Las Vegas Event Recap for the NHRA Nationals

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
Ford Performance NHRA Nationals
Nov. 1-3 | Las Vegas

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 7 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.781 ET at 327.98 mph)
• Fell to No. 10 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Stewart ran a 6.172 ET at 106.27 mph.
• Maintained No. 10 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.738 ET at 331.94 mph)
• Secured No. 6 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.703 ET at 332.59 mph)
• Ran a 3.735 ET at 328.94 mph in Round 1 of eliminations on Sunday, lost to Antron Brown (3.724 ET at 330.39)
• Currently tied with Shawn Reed in ninth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 260 points behind leader Justin Ashley

Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 14 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.209 ET at 218.51 mph)
• Earned No. 7 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.899 ET at 331.61 mph)
• Scored one bonus point for third-quickest run of the session
• Maintained No. 7 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.926 ET at 306.74 mph.
• Secured No. 6 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.859 ET at 325.14 mph)
• Ran a 3.901 ET at 327.66 mph in Round 1 of eliminations on Sunday, lost to Daniel Wilkerson (3.880 ET at 329.34)
• Currently fourth in the Funny Car championship standings, 258 points behind leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• Despite losing in Round 1, Hagan has advanced to the finals 10 times at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, more than any other venue. The Nevada Nationals is one of five events Hagan has won at least four times (along with the Winternationals and the New England Nationals, the Route 66 Nationals and the Texas Fall Nationals).
• Stewart has won an event on all tracks at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway property – the drag strip (TAD Four-Wide Nationals in 2023), the dirt track (his first USAC Silver Crown event on October 18, 1997), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (captured his 1997 IndyCar championship and earned the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series event win), the Las Vegas Bullring pavement short-track (won in a USAC midget in 2002 and also won in a sprint car in the same night) and the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (won the 2010 Las Vegas Sprint Car Nationals).
• Hagan and Stewart participated in a test session on Monday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to get ready for the NHRA’s finale in Pomona.

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

“I felt this weekend started off strong. We had three solid qualifying sessions for myself and our Dodge Direct Connection team. We felt good going into eliminations on Sunday. My team put together a respectable car, but we ended up coming up short. Antron (Brown) and I battled it out, but unfortunately we blew up at the end. We’re putting the day behind us. We had the opportunity to test today to put a package together for Pomona.”

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

“We have one more race this season and try to have a strong finish. We stayed in Las Vegas to test today. This Dodge race car is better than what it’s showing right now. We’d like to scoop up another win before the season is over. These competitors are tough. You tip your hat to (Austin) Prock. Their whole group over there has outworked everyone this year. We have some work to do over the winter.”

Next Up

The 2023 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season culminates Nov. 15-17 in Pomona, California, with the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

-TSR-

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