BROWNSBURG, IN – Stopping a 330 mile per hour, nitro-breathing monster can be a handful. Just ask three-time NHRA Camping World Funny Car champion Matt Hagan.

Hagan, the hottest driver entering the NHRA Circle K Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte, had won three of the first four 2023 NHRA national events with his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat and was seeking a fourth “Wally” trophy two weeks ago at zMAX Dragway.

The opening round of qualifying, with four nitro-burning machines, was set on Friday afternoon and Hagan’s 1000-foot pass was a good one. But there was a problem with the car at the finish line at 326 miles per hour.

The two parachutes attached to the rear of Hagan’s Dodge//SRT Hellcat didn’t deploy. A small part in the release of the chutes failed and, while he was hard on the car’s brakes, Matt had to drive his Dodge Funny Car into the sand trap at the end of the track and then the safety netting stationed for stopping any racing vehicles.

Hagan walked away from the incident, but his Dodge//SRT Hellcat was damaged. The carbon fiber body was destroyed, and the car’s chassis was bent. This required the TSR crew to pull out the team’s backup Dodge for the remainder of the weekend’s racing events.

“We are always prepared for anything with the primary car,” said Dickie Venables, Crew Chief for Hagan’s Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car, whose team is ready with a rebuilt car for the upcoming NHRA National event at Joliet, IL, on May 19-21. “It was very unfortunate what happened at Charlotte with Matt and the car going into the netting. But we had the backup car ready to go for the next round of qualifying. It had been a few years since that had happened to us back in Gainesville, but we went on to win that race. So, the backup is always ready.”

And Venables’ squad was prepared for a busy week following the Charlotte event as the team rebuilt the Dodge//SRT Hellcat for the next event on May 19-21 in Joliet, IL.

“The car was a mess with sand everywhere and the chassis being bent,” said Venables. “It took us half a day for the cleanup of the car, and we then drove the chassis down the street for the repairs. Joe Fitzpatrick and Dan Murphy at Precision Built Race Cars were ready for us after a Saturday night phone call regarding the bent chassis. It’s just down the street from the TSR shop and they began repairing the car immediately.”

With the chassis in rebuild mode, Venables and crew continued their regular preparation work including cylinder heads, clutch and engine building for the next event.

“Luckily, we didn’t have any damage with the engine and clutch,” said Venables, the veteran crew chief who has led Hagan to multiple World Championships. “Joe and Dan’s group basically cut off the first eight feet of the chassis and rebuilt the frame right by where Matt’s feet are in the car.

“Everything is coming together very well. It was a tough weekend at Charlotte, but we have a very experienced crew, and they can handle these misfortunes very well. We have prepared all the parts for the new chassis, and I’ve confident the car will be strong at Joilet.”

Hagan also is confident in his team’s preparation for Joliet despite the Charlotte incident.

“I’ll take our guys against the other Funny Car teams in preparation after a mishap,” said Hagan, the current NHRA Camping World Funny Car point leader. “Dickie and his boys are the best at coming back from adversity. We have been through a lot over the years, and I trust their experience giving me a strong car. Charlotte was a tough weekend, but I’m anxious for the Route 66 event. We’ll be ready when qualifying opens on Friday.”

Hagan currently holds a 58-point lead in the NHRA Camping World Funny Car standings entering the May 19-21 Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.

“It’s been several years (since 2019) since we have raced at Joliet,” said Venables. “But we have some excellent research from our past events at the track, and I think the rebuilt chassis will perform very well at that place. We will study the conditions for that track and be ready to roll this Friday when qualifying opens.”

Action begins this Friday, May 19, at Route 66 Raceway with Nitro qualifying set for 6 p.m. CDT. Saturday’s qualifying will take place at 2:35 p.m. CDT and 6 p.m CDT with final eliminations scheduled for 11 a.m. CDT on Sunday, May 21. Television coverage of the Route 66 Raceway eliminations will be televised at 10 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1.

CONCORD, NC – Leah Pruett of Lake Havasu, AZ, drove her Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Rush Truck Services/Dodge SRT Top Fuel dragster to the runner-up spot Sunday in the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals final eliminations at the zMAX Dragway, the fourth round of the 21-race NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Sunday’s eliminations were hampered by several rain stoppages which delayed the action throughout the day.

