Event Recap for the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA National

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

American Rebel Beer
Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals
June 21-22 | North Dinwiddie, Virginia

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 11 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Saturday (10.187 ET at 67.80 mph)
• Fell to No. 14 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 10.936 ET at 74.93 mph. Stewart faced Steve Torrence in the Round 1 of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Torrence’s 3.888 ET, 321.96 mph run defeated Stewart.
• Secured No. 14 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 8.979 ET at 79.59 mph.
• Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.872 ET at 318.99 mph, defeated Brittany Force (3.938 ET at 319.14 mph)
• Round 2: 11.465 ET at 68.75 mph in a bye
• Semifinals: 8.267 ET at 84.72 mph (red lit), lost to Shawn Langdon (6.350 ET at 108.73 mph)
• Currently leading the Top Fuel championship standings, 51 points over Shawn Langdon

Matt Hagan, driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Saturday (4.039 ET at 319.07 mph)
• Fell to No. 6 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.596 ET at 186.28 mph.
• Secured No. 6 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.096 ET at 317.87 mph.
• Round 1: 4.088 ET at 321.12 mph, lost to Hunter Green (4.064 ET at 295.08 mph)
• Currently fifth in the Funny Car championship standings, 195 points behind leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• Stewart is the only Top Fuel driver that has advanced past Round 1 of eliminations in every event this season. He has advanced to the Semifinals in seven of the first nine events.
• Stewart’s Round 1 run of 3.872-seconds was low ET (elapsed time) of the round.
• By advancing to the Semifinals at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals, Stewart qualified to participate in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next event, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, where he will face a rematch against Shawn Langdon.
• Hagan is the current track record holder at Virginia Motorsports park for both time and speed, a mark he set in 2022. The 3.853-seccond run set the track record for time. His Q1 run in 2022 set the track record for speed at 335.82 mph.
• Virginia represents a home race for Hagan. The 52-time event winner is a native of Christiansburg, Virginia, located 190 miles west of the track.
• American Rebel Beer was the primary sponsor of both Hagan and Stewart in Richmond. They also served as the primary sponsor of the event. American Rebel Beer was founded in April of 2024 by American Rebel CEO Andy Ross. American Rebel Beer is All Natural, Crisp, Clean and has a Bold Taste with a Lighter Feel. It does not use corn, rice or other sweeteners typically found in other mass-produced beers. American Rebel Beer is currently offered in 12 states (Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia), with additional states being announced soon. You can also find American Rebel in various legendary bars like Kid Rock’s, Tootsies, Honky Tony Central, and many others in the entertainment district in Nashville, as well as retail outlets, venues and music festivals throughout the United States. American Rebel Beer is America’s Patriotic, God-Fearing, Constitution-Loving, National Anthem Singing, Stand Your Ground Beer.

Tony Stewart, Driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster

“I was in a hurry during the Semifinals. It (red light) is a compliment to Shawn (Langdon). He is in the top-two of guys leaving in this category right now, so you can’t give him anything. We couldn’t leave anything on the table and his team is a great team also. I just let my team down today. It was a tough weekend overall. Qualifying was tough for us and I had my struggles today, so we’ll just rebound. I’m proud that our American Rebel Light team made it to the Semifinals again and we still have our round one streak going, but it’s hard to take when I’m the one that took us out.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“One of the positive takeaways from this weekend is that we qualified in the top-half of the field. We were focused on that coming into the weekend. We brought a new chassis out because we’ve been trying a couple different cars out that we’ve won with in the past. The car is running good, we’ve just been on the back side of some good drag races. I know I keep saying that, but it is what it is. Sometimes, we get caught up with who we’re racing, instead of just racing the racetrack. We talked as a team about pushing as hard as the track will hold and see if we can get on the other side of this thing. I’m very proud of (Mike) Knudsen (crew chief), Phil (Shuler – co-crew chief), Alex (Conaway – car chief), and all the guys that are working on the car. They are doing a phenomenal job and the car is running good, it’s just not good enough. It would be great if I could also leave on somebody. That always helps. It’s a combination of everything. If I had cut a .060-second light today, we’d be going some rounds. The burden doesn’t just fall on one person. We win as a team and lose as a team. We need to just put our best foot forward with Dodge coming up in Norwalk.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals June 26-29 at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

-TSR-

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