robert Hight, Cruz Pedregon, John Force, Bob Tasca III, Alexis DeJoria and Tim Wilkerson. The Callout is exactly what it sounds like. Prior to the second round of qualifying on Saturday, drivers will “call out” who they want to go up against on Sunday. The first to make a call out is Hight, who earned the No. 1 seed. He gets to pick from the seven drivers who he wants as his opening-round opponent. Capps would get the next pick, provided he is not called out by Hight. Hagan would follow until all the first-round matchups are set. The first round of the Callout will take place at 1:20 p.m. EDT on Sunday with the semifinals set to follow at 2:45 p.m. FS1 comes on the air at 4 p.m. to recap the action from the first round and semifinals before showing the final round live at 4:55 p.m. where the last two drivers standing in the bracket-style elimination go head-to-head for bragging rights and the $80,000 payday.

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

What are your expectations going into this year’s Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals? 

“The last time we hit the track in our Dodge Power Brokers dragster, we turned on all four win lights on raceday and had exceptional qualifying. We expect to do the same thing. We tested at Indy earlier in the year and we do have what we think is a pretty good handle on a warm track tune-up very similar to what we had on the Western Swing. We intend to use that at the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals and really just get back onto our high-performing Dodge train.”

What is your favorite moment from the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals? 

“My favorite U.S. Nationals moment is winning the event in 2018 aboard my Direct Connection Mopar Factory Stock Showdown car. I’ve yet to have a U.S. Nationals win. I’ve finished runner-up before (2020) and with it being the Dodge Power Brokers race, there couldn’t be a better time to get my first Top Fuel win there. We know how to win at our high-profile events like we did at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals in Denver, and we can do it again. It’s going to be awesome. There’s a new spirit, a new regime, and new backing, but hoisting a Wally at Indianapolis is always going to be at the top of our to-do list.”

What do you look forward to the most about the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals?

“I really look forward to the entire week, but starting it off with our Dodge Drive event is really great. That’s where consumers and customers interested in our Dodge//SRT vehicles get the opportunity to get behind the wheel of these cars and feel their capabilities and I get to teach some of them how to drag race. The weekend already starts off with a huge win. As we go into Friday night qualifying, that’s an entire element of pressure in and of itself. I look forward to really sustaining a high level of success from Monday to Monday. This is not just the U.S. Nationals weekend, this is our Dodge Power Brokers week, and we’re going to broker that power all the way to the winner’s circle.” 

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

What are your expectations going into this year’s Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals? 

“It’s going to be a big race going into this year’s Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals with Tony Stewart Racing. I feel like we’re still moving in the right direction with this car and we’ll just have to see how Indy goes. If it’s hot and greasy and nasty and slick, or if it’s kind of cool. I’m kind of betting that it’s going to be one of those warmer races and we’ve just got to learn to get down a hot racetrack.”

What is your favorite moment from the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals? 

“Obviously winning the U.S. Nationals (in 2016) was really special. That was a crazy race because I was sick as a dog and really didn’t want to be there, but the championship points back then were carried with the driver (and not the car), so whether you’re sick or not, you had to show up and drive the car. I remember seeing the win light come on, pulling the parachutes, and snot hitting the front of my visor from my runny nose. I just had such a terrible cold so instead of celebrating with my team, I crawled back to my hotel room and went to bed. So, I’d love to be able to win Indy again and really celebrate a win the way it needs to be celebrated.”

What do you look forward to the most about the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals?

“I’ve won Indy before and it’s a really special, magical feeling when you do that. Indianapolis is one of those races you never want to leave the sport without winning. It’s just a lot of excitement and buildup through a long week for everybody. We definitely want to pull it down and have it be in the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car at our sponsor’s title race.”