Hagan Posts Top Qualifying Spot, Advances to NHRA Charlotte Final in Tony Stewart Racing Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Defending NHRA Mission Funny Car World Champion Matt Hagan, seeking his second straight zMAX Dragway victory, drove his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat to a final-round finish Sunday at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, while TSR teammate Tony Stewart exited early in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations.
Hagan, who captured the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals event win in Charlotte last April, and his championship-winning TSR crew had their nitro-burning Dodge//SRT Hellcat machine running strong all weekend with qualifying runs of 3.832 (season best) and 3.865 to secure the No. 1 starting spot entering Sunday’s final eliminations. It was Hagan’s second top-qualifying position of the season after claiming the No. 1 spot at Pomona in March.
The four-time NHRA world champion scored round victories against Dave Richards and Bob Tasca III before facing current NHRA Mission Funny Car points leader Austin Prock in the final round in very hot, humid weather conditions with track temperatures close to 130 degrees. It was Hagan’s 92nd career final round appearance in the Funny Car category.
In the final matchup, Hagan took an advantage over Prock at the starting line with a .051 second reaction light to Austin’s .070 and held the margin slightly before Prock’s mount nipped Hagan by a few feet at the finish line. Hagan recorded a 3.958 to Prock’s 3.94 to settle for the runner-up position. The second-place finish moved Hagan to fourth in the current NHRA Mission Funny Car points standings as the series heads to the NHRA Gateway Nationals this weekend, Sept. 27-29, near St. Louis.
“It was a good weekend for the TSR JHG Dodge team,” said Hagan. “We were trying really, really hard to get that win. The win is coming. It’s just a matter of time with how hard this group works behind the scenes. I would have liked to have pulled the car in the winner’s circle, but we will get there.
“Overall, it was a good, healing moment for our guys. It’s been a while since we had an opportunity to try and win one. I’m proud of my TSR crew guys. They put a great racecar underneath me. The car is responding to what they are asking it to do. It looks like we have a hot rod, so we will roll into St. Louis with some confidence. We want to win against St. Louis.”
Stewart, the NASCAR Hall of Fame owner and driver in his Top Fuel rookie campaign, came back to Charlotte seeking to match his oval track win performance with a Top Fuel victory at the drag strip next to the 1.5-mile oval. But the racing legend had to settle for a tough first round battle against reigning Top Fuel World Champion Doug Kalitta.
The man known as “Smoke” ran side-by-side with Kalitta until half-track when his TSR Dodge//SRT Top Fueler hazed the tires. Despite the opening round defeat, Stewart remains eighth in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings with four races remaining on the 20-event national tour at St. Louis, Dallas, Las Vegas and Pomona.
“This just wasn’t our weekend,” said Stewart. “We qualified 14th, and the car didn’t make it down the track during the money run on Friday night. It was on pace to be a top five run, and it didn’t make it. It wasn’t what cost us the first-round loss today, but we had a very uncommon error. And we addressed it. We are one team, all team and all of the guys rallied around what happened. It’s not the way we wanted to leave Charlotte, especially with having so many friends, NASCAR team members and former teammates out here. We wanted to have a good showing in front of all those people, and it just wasn’t meant to be. Now, we’ll head to St. Louis for another strong weekend.”
Sweden’s Ida Zetterström, in just her fourth NHRA professional event, fought a traction issue in the hot conditions with her JCM Racing/Dodge Top Fuel dragster against former NHRA world champion Brittany Force in the first round and failed to advance Sunday.
“We made it down the track on Saturday night in really hot and tricky conditions, and we ran the quickest pass of the left lane,” said Zetterström. “It was another hot one again today. I did feel like we had a good chance going into first round and we were actually ahead for a good part of the race but as I spun the tires, my car shut off, so I never really had the opportunity to ‘pedal’ the throttle. I heard Brittany ‘pedal’ her car and I could hear that she was behind me. This would have been an opportunity for me to have my first NHRA ‘pedalfest,’ but we’ll have to save that for another time.”
The NHRA Gateway Nationals are the third event in the six-race NHRA “Countdown” and nitro qualifying begins this Friday, Sept. 27, at 5:30 p.m. CDT and 8 p.m. CDT, followed by Saturday, Sept. 28, qualifying at 1 p.m. CDT and 3:30 p.m. CDT. Final eliminations at World Wide Technology Raceway are scheduled for 11 a.m. CDT on Sunday, Sept. 29.
Fox Sports 1 coverage of the NHRA Gateway Nationals will be televised on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. EDT with early qualifying rounds, and the final eliminations will be aired on FS1 at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 29.
This story was originally published on September 23, 2024.
The post Hagan Posts Top Qualifying Spot, Advances to NHRA Charlotte Final in Tony Stewart Racing Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
