DragStory
Hagan Captures 50th NHRA Career Win in TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Funny Car at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte
Auburn Hills, MI – Reigning NHRA Mission Funny Car Champion Matt Hagan made drag racing history Sunday when he scored his 50th 
NHRA career victory at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car.
The four-time NHRA Funny Car titleholder passed the legendary Don “The Snake” Prudhomme in NHRA career victories with an impressive “holeshot” win in the final round over a strong lineup of John Force, J.R. Todd and Daniel Wilkerson with a 3.946 run at 332.34 mph. Hagan’s spectacular reaction time of 0.029 was the difference Sunday in scoring his first 2024 NHRA national event title.
It was the fourth NHRA win for Hagan at a drag strip he considers his “home track” after taking national wins in 2011, 2013 and 2014 at the popular zMAX Dragway. The Virginia racer advanced in the first round with a 3.918 over David Richards, Austin Prock and Blake Alexander, and then won the semifinals over Wilkerson, Bob Tasca III and Richards with a 3.879 at 334.24 mph, his top speed of the year. Continue reading
Ashley, Hagan, Anderson and Herrera take Wins at Charlotte Four-Wide
Charlotte, NC – Ashley, Hagan, Anderson and Herrera take Wins at Charlotte Four-Wide
Justin Ashley – Top Fuel Winner
SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel – 3.710 seconds, 328.06 mph
Matt Hagan – Funny Car Winner
TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car – 3.946 seconds, 332.34 mph
Greg Anderson – Pro Stock Winner
HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro – 6.502 seconds, 210.77 mph
Gaige Herrera – Pro Stock Motorcycle Winner
RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki – 6.684 seconds, 202.73 mph
video courtesy of NHRA
TOUGH FINAL ROUND PUTS DAMPER ON WEEKEND FOR JOHN FORCE IN CHARLOTTE NHRA 4-WIDE NATIONALS
Force was seeking second win of season and fourth win of his career in the Charlotte 4-Wide event
CONCORD, NC – Hopes of a perfect weekend for John Force fell short in the final round of Sunday’s NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX 
Dragway.
One week before his 75th birthday, the ageless wonder recorded the quickest elapsed time of his career (3.820 seconds), which was also the 10th-quickest time in NHRA Funny Car history, during Friday night’s second round of qualifying. He then came back with two outstanding final qualifying runs on Saturday.
Force motored through Sunday’s first two rounds of quad eliminations, but a tough start at the starting line in the final round kept the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion from winning for the second time this season.
“It was a good week, it was good to take the track record,” Force said. “We were able to go rounds, but I couldn’t close it at the end.” Continue reading
BO BUTNER WINS JHG MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK SEASON OPENER
CONCORD, NC – Bo Butner and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet Camaro picked up the JHG Mountain Motor Pro Stock 
season opening victory Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
Butner, who entered eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier, handled his JHG machine to a 6.230-second pass at 225.26 mph to defeat John Pluchino and his Feather-Lite Batteries Ford’s 6.294 pass at 224.14 in the final round. Butner’s victory marks a milestone of winning a Wally in seven different NHRA categories.
“First of all, thank you to Jason Johnson for backing this class. Today was only like my 15th ever run in a Mountain Motor Pro Stock car, but I’m enjoying this, and getting to do it with Randi Lyn is just awesome. We’ve got a great team, Frank Gugliotta is our crew chief, our whole crew is just awesome, and I’m really excited about the rest of this season,” Butner said. “This was what we were hoping for, to start it out this way, and it’s so cool to get a win in my seventh different class. That’s something I’ve been trying to do for a while now, and to join Jeg Coughlin in that accomplishment feels pretty good. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m very fortunate to have driven a lot of great cars for a lot of great people. This is awesome.”
AARON STANFIELD RUNNER-UP AT NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
CONCORD, NC – Aaron Stanfield and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / Janac Brothers Racing team landed a 
runner-up finish Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
Stanfield would get off the starting line in .011 seconds to run a 6.551-second pass at 209.75 mph and defeat Dallas Glenn (6.561 at 208.68) and teammate Cristian Cuadra (6.549 at 210.54) but he came up short to rival Greg Anderson’s 6.502 second pass at 210.77 mph.
The final round appearance was the second of the weekend for Stanfield, just moments before running his JHG / Melling Pro Stock entry, he won in the Factory X class. Stanfield would go 7.086 seconds at 193.85 mph to defeat Jesse Alexandra’s 7.450 at 186.07, his first victory in the class in just his second race of the season.
“It was a big weekend for me driving. We had a lot of success,” Stanfield said. “We got the job done in Factory X and got as close as we could in Pro Stock, making it to the finals and finishing second.” Continue reading
JUSTIN ASHLEY WINS NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
CONCORD, NC – Points leader Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team picked up their second win of 
the season Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
Ashley, who had already picked up a win during the weekend in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, ran an impressive 3.710 second pass at 328.06 mph to holdoff local Clay Millican (3.722 at 337.92), reigning world champion Doug Kalitta (3.725 at 326.00) and veteran Antron Brown (4.780 at 163.31). The victory was Ashley’s 15th of his career, 13th in Top Fuel, first at zMAX Dragway and first in the unique four-wide format.
