Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
NHRA Four-Wide Carolina Nationals
Sept. 19-21 | Charlotte, North Carolina
Event Recap
Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
- No time in Q1 on Friday (car was shut off due to a malfunction)
- Earned No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.760 ET at 329.67 mph)
- Maintained No. 9 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.787 ET at 328.38 mph.
- Secured No. 9 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 4.488 ET at 174.66 mph.
- Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.766 ET at 326.79 mph, defeated Shawn Reed (3.787 ET at 327.66 mph). Brittany Force also advanced to Round 2 (3.758 ET at 338.34 mph). The fourth lane was a bye.
- Semifinals: 3.784 ET at 328.62 mph, lost to Justin Ashley on a triple holeshot in first (3.788 ET at 326.56 mph) and Shawn Langdon in second (3.761 ET at 333.82 mph). Brittany Force also got defeated (3.773 ET at 338.26 mph).
- Currently fourth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 68 points behind leader Doug Kalitta
Matt Hagan, driver of TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Hellcat Funny Car:
- Earned No. 7 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.989 ET at 324.75 mph)
- Earned No. 1 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.891 ET at 329.67 mph)
- Scored three bonus points for quickest run of the session
- Maintained No. 1 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.017 ET at 322.27 mph.
- Secured No. 1 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.970 ET at 325.85 mph.
- Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.949 ET at 327.74 mph, defeated J.R. Todd (4.302 ET at 212.23 mph) and John Smith (6.664 ET at 105.69 mph). Jack Beckman also advanced to Round 2 (3.939 ET at 328.46 mph).
- Semifinals: 3.963 ET at 327.19 mph, defeated Jack Beckman (3.939 ET 325.69 mph) and Spencer Hyde (4.006 ET at 318.02 mph). Chad Green also advanced (4.011 ET at 322.50 mph).
- Finals: 3.952 ET at 324.12 mph, lost to Austin Prock (3.912 ET at 332.43 mph). Daniel Wilkerson finished third (4.389 ET at 195.87 mph) and Chad Green finished fourth (3.959 ET at 323.66 mph).
- Currently second in the Funny Car championship standings, 79 points behind leader Austin Prock
Notes of Interest
- 2025 marks the first time the NHRA has held four-wide events at Charlotte in both the Spring and Fall events and the Four-Wide Carolina Nationals marks the first NHRA four-wide event in the Countdown to the Championship.
- Hagan advanced to the Finals in both zMAX Dragway events this season. He has made six final-round appearances at the Carolina Nationals (2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2024, and 2025).
- Hagan’s No. 1 qualifying position marked his second of the 2025 season, with the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, California being his first No. 1 start of the season. This weekend’s No. 1 qualifier marks Hagan’s third at the Carolina Nationals (previous No. 1 starts came in 2011 and 2024) and the 54th No. 1 qualifier of his career.
- Hagan advanced from fifth to second in the Funny Car championship point standings.
Tony Stewart, Driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster
“We had an issue on Friday in round one of qualifying. I heard it while I was backing up and Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief) heard it, so we shut the car off and didn’t hurt any parts. It backed us in the corner a bit for the Friday night session not having a run under our belt, but we still put ourselves in a good quad for round one today and won that on a holeshot. We had a tough second round with three tough teams you’re going up against. The guy that beat us (Justin Ashley) won the race, so that’s just part of the sport. We have four more races to go dig and try to gain ground back. We’re not out of this thing by any means. We have the bit in our teeth, so we’ll go bust our butts next week and see what we can do to keep gaining some of these points back.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“What a wild Final. Usually, when someone (Chad Green) goes red next to you and you look at the tree, I almost double stepped the start. And if you go red too, you are out, and others automatically win. It’s not like a usual two-wide race, and it throws you off your game. You just aren’t ready for the guys next to you to go red. My crew guys have been great. We have gone through some adversity the last few weeks and the guys are getting blisters on their feet from working so hard on the race car. They had 15 hours at the track on Thursday and then the whole weekend too. We have been trying to figure out what was going on. It was a good weekend overall with the No. 1 qualifier and seven for seven strong runs down the track. We have a good race car now after our troubles last week. We have to keep grinding and we have more parts on order. The three-race swing (Reading-Charlotte-St. Louis) is a grind for everyone on the tour. It’s like the Western Swing back in the days. It’s tough. I think the crew chiefs (Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler) have discovered those problems and we are ready for the final four races.”
Next Up
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals Sept. 26-28 near St. Louis, Missouri. It is the third event in the Countdown to the Championship and the fourth-to-last race of the season.
