Leah Pruett & Matt Hagan
Top Fuel | Funny Car
Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals
July 29-31 | Kent, Washington
Event Overview
Friday, July 29 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
● Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 6:45 p.m. PDT/9:45 p.m. EDT
Saturday, July 30 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
● Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 2 p.m. PDT/5 p.m. EDT
● Nitro qualifying session (Q3): 4:45 p.m. PDT/7:45 p.m. EDT
Sunday, July 31 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)
● Round 1: 10:30 a.m. PDT/1:30 p.m. EDT
● Round 2: 12:30 p.m. PDT/3:30 p.m. EDT
● Semi-Finals: 2:10 p.m. PDT/5:10 p.m. EDT
● Finals: 3:35 p.m. PDT/6:35 p.m. EDT
TV coverage
● Saturday, July 30: Qualifying show recapping Friday’s action (11 a.m. PDT/2 p.m. EDT on FS1)
● Sunday, July 31: Qualifying show recapping Saturday’s action (11:30 a.m. PDT/2:30 p.m. EDT on FS1)
● Sunday, July 31: Finals show (1 p.m. PDT/4 p.m. EDT on FOX)
Notes of Interest
● The Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington, marks the culmination of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ three-week long Western Swing and the series’ return to the Seattle area after a two-year absence. The two previous events of the Western Swing were the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals July 15-17 at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado, and the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals last weekend at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals is the 13th event on the NHRA’s 22-race calendar.
● Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) will be represented in Top Fuel by 10-time event winner Leah Pruett and in Funny Car by three-time champion Matt Hagan. Pruett and Hagan enter Seattle representing Sparkling Ice +Caffeine and Dodge Power Brokers, respectively.
● Sparkling Ice +Caffeine is a zero sugar, full-flavored sparkling water containing 70 milligrams of caffeine, along with vitamins and antioxidants. Sparkling Ice +Caffeine comes in six refreshing flavors: Black Raspberry, Blue Raspberry, Cherry Vanilla, Orange Passion Fruit, Strawberry and Citrus Twist. Pruett has served as an ambassador for Sparkling Ice since 2014 and the brand has been a part of all 10 of her Top Fuel victories.
● The Dodge Power Brokers program serves as the exclusive source for Direct Connection, Dodge’s factory-backed performance parts program, which is equipped with staff trained to deliver a performance-focused customer service experience. Dodge//SRT and Mopar have supported Hagan since his rookie season in 2009.
● In the first two races of the Western Swing, TSR has delivered. Pruett won the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals to collect her second Wally at Bandimere, while Hagan secured the No. 1 qualifying position for the fourth time this season. Then at Sonoma, Pruett earned her first No. 1 qualifier of the year and her second at the track. It was TSR’s first Top Fuel pole in its inaugural season in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series but its fifth overall No. 1 qualifier, as Hagan has secured the pole four times this season in Funny Car.
● Pruett is currently tied with Shawn Langdon for sixth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 381 points behind leader Brittany Force. Hagan, meanwhile, is second in the Funny Car championship standings, 144 points behind leader Robert Hight.
● The Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals will serve as Pruett’s 184th career Top Fuel start and her fifth at Pacific Raceways. For Hagan, this will be his 306th career Funny Car start and his 12th at the track.
● Pruett is eyeing her first victory in the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals. She advanced to the final in 2018, where her 3.849 ET at 320.13 mph run was narrowly defeated by Antron Brown’s 3.835 ET at 322.84 mph run. Pruett is seeking her first No. 1 qualifier at the event.
● Hagan won the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals in 2013. His 4.171 ET at 294.75 mph run defeated Bob Tasca III (5.324 ET at 164.81 mph). Hagan also has one No. 1 qualifier at the event, which came in 2018 (3.913 ET at 324.75 mph).
● On Thursday at 3:30 p.m. PDT at the Fred Meyer in Maple Valley, Washington (26520 Maple Valley Black Diamond Road SE), Pruett will participate in a Sparkling Ice meet and greet.