“When you come out here and you race four-wide, the quads are so good. It really doesn’t matter who you’re racing, especially with depth of the Top Fuel field now. The quads are going to be stellar each and every time, and you saw it even in that final round. There was a lot of really good reaction times a lot of really good E.T.s and it made for some close racing,” Ashley said. “I think the only thing that could derail us is ourselves. If we got out of focus. It’s not about focusing on the competition, even though you want to know where you and relevant to everyone else, but our focus is on being the best version of ourselves that we can be. As long as we keep that internal focus, I think we’ll have a lot of success. Continue reading
Tony Schumacher Out Early After Jam-Packed Four-Wide Weekend in Charlotte
CONCORD, NC – Driving the Okuma Top Fuel dragster for the second consecutive event, Tony Schumacher was looking to finally clinch that 
elusive first four-wide Wally trophy in Okuma America Corporation’s backyard on Sunday at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte.
Schumacher began race day at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals from the No. 13 position after traction issues plagued the team during day one of qualifying. Starting from the bump spot in sixteenth on Saturday, crew chiefs Mike “Zippy” Neff and Jon “LJ” Schaffer tuned the JCM Racing Okuma rail to a 3.809-second pass at 325.30 MPH during the third qualifying round to move Schumacher up to the No. 15 spot. The team returned to the starting line for Q4 and closed out qualifying with another solid pass, posting a 3.766 E.T. at 320.89 MPH – their quickest of the weekend – to move Schumacher up another two positions to secure the 13th seed.
Facing No. 4 qualifier Clay Millican, No. 5 qualifier Billy Torrence, and No. 12 qualifier Josh Hart in round one of eliminations, Schumacher gave it a good effort, posting a 3.770 E.T. at 328.38, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Millican and Torrence, who advanced with 3.705 and 3.725 E.T.s, respectively. Continue reading
HART KEEPS IT CLOSE IN TIGHT QUAD AT CHARLOTTE
CHARLOTTE, NC – Josh Hart and the TechNet Top Fuel dragster had a short day at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals from zMAX 
Dragway. In his previous three four-wide races at the Bellagio of Drag Strips the entrepreneur from Ocala, Florida raced his way to the final quad, but today he was denied in the first round racing against Clay Millican, Billly Torrence and 8-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher. The No. 12 qualifier was in a prime position to advance after two days of qualifying at the all-concrete track located just north of Charlotte.
“We made consistent runs in qualifying and I felt good coming into the first round,” said Hart, a two-time Top Fuel national event winner. “On Friday in the night session we ran 3.773 and then yesterday we stepped up in race day conditions and ran 3.766 and 3.796 seconds. This TechNet Top Fuel dragster was ready to go rounds and we knew anything could happen in four-wide racing.”
Hart and the TechNet/R+L Carriers Top Fuel team were one of four Top Fuel dragsters in the opening quad of race day. Hart was first off the line with a strong .046, which was the quickest reaction time of the first round in Top Fuel, and his TechNet 12,000-horsepower race car was pulling hard in the second lane. He was side-by-side with Schumacher to his left and Millican to his right. As the dragsters crossed half-track Millican pulled ahead and Torrence in lane four was able to get the nose of his dragster out in front. At the finish line it was Millican and Torrence getting to the stripe in front of Hart and Schumacher. Continue reading
LANGDON OUT IN ROUND ONE AT ZMAX
Charlotte, NC – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 7 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during 
the opening round Friday afternoon when he needed just 3.719 seconds to reach the finish line at 334.32 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon raced in the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals “marquee matchup” facing Antron Brown, Steve Torrence and Brittany Force. Unfortunately for the 2013 Top Fuel champion, he failed to advance when the Autodesk dragster smoked the tires near half-track allowing Force and Brown to advance. Langdon was eliminated in the first round at both of the season’s four-wide races.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Charlotte in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails his teammate, second-place Doug Kalitta, by 10 points and leads fourth-place Steve Torrence by 33 points. Continue reading
KALITTA MAKES FINAL QUAD AT ZMAX FOUR-WIDE
Charlotte, NC – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. It was his second-consecutive No. 1 qualifier, 
his second of the season and the 55th of his career. During the second round of qualifying on Friday, Kalitta posted a 3.691-second effort at 337.92 mph. It was Kalitta’s career-best speed.
Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Shawn Reed and Cody Krohn in the first round before beating Billy Torrence and Jasmine Salinas in the semifinals despite not having any lane choice. In the final, again without lane choice, Kalitta ran a 3.725-second pass, but it wasn’t enough. He defeated Antron Brown, but Justin Ashley won the race; Clay Millican finished second.
When Kalitta advanced to the four-wide final round, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Chicago in three weeks. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the four-wide final round in Charlotte will re-run the semifinals and finals in the two-wide format earning additional purse and championship bonus points. Continue reading
