Indianapolis Event Recap for the NHRA U.S. Nationals

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
NHRA U.S. Nationals
Aug. 28-Sept. 2 | Indianapolis

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.839 ET at 319.52 mph)
• Earned No. 2 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Saturday (3.707 ET at 331.04 mph)
• Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session
• Maintained No. 2 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.793 ET at 327.98 mph.
• Maintained No. 2 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Sunday, Stewart ran a 7.048 ET at 90.64 mph.
• Secured No. 2 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q2 run. In Q5 on Sunday, Stewart ran a 4.514 ET at 168.75 mph.
• Advanced to the Semifinals on Monday:
• Round 1: 3.723 ET at 331.53 mph, defeated Doug Foley (3.754 ET at 320.74 mph)
• Round 2: 3.747 ET at 330.88 mph, defeated Justin Ashley (7.881 ET at 90.17 mph)
• Semifinals: 9.625 ET at 77.88 mph, lost to Steve Torrence (3.769 ET at 331.12 mph)
• Currently seventh heading into the Countdown to the Championship, behind Top Fuel leader Doug Kalitta (there will be a points reset for the Countdown to the Championship)

Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 17 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.837 ET at 164.59 mph)
• Earned No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Saturday (3.918 ET at 329.50 mph). Q2 also served as Round 1 of the NHRA’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Hagan faced J.R. Todd. Todd defeated Hagan on a holeshot with a run of 3.918 ET at 323.12 mph.
• Maintained No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.951 ET at 326.32 mph.
• The Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout served as Round 4 of qualifying, where Hagan maintained the No. 8 provisional qualifying position. Hagan ran a 3.931 ET at 327.19 mph, defeating Alexis DeJoria (4.812 ET at 166.66 mph).
• Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session
• In the Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout Semifinal, which did not serve as Round 5 of qualifying, Hagan ran 3.972 ET at 326.00 mph, losing to Paul Lee’s 3.968 ET at 323.35 mph.
• Secured No. 8 qualifying position in Q5 on Sunday (3.908 ET at 327.66 mph)
• Eliminated following Round 1 on Monday:
• Round 1: 4.225 ET at 229.31 mph, lost to Alexis DeJoria (3.886 ET at 327.98 mph)
• Currently third heading into the Countdown to the Championship, behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock (there will be a points reset for the Countdown to the Championship)

Notes of Interest

• Indiana native, Tony Stewart, advanced to the Semifinals in his first NHRA U.S. Nationals appearance. He is no stranger to Indianapolis Raceway Park. He made one national event start in 2023 in the Top Alcohol Dragster (TAD), where he qualified sixth and advanced to Round 2. Stewart competed in TAD’s Division 3 Cleetus and Cars event in 2023 at IRP, where he was the No. 1 qualifier and won the event. He backed-up that effort in 2024 by earning No. 1 qualifier and once again winning the Cleetus and Cars event in TAD.
• 2024 marks the first time Stewart enters the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship. His starting position will be seventh heading into the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.
• Hagan has advanced to the Countdown to the Championship for the 12th consecutive year.
• Hagan made his ninth #2Fast2Tasty appearance of the season, having collected eight Mission Foods points in 2024. Those points will be added to the reset heading into the start of the Countdown to the Championship at Maple Grove Raceway.
• 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.

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

“I’m still encouraged by the weekend, even with the Semifinal loss. I don’t know what we have to do to win one of these races. That’s two races in a row which we qualified second. We are in the game now. We have a car that is capable of finishing off one of these events with a win. We just need a little luck on our side. We have to create our own luck too. It was nice to not have to sweat it after the second round of qualifying when we jumped to No. 2. I think we have a lot of confidence leaving this race, even though it didn’t go how we wanted at the end. We have a lot to look forward to with this final stretch in the Countdown.”

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

“We were trying to run hard in the first round with the cooler air, and I let the car get inside a little too much in the lane, so I smoked the tires. For me, I felt a light rattle with the tires, and I got in the marbles a bit. That one is on me. We looked at it on video and we have learned from that run. We always learn with every run. The faster you run, the harder these cars are to drive. The car was on a good pass, maybe 3.86 or so. We are ready for the Countdown now, and we had a good performance last year with wins at St. Louis and Dallas taking us to a championship. You have to win races in the Countdown to win a championship. This TSR Dodge Direct Connection team is experienced, and they know how to win titles too. We just have to keep our heads down and the wins will come to us. We know we can do that.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals Sept. 12-15 at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. It is the first race in the six-race Countdown to the Championship, where the top-10 drivers in each of the four professional categories – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – vie for the title in their respective divisions.

-TSR-

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