Pruett, who qualified with a season-best of 3.678 and third in the 16-car Top Fuel field, kept her stellar consistency record intact in the fourth straight event this season with impressive round times of 3.702, 3.753 and 3.708 in the final round. In the four-car final, Austin Prock was the winner with a 3.684 followed by Leah’s 3.708 and 329.99 miles per hour pass.

The runner-up performance, along with two semi-final showings this year, has vaulted Pruett into third in the current NHRA Top Fuel point standings as the tour heads to Route 66 Raceway in Elwood, IL, on May 19-21 for the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

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LAS VEGAS – Matt Hagan continued his impressive 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing series performance Sunday at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Four-Wide Nationals with his third Funny Car win in four events in the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Haas Automotive Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.

Hagan, the three-time NHRA World Champion, qualified third in the 16-car field and advanced to the final round with solid, consistent runs of 3.997 and 3.968 seconds to set up a third finals appearance in the opening four races in 2023.

Competing against John Force, Tim Wilkerson and Chad Green in the final, Hagan posted a winning time of 3.943 at 326.79 m.p.h. for his 46th career Funny Car victory and extended his Funny Car points lead to 105 entering the next NHRA national event at Charlotte, NC., on April 28-30.

Hagan’s Funny Car victory was his second straight at the Strip after winning last October in the Nevada Nationals and his fifth Las Vegas triumph of his career. This is Hagan’s seventh win with Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) dating back to the 2022 Gatornationals.

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POMONA, CA – Matt Hagan proved to be the most consistent Funny Car driver Sunday at the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip when he drove the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Haas Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to victory in the NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals, the third race of the 21-event NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

Hagan, winner of the season opener at Gainesville, FL, came from his tenth starting position to clock runs of 3.929, 3.950, 3.955 and 3.967 in defeating defending Funny Car World Champion Ron Capps in the final round.

The victory was Hagan’s fourth Winternationals title and 45th NHRA career triumph, currently ranking fourth all-time Funny Car wins behind John Force, Capps and Robert Hight.

Hagan’s win moved the Dodge//SRT Mopar racer to the top of the current NHRA Funny Car point standings with 277 to Capps’ 251 as the NHRA Camping World tour heads to the Four-Wide Nationals on April 14-16 in Las Vegas, NV.

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CHANDLER, AZ – Coming off an outstanding performance at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals two weeks ago, the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection crews of drivers Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan battled a tricky track this weekend in the Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

The Arizona Nationals welcomed a sellout crowd and sunny skies in the final NHRA national event at the popular racing facility.

On track, Pruett, who won her first NHRA Top Fuel national event back in 2016 at the Arizona dragstrip, recorded her second consecutive semi-final finish Sunday after impressive 3.72-second runs in defeating Buddy Hull (round one) and reigning Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force (round two) in the TSR Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster. Leah lost to former World Champion Shawn Langdon in the semi-finals with a 3.761 to Langdon’s 3.719.

The back-to-back semi-final finishes for Pruett moved her into the top-three in the current NHRA Camping World Top Fuel point standings, heading to the third event this weekend at Pomona, CA, in the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.

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GAINESVILLE, FL – Three-time NHRA Camping World Funny Car Champion Matt Hagan of Christiansburg, Va., scored his second straight NHRA Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals drag racing title Sunday by driving his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to victory at the legendary Gainesville Raceway in the 2023 NHRA season-opening national event.

Hagan, who qualified fifth Saturday in the 16-car field, defeated former NHRA World Champion J.R. Todd in the Funny Car final with a 3.926 at 329.34 miles per hour to claim his 44th career NHRA Funny Car crown, moving him to fourth all-time in NHRA Funny Car victories. In an exciting Funny Car finale, Hagan and Todd battled side-by-side through half track before Todd’s car smoked the tires and Matt went on to take the win light.

Earlier in eliminations, Hagan defeated Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca and Alexis DeJoria to advance to the final round against Todd.

Hagan gave credit for the victory to his Dickie Venable-led TSR crew, as the team debuted a new chassis and engine parts in the season opener.

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GAINESVILLE, FL – The season opening NHRA Amalie Motor Gatornationals proved to be exciting qualifying rounds Saturday before a sellout crowd. Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan of Tony Stewart Racing led the Dodge//SRT and Mopar competitors in the nitro-burning divisions with their respective Top Fuel and Funny Car machines.

Pruett, the 10-time NHRA national event winner, drove her all-new sublime green TSR Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster to fourth in the 16-car starting field Saturday with a 3.725 at 331.94 miles per hour. Pruett and her Neal Strausbaugh-led crew showed consistency in the three qualifying runs with two 3.72-second passes. The Arizona driver will compete against the No. 13 qualifier, Doug Foley, in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.

Hagan, the defending NHRA Gatornationals Funny Car champion, also showed consistency Saturday with a 3.900-second qualifying run and a top speed of 333.08 m.p.h. with his TSR Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to record the fifth spot in the 16-car field. Rain in Friday’s qualifying cost the nitro cars a fourth qualifying hit, but the Virginia driver is confident in his Dickie Venables-led crew to handle the ever-changing conditions of the Gainesville Raceway track surface.

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AUBURN HILLS, MI – The excitement of the opening round of the 2023 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series hits a 11,000-horsepower pitch this weekend (March 9-12) at the legendary Gainesville Raceway in Florida as Dodge//SRT and Mopar competitors are staged to kick off the new season with another winning performance in the 54th annual NHRA Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals.

Led by the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) nitro team, Dodge//SRT and Mopar racers Leah Pruett (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) bring their strong Direct Connection entries to the 2023 season opening event, the first of 21 rounds for the coveted NHRA Camping World World Championships.

The Dodge//SRT and Mopar duo enter their second campaign under the TSR banner, and Hagan returns as the event’s defending Funny Car champion with his nitro-burning Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. The 2022 Gatornationals Funny Car triumph for Hagan was the first win for the TSR squad. Hagan recorded three additional NHRA national event victories in the team’s initial season.

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Pedregon Powers Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to Win at NHRA Finals 

Pomona, CA – In their first year competing in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series, Tony Stewart Racing with driver Matt Hagan at the wheel of his Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car were a championship contending team from the start of the season to this weekend’s 57th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. Hitting the dragstrip with wins in three of the first eight national events, Hagan led the category through June, then took his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat into the NHRA’s “Countdown to the Championship” six-event playoff series where he proceeded to drive to three semifinal performances, a runner-up finish, and the team’s fourth win of the season.

Hagan qualified third for the season finale with the slim possibility remaining of sneaking past fellow championship contenders Robert Hight and Ron Capps in the points by wheeling his Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat to a final elimination appearance. In the opening round Hagan had the quicker start against No. 14 seed Steven Densham but suddenly lost traction early in the run. While Hagan tried to regain control, his opponent continued past to take the round win and ultimately ended his hopes of battling for a fourth world title.

After a runner-up finish in the championship to Capps last year, and his third world title win in 2020, Hagan closes out the 2022 season among the top-three in the Funny Car standings for a fourth straight year that also marked the tenth consecutive season with at least three wins.

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Pomona, CA – Race day at the 57th annual Auto Club National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Finals may offer up a very exciting end to Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) first season in drag racing competition as Matt Hagan qualified his Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car No. 3 for eliminations and, with three win lights and a little luck, could end up battling for a Wally trophy and the 2022 NHRA World Championship in the final round of the season.

There are certainly plenty of scenarios that could play out on race day for the points-and-a-half finale at the legendary Auto Club Raceway at Pomona but should current class leader Robert Hight falter in the first two rounds while the Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car drives to a final elimination appearance, the world championship title for Hagan and TSR remains a possibility.

The three-time Funny Car World Champion’s best run of the weekend came in Friday’s second session with a 3.844-second elapsed time run at 323.58 mph to put him third on the elimination ladder and earn four of his five total qualifying bonus points. While he wasn’t able to amass enough extra points to put him within two rounds (or less than 60 points) of Hight as No. 1 Qualifier Capps (57 points behind) had done, the good news is that both of Hagan’s opponents are on the opposite side of the eliminations ladder, giving the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver a chance to contend for the crown by advancing to the final round.

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