● DYK? Pacific Raceways was constructed in 1959 and opened in 1960. Since 1988, the track has been home to the NHRA Northwest Nationals. In addition to the drag strip, Pacific Raceways also features a 2.25-mile road course that is utilized by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and other road-racing series.
Leah Pruett, Driver of the Sparkling Ice +Caffeine Top Fuel Dragster
Seattle marks the culmination of the NHRA’s three-week Western Swing. Having completed all the rounds in Denver and following it up with a strong weekend in Sonoma, what are your expectations as you and the team head into Pacific Raceways?
“I believe our performance over the Western Swing is extremely important to the quality of performance we’re going to be able to show in Seattle. We don’t have an extraordinary amount of mechanical work to do on our parts like you would expect going into the last race. We still have our highest performing superchargers and all of our blocks. We probably have the least amount of damage compared to other teams. That means we get to end the swing like we began it, with quality parts. We’re more educated on what our raceday routine is like and have been improving upon that. It’ll be nice to have Seattle be the culmination of our Western Swing and end it solidly. From an energy perspective, it’s a long couple of weeks, but we’re more excited than ever. You go into the Swing with some big question marks and it looks like such a big mountain to climb, but we actually looked forward to it because we know how great we’re capable of running.”
What similarities are there between racing at Sonoma and Seattle?
“It’ll be very similar. If we were able to re-run our raceday in Sonoma, we would throw a lot more power to the car. We didn’t know it was needed, that the conditions would make that power and that the track could hold. With Seattle being so similar, it’s almost like it’s going to be our vindication, a second chance if you will. Having two comparable tracks back-to-back means everything is fresh in our minds from a tuning perspective. We already know where we missed the mark in Sonoma if we could redo our second round, so that just catapults us into the mindset of being set up for Seattle, as opposed to recreating a baseline. Seattle will be Sonoma 2.0 for us and, hopefully, with the results of Denver.”
The headquarters for the Sparkling Ice brand is located 30 miles northeast of Kent in Preston, Washington. Talk about the significance of competing in a home race for Sparkling Ice +Caffeine.
“I couldn’t think of a better race to have Sparkling Ice +Caffeine on the car, with it being their home race. For us, with it being the conclusion of the Western Swing and, hopefully, really good results to show from Seattle, we have yet to celebrate any of our momentum and our win from Denver. We’ve had a couple Sparkling Ice Cocktails here and there, but there is going to be a sigh of relief after the swing and congratulations that are well deserved for the team. We’ve saved that up to experience that with our liveliest bunch of people that really make racing a fun atmosphere. I’m looking forward to all of the colors and all of the win lights.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Seattle marks the culmination of the NHRA’s Western Swing. How do you maintain focus and mental strength during this stretch of races?
“The Western Swing is a lot of travel, but it’s what we signed up for. We have to stay focused and stay hydrated. I plan on getting some workouts in this week, which will get me focused for raceday. I know we’re struggling a little bit right now, but in all fairness, this car will be running how we want it to right around the corner. There is not a doubt in my mind that we’ll be right back where we need to be within a race or two. We have four races left before we start this all over in the Countdown, so I’m excited about that. We’re always in the hunt and digging deep. We’re always pushing hard. I believe in my team and in my crew and I think Seattle will be our turning point for getting back on top.”
What similarities are there between racing at Sonoma and Seattle?
“Both tracks are fairly close to sea level, which means we’ll be able to carry information over from this weekend as far as horsepower, tune-up and the way the motor responds. That’ll be nice, but there’s always more to push on and more to be learned. I know we were a little behind the eight-ball in Sonoma, but I feel like we’re going to come out swinging in Seattle.”
Explain your crew’s process of preparing for the final race of the Western Swing.
“The team stays out West throughout all three events, so we’ve been really fortunate that we haven’t had any big explosions the last two races. We don’t have parts that have gotten too beat up. Sometimes you leave Denver with the body blown apart, so it makes it a really hard push for the next two races. My crew chiefs and crew guys have done a great job keeping the parts and pieces together, so I think that takes a lot of stress off the crew and allows them to get caught up pretty quickly and get some rest moving into the last race of the Western Swing.”
