Stewart Reaches Fifth Consecutive Final in TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster At NHRA New England Nationals, Teammate Hagan Falls by Inches

Auburn Hills, MI – It is hard to imagine traveling over 330 miles per hour and losing a drag race by a few inches, but that was the story Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals for Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge//SRT drivers Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan. Stewart advanced to his fifth consecutive NHRA Top Fuel final round and fell just short of a third 2025 win, while Funny Car driver Hagan exited in a close first-round battle,

Stewart, the driver known as “Smoke,” qualified second on Saturday at 3.694 in the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster and drove to the final round with wins over Rit Pustari with a 3.699, Justin Ashley with a 3.733 and current World Champion Antron Brown with a 3.711. Then, in the final round, Stewart posted a spectacular 0.049 reaction time off the starting line against Brittany Force’s 0.068, but Force ran over 340 miles per hour to nip Stewart at the finish line for the win. Force ran 3.694 to Stewart’s 3.720, a finishing margin of just 0.0074.

With Stewart’s fifth straight final round appearance, the NASCAR Hall of Famer, who has won NHRA Top Fuel races at Las Vegas and Chicago this year, extended his NHRA Mission Top Fuel points lead to 71 over Shawn Langdon as the 20-race series moves to Bristol, Tenn., this weekend (June 6-8) for the annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

“I’m very happy with the weekend,” said Stewart. “We gained points in qualifying in two of the rounds. We came into eliminations today as the number two qualifier, which was great. We had a solid day. We fell a little short in the finals, but I’m happy with my lights in the semifinals and the finals. I’m proud of my reaction times, and I’m proud of our team for making five finals in a row. We’re the only team in Top Fuel that has made it past the first round in every race.

“Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief), Mike (Domagala – co-crew chief), Ryan (McGilvry – car chief), Phil (Shuler – Hagan’s co-crew chief) and all the guys are just crushing it right now. We have a racecar now. We’re showing up to race and that’s exactly where I want to be. We’re running with the big dogs and we’re more consistent than a lot of them. So, we’ll look forward to going to NASCAR country next weekend at Bristol and having some fun.”

While Stewart’s final loss was by close to a foot, the margin was even closer for Matt Hagan, the four-time New England Nationals champion, in his TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car.

Hagan, the four-time NHRA World Champion in the highly competitive Funny Car division, qualified ninth with a 3.920 and took on “rookie” Spencer Hyde in the opening round of eliminations. Hagan was ready at the starting line with a 0.065 to Hyde’s 0.091 reaction time.

In recent races Hagan has just missed at the finish line and Sunday’s first round matchup was another close loss by inches. The Virginia racer recorded a 3.893 at 333.74 mph. to Hyde’s 3.863, who had a winning advantage by 0.0042, just inches ahead at the finish. Hagan also missed by inches a win in the Mission 2Fast2Tasty Special race on Saturday, 3.920 to Jack Beckman’s 3.912.

Despite the first-round defeat, Hagan still ranks fourth in the NHRA Mission Funny Car points as he heads to his home track, Thunder Valley Dragway, where he has won previously in Funny Car.

“Today was a tough race day,” Hagan said. “We qualified ninth, so we didn’t have lane choice in round one. We pulled back a little bit because the left lane is a bit bumpy. We ran a good drag race, but we were on the back side of it. We definitely would have liked to have gone some rounds in our Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car. The ladder opened up for us with Austin (Prock) losing first round, and we could have made up some points.

“We’re looking forward to Bristol. I know they’ve been working on the track surface, so we should put on a good show for the fans. We are within striking distance of a victory. We just have to put together four round wins.”

In the Top Fuel class, Sweden’s Ida Zetterström, the former FIA European Top Fuel titleholder, put in her best NHRA performance this weekend in the JCM Dodge//SRT dragster with a career-best 3.720 and upset four-time NHRA World Champion Steve Torrence in the first round of eliminations with another 3.720 to advance to the quarterfinals. Former World Champion Doug Kalitta defeated Zetterström with a 3.680 to Zetterström’s 3.720.

“I’m so happy we were able to add this race at the last minute,” said Zetterström, who competes in a limited Top Fuel schedule. “We made some big changes going into Charlotte, which we felt paid off. Coming here to Epping, we improved on those changes. We broke a long streak of losing in the first round. Everyone on the team has kept their head up and worked through it. We got a lot of great data to bring with us to Bristol. This is the best our team has ever been with this car.”

The TSR Dodge//SRT drivers will be in action at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals with nitro qualifying set for Friday, June 6, at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. EDT. On Saturday, June 7, nitro qualifying rounds begin at 12:35 p.m. and 3:05 p.m. EDT, with final eliminations beginning at 12 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 8. The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals final eliminations telecast on the Fox Sports Network will begin on Sunday, June 8, at 3 p.m. EDT.