Event Recap for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
June 26-29 | Norwalk, Ohio

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.426 ET at 167.30 mph)
• Earned No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.755 ET at 327.11 mph)
• Earned 1 bonus point for having the third-fastest run of the session
• Maintained No. 3 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 4.601 ET at 167.05 mph. Stewart faced Shawn Langdon in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Stewart defeated Langdon’s 17.609 ET at 75.43 mph.
• Secured No. 3 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 11.598 ET at 72.03 mph. Stewart faced Doug Kalitta in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Finals, where Stewart lost to Kalitta’s 3.953 ET at 294.37 mph.
• Advanced to the Semifinals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.894 ET at 270.70 mph, defeated Kyle Wurtzel (9.960 ET at 88.86 mph)
• Round 2: 3.908 ET at 318.77 mph, defeated Steve Torrence (5.113 ET at 143.89 mph)
• Semifinals: 3.974 ET at 307.72 mph, lost to Clay Millican (3.958 ET at 306.33 mph)
• Currently leading the Top Fuel championship standings, 52 points over Shawn Langdon

Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 6 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.045 ET at 321.12 mph)
• Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.926 ET at 329.67 mph)
• Maintained No. 5 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.062 ET at 288.95 mph.
• Secured No. 5 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.162 ET at 263.82 mph.
• Advanced to the Finals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.976 ET at 325.06 mph, defeated J.R. Todd (8.289 ET at 86.09 mph)
• Round 2: 4.088 ET at 308.28 mph, defeated Jack Beckman (4.087 ET at 316.90 mph)
• Semifinals: 4.127 ET at 297.22 mph, defeated Cruz Pedregon (4.148 ET at 298.27 mph)
• Finals: 4.099 ET at 309.42 mph, lost to Austin Prock (4.064 ET at 318.54 mph)
• Currently fifth in the Funny Car championship standings, 222 points behind leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• Hagan advanced to his first Final of the 2025 season. He has one career win at Norwalk in 2018 (4.094 ET at 288.21 mph) when he defeated Courtney Force (4.220 ET at 227.54 mph).
• Stewart advanced to his eighth-consecutive Semifinal round and his Round 1 win streak continues – he is the only driver to advance past Round 1 of eliminations in all 10 events so far this season.
• Hagan and the Dodge Direct Connection team earned their first round wins since Chicago in May.
• Stewart’s team rebounded following Q1, Q2, and Round 1 of eliminations, where the car suffered an explosion in all sessions.
• By advancing to the Semifinals, Hagan and Stewart both qualified to participate in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series event, the NHRA Northwest Nationals, where Hagan will race Cruz Pedregon and Stewart will face a rematch against Clay Millican.
• The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals marked a quasi-home race for Dodge, with their headquarters located 150 miles north of Norwalk in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
• Following Norwalk, teams will prepare to head west for the Western Swing in Seattle and Sonoma. Hagan and Stewart will both be running their Dodge Direct Connection schemes in Seattle, with Hagan representing Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage in Sonoma and Stewart representing Mobil 1.

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

“It’s been a rough two weeks for us. But to get to two straight Semifinals in the heat and make it eight straight events makes me proud of our guys. It shows that this team has ‘no quit’ in them. For two weeks in a row, we have put our crew through a test. We are glad we have a couple of weeks off before the West Coast Swing. We have a lot of work to do to restock our stuff for those two weeks out West. I’m happy we kept our 52-point lead, but you can’t overlook Justin (Ashley) who has won the last two races. He is getting closer to us. For the points, we were happy Justin won today. We like Justin and Shawn (Langdon), but we wanted to minimize the damage in the points lead. We are looking for points right now at every race. We just have to keep focused, and I’m proud of where we are at the halfway point of the year. In the big picture and you look at the last three years, we haven’t had a big parts attrition. I don’t know why we had to have a bunch of them this weekend. And those were massive. We will regroup and have a good Fourth of July with our families, and then have a good West Coast trip.”

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

“As for driving the race car, it was a lot of fun this weekend. When they go fast and straight, that’s great but today you didn’t know what to expect. You could drop a cylinder, and the car was going right and left. It was a great healing weekend for our TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT crew, since we have been close in some drag races lately. We went out against some big players each round including J.R. (Todd) in the first round because we know what Dickie (Venables – Hagan’s former TSR crew chief) can do in these conditions. Then two close ones with Jack (Beckman) and Cruz (Pedregon – No. 1 qualifier) to get to the Final. I knew I had to cut a good light against Austin (Prock). And we ran 0.050 light against that kid and that was good. I never saw him until the finish line. And we put out a cylinder at the 300-foot mark. I think Mike (Knudson – crew chief) has been doing a great job as it is his first time as crew chief. I think things are really turning around for us now with the hot conditions and we are at the halfway point. I am extremely proud of this TSR Dodge//SRT team. They work hard in the heat and do a fantastic job. And it was fun to have the Dodge folks down to see us from Detroit too. Now I’m ready for the Seattle and Sonoma swing. Sonoma is the only track I haven’t won at in my career. I’d love to win that one.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals July 18-20 at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington.

-TSR-

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