Event Recap for the NHRA Route 66 Nationals – HAGAN WINS!

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance
May 17-19 | Joliet, Illinois

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 6 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.877 ET at 320.58 mph)
• Fell to No. 16 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Stewart ran a 4.689 ET at 160.92 mph.
• Maintained No. 16 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 5.441 ET at 122.28 mph.
• Secured No. 16 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.852 ET at 323.04 mph)
• Round 1: 3.993 ET at 276.69 mph, lost to TJ Zizzo (3.805 ET at 329.42 mph)
• Currently eighth in the championship standings, 236 points behind Top Fuel leader Justin Ashley

Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 6 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.012 ET at 322.27 mph)
• Fell to No. 11 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Hagan ran a 4.072 ET at 254.52 mph.
• Maintained No. 11 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 10.714 ET at 78.83 mph. Hagan faced Daniel Wilkerson in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where his run defeated Wilkerson’s 4.178 ET, 257.87 mph run due to a red light.
• Secured No. 11 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.104 ET at 317.64 mph. Hagan faced J.R. Todd in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Finals, where Hagan lost to Todd’s 4.040 ET, 316.52 mph run.
• Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 4.087 ET at 297.09 mph, defeated Ron Capps (4.650 ET at 184.80 mph)
• Round 2: 4.082 ET at 313.00 mph, defeated Paul Lee (4.106 ET at 290.51 mph)
• Semifinals: 4.050 ET at 318.47 mph, defeated Blake Alexander (10.677 ET at 61.65 mph)
• Finals: 3.998 ET at 323.27 mph, defeated John Force (4.096 ET at 311.05 mph)
• Currently leads the Funny Car championship standings with a 4-point advantage over Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• Hagan’s win marked the 51st of his career and his fourth at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. The victory gave Hagan the Funny Car points lead.
• Hagan’s final-round appearance marked the 90th of his career and his fifth at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015).
• Hagan participated in his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season, with his previous Challenges taking place at the NHRA Arizona Nationals and NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. By advancing to the Semifinals at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, Hagan qualified to participate in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next event, the NHRA New England Nationals, where he will face off against Blake Alexander.
• Hagan made an appearance in Mokena, Illinois ahead of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals with a Rinnai distributor and their customers.
• By competing in the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, Stewart became the only driver that has completed the trifecta of racetracks in Chicago – the oval track, dirt track and dragstrip.
• Despite losing in Round 1, Stewart had a quicker reaction time in eliminations at .074-seconds compared to Zizzo’s .087-seconds, who was No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals.
• Looking ahead to the NHRA New England Nationals, Stewart will represent Rinnai tankless water heaters for their first race as primary sponsor in the 2024 season.

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

“This weekend was the polar opposite of what you normally see in racing. It’s the nature of nitro motors. Nitro motors want to be under load. It’s not as easy as backing down a couple of knobs off and softening everything. You soften it too much and it puts a hole out (of the cylinder). On weekends like this, the crew chiefs are balancing everything on a razor blade. You want to keep the load in the engine to make it happy, but then soften things enough to not overpower the track. It was just a challenging weekend. I hope I forget about it by the time I get home. Unfortunately, the one run we needed to get right (Friday night), we stubbed our toe. It backed us in a corner for Q3 and Q4 on Saturday. And that put us in a tough Round One matchup today. It was not meant to be this weekend, but we’ll be ready for Epping. We’ll test this week and I know there are things that Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief) and Mike (Domagala – co-crew chief) want to try and get us where we need to be. So, we can sort out some things as we head into the June races. I’m very pleased with Matt (Hagan) and his Funny Car team today in very tough conditions. They are fighting the same things we are with the Top Fuel team. This is a good weekend for picking up points in the Funny Car class.”

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

“It was a massive day for TSR (Tony Stewart Racing) and the Direct Connection Dodge//SRT guys. Back-to-back wins is super in very tough track conditions this weekend. This place was so tricky with the heat and humidity. We got stuck in the tough lane and we drove it to another win. Dickie Venables (crew chief), Mike Knudsen (co-crew chief), Alex Conaway (car chief) and all of the crew guys do such a great job on race day. I trust them to put me in position to win races. I just stab the throttle and steer it. I had to drive the wheels off the car today. For much of my career, I drove for Don Schumacher, and we celebrated his life here this weekend in his hometown. He got me into Funny Car racing 15 years ago. Now, I race for Tony Stewart Racing, and Tony gives me the best equipment I could ask for in NHRA competition. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted with an 11th spot, but, on race day, we clicked those win lights and that is what it is all about. Getting those ‘four win’ lights is why we do this. I feel like if you are in it, you can win it. Racing and beating John Force is an honor. He is the GOAT. So, I feel tremendous when you beat the best ever. I’m always excited to win a ‘Wally’ trophy and now it was my 51st career win. I’m so grateful to race these cars and drive for Dodge and Tony Stewart Racing.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA New England Nationals May 31-June 2 at New England Dragway.

-TSR-

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