Pomona Event Recap for the 65th NHRA Winternationals

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Top Fuel | Funny Car
65th NHRA Winternationals
March 28-30 | Pomona, California

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the Rinnai Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:
• The All-Star Top Fuel Callout served as Round 1 of qualifying on Friday. Stewart ran a 3.714 ET at 329.75 mph, defeating Steve Torrence (3.727 ET at 330.88 mph). Stewart earned the No. 6 provisional qualifying position.
• In the All-Star Top Fuel Callout Semifinal, which did not serve as Round 2 of qualifying, Stewart ran 3.715 ET at 326.87 mph, which lost to Brittany Force’s 3.641 ET, 337.16 mph run.
• Maintained No. 6 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.695 ET at 329.58 mph)
• Maintained No. 6 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 9.552 ET at 74.37 mph.
• Secured No. 8 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.703 ET at 327.03 mph.
• Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.713 ET at 314.68 mph, defeated Antron Brown (5.253 ET at 139.70 mph)
• Round 2: 3.702 ET at 332.92 mph, defeated Doug Kalitta (4.456 ET at 178.26 mph)
• Semifinals: 3.723 ET at 330.07 mph, defeated Shawn Langdon (3.835 ET at 316.01 mph)
• Finals: 6.187 ET at 99.83 mph, lost to Clay Millican (4.273 ET at 189.71 mph)
• Currently fifth in the championship standings, 100 points behind Top Fuel leader Shawn Langdon

Matt Hagan, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 17 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (7.907 ET at 77.72 mph)
• Earned No. 7 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.932 ET at 328.78 mph)
• Fell to No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.222 ET at 219.97 mph.
• Secured No. 8 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.903 ET at 317.79 mph)
• Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.884 ET at 324.59 mph, defeated Alexis DeJoria (9.685 ET at 86.38 mph)
• Round 2: 3.940 ET at 324.51 mph, defeated Blake Alexander (3.944 ET at 325.22 mph)
• Semifinals: 3.915 ET at 316.82 mph, lost to Jack Beckman (3.860 ET at 328.62 mph)
• Currently third in the championship standings, 74 points behind Funny Car leader Jack Beckman

Notes of Interest

• Stewart advanced to his third career Final and the 65h NHRA Winternationals marked his first final-round appearance at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Stewart’s previous final-round appearances were the 2024 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas and the 2024 NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
• By advancing to the Semifinals, Hagan improved his position in the Funny Car championship point standings from seventh to third.
• By advancing to Round 2, Hagan and Stewart have secured their positions in the NHRA’s #2Fast2Tasty Mission Challenge, where Hagan will face off against Blake Alexander at Las Vegas and Stewart will race Doug Kalitta. The Round 2 finalists from Pomona will rematch during qualifying on Saturday, with bonus money and points on the line.
• The Winternationals served as Rinnai’s first race as primary sponsor in 2025 with Stewart.

Tony Stewart, Driver of the Rinnai Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster

“The day I get upset with losing is the day I retire from racing. But the team is upset because they want to win. These TSR crew guys have done an awesome job and have been very consistent. Especially this weekend, having three runs on Friday and four today, these guys busted their butts. There were no mistakes. For 20 minutes we are going to be frustrated, but, after 20 minutes, we have to pick our heads up. Same goes for me, my wife (Leah) is going to get on my case after 20 minutes too. The last two races the race car is making solid, competitive runs and this weekend was better. My lights were better, and the car’s performance was better. We just didn’t get the last little bit. We took down three big guys in a row, all former Top Fuel champions (Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon). To be the best, you have to beat the best. We just have to stay the course. I’m very proud of the whole team and it just wasn’t our time yet. Everyone comes here to win, and one driver leaves as the winner, and we raced that guy in the final. We are improving and things are going the right direction. It is taking a little longer than I had hoped. We didn’t have lane choice all day and we were consistent in the right lane. So, there was no reason to change, and we had good data from that lane. Track didn’t bite us in the end. We just got a little too aggressive in the final. We have good data heading to Las Vegas now too.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“Our TSR crew did a great job this weekend with some of the guys swapping positions. Thomas (Brown) lost his mother yesterday and he’s right back at it today. I’m sure it is an emotional battle for him right now and we are thinking about him and family in this tough time. We are making great progress with this TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat team. We are steadily making good runs at each event. We wanted to put Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage back in victory lane like we did last year in Dallas. All in all, we are making rounds. That was a big ‘boomer’ at the top end against Jack (Beckman). It looks like it broke a rod there. I told the NHRA safety guy Joey that it was a matter of time before we had an engine go and it was my turn this time. I’m glad there wasn’t a big fire, and I could see things in front of me. I had no warning about the ‘boomer’ and it was big enough that it stung my hands pretty good. It is tough here at Pomona with the shorter runoff. I am happy the parachutes came out well and I was on the brakes hard. You’ll have those things in big-time drag racing. No warning of the ‘boomer’ made it pretty wild at the top end. We’ll put it back together. Tony Stewart Racing gives us plenty of parts and pieces. We’ll go to the Four-Wide in Las Vegas looking to win that one again.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals April 11-13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

-TSR-

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