NHRA New England Nationals Event Recap

NHRA New England Nationals

June 3-5 | Epping, New Hampshire

Event Recap

Leah Pruett, driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster:

●  Earned No. 13 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (8.255 ET at 139.47 mph).

●  Fell to No. 15 qualifying position based off Friday’s Q1 run because in Q2 on Saturday, a mechanical issue prevented Pruett from clocking an official run. 

●  Secured No. 11 qualifying position based off Saturday’s Q3 run of 3.780 ET at 323.50 mph. 

●  Advanced to the Round 2 on Sunday:

    ●  Round 1: 3.796 ET at 322.11 mph, beat Tony Schumacher (3.980 ET at 266.32 mph). 

    ●  Round 2: 3.807 ET at 321.27 mph, lost to Mike Salinas (3.746 ET at 328.62).

●  Currently tied with Antron Brown for 11^th in the Top Fuel championship standings, 374 points behind points leader Brittany Force. 

Matt Hagan, driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car:

●  Earned No. 1 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.878 ET at 332.51 mph).

●  Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session.

●  Maintained No. 1 qualifying position based on Friday’s Q1 run. No. 1 in Saturday’s Q2 session (3.908 ET at 328.78 mph). 

●  Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session.

●  Secured No. 1 qualifying position based on Friday’s Q1 run. No. 9 in Saturday’s Q3 session (6.187 ET at 110.60 mph).

●  Advanced to the final round on Sunday:

    ●  Round 1: 4.097 ET at 261.83 mph, defeated Dale Creasy Jr. (10.284 ET at 88.72). 

    ●  Round 2: 3.948 ET at 323.27 mph in a bye.

    ●  Semifinal: 3.963 ET at 325.69 mph, defeated J.R. Todd (3.981 ET at 323.58 mph).

    ●  Final: 3.922 ET at 327.98 mph, defeated Robert Hight (6.232 ET at 110.15 mph).

●  Currently leads the Funny Car championship standings with a 41-point advantage over Hight.

Notes of Interest

●  Hagan’s Funny Car victory in the NHRA New England Nationals was the 42^nd of his career, his third of the season and his fourth at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.

●  Hagan has been the winning Funny Car driver in four of the last five NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series events at Epping (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022).

●  The victory was Hagan’s first in the four, head-to-head, final-round matchups against Robert Hight this season. In their 40 career head-to-head matchups, Hagan and Hight have now won 20 times apiece. Hight holds an 8-4 advantage in final-round matchups. 

● Hagan’s final-round appearance was the 77^th of his career. He has advanced to the finals in six of this year’s eight NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series events.

●  The No. 1 qualifying position Hagan earned on Friday was his second in a row and third this season. It was the 46^th of his career and his second at Epping. 

● Pruett had her second-best run of the weekend in Sunday’s first round of Top Fuel eliminations when she bested her former teammate Tony Schumacher for the ninth time in their 20 head-to-head meetings.

Leah Pruett, Driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster

“The great stuff that’s come out of this weekend is the progress of the team and the car under the cards we were dealt. The guys are doing a phenomenal job with the parts and pieces. I’ve been working really hard on my focus game and reaction time and there’s a huge outlier between round one and round two for me – I was just behind the entire time. It was an uncharacteristic thing given the tools I’ve been using in my toolbox. Frustrating, no doubt, but we have a big handful of races coming up and a very intense faith and backing. I’ll be carrying this pretty heavily for a while until I’m able to prove again and again on Sundays. I can do two things – I can let it eat me up or work on it, improve it, get over it and show the world the potential that this team has. We’ve been doing that. It’s just heartbreaking when it doesn’t come and it’s at your own cost, but that’s a true reflection of how bad you want it. It’s hard to maintain consistency when there are a lot of different changes. This one’s on me, but we’re a mature group and we have a mature mindset about it and we’ll continue on.” 

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“It was just a great weekend. I can’t say enough about Dickie (Venables, crew chief). I can’t say enough about Dickie. Nothing really needs to be said – our Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car speaks for itself. Mike Knutson, Alex Conway, all the boys wrenching on the car, they just do a great job. It’s one of those things I don’t even think about anymore because each and every one of those guys has earned my trust with my life. So when I crawl in the car, I don’t think about anything other than just leaving the starting line. I think it’s going to be a dogfight all year between Robert Hight and us. You can’t leave out Ron Capps, John Force, J.R. Todd and all the other guys out there. It’s a dogfight out there and I love it. I was so up on the wheel there and was like, ‘Come on, come on.’ Hight is a bad dude out there and he’s hard to get around and he’s had our number three times already this year. I have a lot of respect for Robert Hight and what he does. He drives the same type of style I do and that’s no BS – just drive your racecar. That’s what we did today. This Dodge Power Brokers team – I love you to death and trust you with my life. I wouldn’t trade you for anyone.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals June 17-19 at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway.