Short Day for Stewart, Hagan at NHRA Texas FallNationals, TSR Dodge//SRT Racers Prepare for Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals

Auburn Hills, MI – The Texas Motorplex has been a very successful track for the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT nitro team with three wins in the last two years at the NHRA Texas FallNationals drag races, but Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan had early exits Sunday with first-round losses in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively.

It was an unusual outing for the TSR Dodge//SRT effort after Leah Pruett (Top Fuel) and Hagan (Funny Car) scored the first “Double Up” wins for TSR in 2023 at the Texas Motorplex, and Hagan took Funny Car honors again last year for his fifth NHRA Texas FallNationals title.

Stewart, the NHRA Top Fuel regular season champion, qualified eighth in the TSR Mobil 1 Dodge//SRT dragster at Texas, but the Motorsports Hall of Famer had a tough matchup with veteran Clay Millican in the first round of eliminations. Millican’s 3.700 bettered Stewart’s 3.774 to advance to the quarterfinals.

The first-round loss for Stewart moved him to sixth in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings with two races remaining in the 20-event NHRA national series. The next NHRA national race is the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Direct Connection at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 30-Nov. 2.

“This wasn’t the weekend we were looking for at the FallNationals,” said Stewart, a two-time NHRA race winner this year. “We were able to qualify the Mobil 1 Dodge//SRT machine in the top-half of the field during Friday’s night session. We knew Clay (Millican) was going to be a tough opponent in round one today. We just didn’t have enough for him. We have two races left to try and capitalize on points and try to bring home a couple more wins.”

Hagan, the four-time NHRA World Champion, had a spectacular record at the Texas Motorplex with six consecutive final round appearances and three NHRA Texas FallNationals wins in that period. He has captured five Texas Motorplex trophies in his legendary Funny Car career. Coming off a victory two weeks ago at St. Louis, Hagan was within 20 points of the NHRA Mission Funny Car point leader Austin Prock heading into the Texas event.

However, the weekend started rough for the Virginia racer with an explosion in the first round of qualifying in his TSR Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car. A parts malfunction caused the mishap and put the TSR Dodge//SRT crew playing catch up.

Hagan started 12th in the 16-car field and went up against Paul Lee, who enjoyed lane choice in the opening round of eliminations. Hagan recorded one of the top reaction times (0.059) of the Funny Car division Sunday against Lee, but his 3.934 pass wasn’t enough against Lee’s 3.908. With Hagan’s starting line margin, the finish line advantage was only two feet after the 1,000-foot mark.

Despite the first-round defeat, Hagan is still second in the NHRA Mission Funny Car points standings when he heads to the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Direct Connection.

“This was a really challenging weekend and obviously not what we set out to do losing first round,” said Hagan. “It all started with Friday night because we had a big explosion in the first session. It wasn’t a tune-up issue or parts being put on wrong, but just a parts failure. It’s hard to swallow when we keep having part failures, but it’s the hand we’re dealt.

“We had a close drag race today against Paul (Lee). We did the best we could in the right lane. I got him on the tree, but he had more for the racetrack. That’s how it goes sometimes and I’m not mad. I know it’s easy for my guys to put their heads down, but we have two races to go. No matter how the points hunt shakes out, we can still win two more races. So that’s what we’re focused on.”

Ida Zetterström, the 2023 FIA Top Fuel champion from Sweden driving the Dialight/JCM/Dodge//SRT Top Fueler, defeated reigning world champion Antron Brown in the first round Sunday and took on eventual Texas race winner Doug Kalitta in the quarterfinals. In a close battle, Kalitta, the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion, moved on with the win over Zetterström, who also raced against Kalitta in the final round at St. Louis.

“I was very eager to get revenge on the final round from St. Louis,” Zetterström said. “I wanted to stage the car really shallow for the guys to get a good E.T., but I flickered the (starting line) bulb for so long I had to give it another go. And I was a little late on the tree, but we also ran slower than Doug. We were a little short on both ends, so we didn’t turn on the win light this time.”

The nitro cars will be back in action at the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Dodge starting on Friday, Oct. 31, with qualifying rounds at 1:30 and 4 p.m. PDT. Saturday’s (Nov. 1) qualifying will take place at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. PDT, with final eliminations on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 11 a.m. PST. Fox Sports 1 will broadcast Sunday’s eliminations at 5 p.m. EST.