Sonoma Nationals Event Recap – Stewart Runner Up; Hagan Semi-Finalist

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Top Fuel | Funny Car
DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals
July 26-28 | Sonoma, California

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the Rinnai Dodge//SRT Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.854 ET at 312.78 mph)
• Earned No. 9 provisional qualifying position based in Q2 on Friday (3.748 ET at 330.72 mph)
• Fell to No. 11 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.778 ET at 327.35 mph.
• Secured No. 11 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.758 ET at 332.02 mph.
• Advanced to the Finals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.740 ET at 331.12 mph, defeated Shawn Langdon (3.845 ET at 288.27 mph)
• Round 2: 3.781 ET at 330.72 mph, defeated Justin Ashley (4.415 ET at 279.73 mph)
• Semifinals: 3.975 ET at 278.98 mph, defeated Ron August Jr. (3.997 ET at 296.50 mph)
• Finals: 3.774 ET at 321.73 mph, lost to Antron Brown (3.746 ET at 329.67 mph)
• Currently ninth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 357 points behind Top Fuel leader Doug Kalitta

Matt Hagan, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 4 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.997 ET at 325.06 mph)
• Earned No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.869 ET at 328.22 mph)
• Scored one bonus point for third-quickest run of the session
• Earned No. 2 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.839 ET at 330.39 mph)
• Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session
• Secured No. 2 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q3 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.955 ET at 327.90 mph
• Advanced to the Semifinals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.891 ET at 332.10 mph, defeated Jeff Diehl (4.369 ET at 218.69 mph – red light)
• Round 2: 3.932 ET at 331.94 mph, defeated Chad Green (3.913 ET at 322.04 mph)
• Semifinals: 3.933 ET at 328.70 mph, lost to Ron Capps (3.923 ET at 329.99 mph)
• Currently third in the Funny Car championship standings, 254 points behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• The DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals marked the first time Stewart has advanced to the Finals in the Top Fuel Dragster class in 12 career starts. It marked his first Top Fuel start at Sonoma Raceway, although Stewart is familiar with the track, having made 18 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Sonoma. He’s a three-time winner on the road course (2001, 2005 and 2016) and his 2016 win marked his 49th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory. Stewart is also featured on the Sonoma Raceway Wall of Fame.
• The DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals marked the third time this season that Hagan and Stewart both advanced to the Semifinals at the same time (the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas and the PlayNHRA Virgina Nationals in North Dinwiddie, Virginia were the two previous events).
• By advancing to the Semifinals, Hagan and Stewart both secured their position in the NHRA’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Hagan will face a rematch against Ron Capps at Brainerd International Raceway. Stewart will face off against Ron August Jr. The Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals will mark Hagan’s eighth #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and Stewart’s fourth.
• Stewart’s Q4 run of 332.02 mph is the fastest pass he’s made this season.
• Hagan represented Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage (JHG) on his Funny Car. JHG was formed in 2021 and brings a passion and flare to the automotive world. They aim to inspire, drive and celebrate progress. JHG spans across Jason Johnson’s car collection featuring more than 200 sought after vehicles from classics, to hot rods and supercars. Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage’s mission is to preserve and showcase the automotive industry. The vehicles are driven to and displayed at events by Johnson and his team with the goal of growing interest and keeping car culture thriving. Johnson’s history in the industry began with Mather Auto Dismantler, Mather Mini Trucks and U-Pull It in Northern California. He later held an instrumental role in the growth and success of Copart, Inc., a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. JHG also serves as a primary sponsor of Elite Motorsports in the NHRA Pro Stock series.
• Stewart represented Rinnai America Corporation on his Top Fuel Dragster. Rinnai, a subsidiary of Rinnai Corporation in Nagoya, Japan, was established in 1974 and is headquartered in Peachtree City, Ga. Rinnai Corporation manufactures gas appliances including tankless water heaters, a wide range of kitchen appliances and heating and air conditioning units. As the technology leader in its industry, Rinnai is the largest gas appliance manufacturer in Japan and is the number-one selling brand of tankless gas water heaters in the United States and Canada. With a global perspective to create 21st-century products for the home and business, Rinnai Corporation commits itself to safety and Creating A Healthier Way of Living©.

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

“This was a much better weekend than I anticipated. We knew after last week’s Seattle race that we were in big trouble. We sat around for hours after that race to work on a plan for this weekend. Dickie Venables from Matt’s (Hagan – Funny Car) team offered to help us and we walked through many things with our Top Fuel guys and Dickie. We were trying to see if there was a ‘smoking gun’ we were missing. Really appreciated Dickie this week and through the weekend. We needed a day like today for the team guys. We didn’t really win anything, but we didn’t lose today. In the final, we did everything we could as we left on one of the best Top Fuel leavers. To leave on Antron (Brown) in the final is very big for me as a driver. We spit a couple of (spark) plugs out at the far end and, if they had any problem, we were right there for the win. It’s a way better weekend than I thought. Actually, I was thinking we would go out in the first round because we had to regroup. We went two steps back on our setup and then went forward for the weekend. I’m so proud of the Rinnai team and the morale is great. That was the key to the success today. No one got down. We gained speed this weekend and ran three 330s (m.p.h.). We are checking boxes one at a time. We’ll take want we learned this weekend and try to make it better. We kept Antron honest in the final and we made improvements with the car. It was my first two-car final and I’m proud how the weekend went overall.”

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

“The car is coming around now. We tried some things in the bellhousing in the heat with these summer races. We have to do that to grow. This weekend we went back to the direction we have run over the years with the race car. We knew we were trying new things and wanted to see if we could get the car better. With our proven setup, the car ran well all weekend, including qualifying No. 2 with a 3.83. It was a great weekend overall with the facility, race surface and the great crowd. We put on a good show too. We were just on the back side of a good drag race with Ron (Capps) in the semis. We just didn’t have enough then. We’ll get in our ‘Countdown’ mindset now. You have to win a couple of races in the ‘Countdown’ to have a shot at the championship. We did that last year and that’s our goal this year. Even winning two ‘Countdown’ races, the title came down to the final race in 2023. (Austin) Prock is going to be tough with extra Mission points. We have some work to do. We’ll test after Brainerd and be ready for Indy and the ‘Countdown.’ It’s never easy in this sport. So, when you win it, it does feel so good. We are usually good in the ‘Countdown’ and that’s our goal again. I’m really excited for Tony (Stewart, teammate and team owner) to go some rounds here too. This is a team effort with TSR.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals August 16-18 at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.

 
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