Reading Event Recap for the 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan

Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers

40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish

Sept. 12-14 | Reading, Pennsylvania

EVENT RECAP

Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:

        * Earned No. 6 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.819 ET at 329.10 mph)

        * Fell to No. 11 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Stewart ran a 5.147 ET at 137.25 mph.

        * Maintained No. 11 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 4.146 ET at 213.23 mph.

        * Secured No. 11 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.817 ET at 327.05 mph)

        * Advanced to Round 2 on Sunday:

        * Round 1: 3.808 ET at 329.58 mph, defeated Tony Schumacher (4.261 ET at 195.19 mph)

        * Round 2: 3.809 ET at 326.71 mph, lost to Doug Kalitta (3.787 ET at 335.73 mph)

        * Currently second in the Top Fuel championship standings, 18 points behind leader Doug Kalitta

Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:

        * Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.017 ET at 321.04 mph)

        * Fell to No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.932 ET at 330.80 mph)

        * Maintained No. 9 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.134 ET at 242.98 mph.

        * Secured No. 9 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.008 ET at 318.62 mph.

        * Eliminated following Round 1 on Sunday:

        * Round 1: 4.605 ET at 177.56 mph, lost to Blake Alexander (3.966 ET at 326.40 mph)

        * Currently fifth in the Funny Car championship standings, 55 points behind leader Austin Prock

NOTES OF INTEREST

        * The 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish served as the first race in the Countdown to the Championship, with five events remaining.

        * Stewart has advanced past Round 1 in three consecutive NHRA events (Brainerd and Indianapolis were the two previous events).

        * Stewart and Kalitta were involved in an on-track incident in Round 2, when Kalitta had a front wheel malfunction, causing his Top Fuel dragster to cross over into Stewart’s lane, collecting the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster. Both drivers were checked and released from NHRA’s medical team.

        * The 40th Annual NHRA Nationals had a sold-out crowd on Saturday for the fourth consecutive year.

TONY STEWART, DRIVER OF THE TSR DODGE//SRT DIRECT CONNECTION TOP FUEL DRAGSTER

“This was definitely not the weekend we were looking for. We didn’t want to qualify No. 11 by any means, but during the money run, we had a set of tires that shook for some reason. I knew during the burnout that the car probably wasn’t going to make it down. We had a reasonable run after that on Saturday. We got through first round against Tony Schumacher and lined up against one of the best with Doug (Kalitta) in the second round. I wish I could tell you what happened (during the accident), but what I saw on the video is the only thing I can go off of. It looked like his front wheel failed and he came across into my lane. I’m just glad he’s alright. I was worried about him and he was worried about me. The silver lining is that everyone around us (in points) had problems in the second round. Even though Doug took over the points lead, we’re all close to each other in points heading into Charlotte, so we can rally from there.”

MATT HAGAN, DRIVER OF THE TSR DIRECT CONNECTION DODGE//SRT HELLCAT FUNNY CAR

“It was a really tough weekend for TSR. I’m really glad Tony was okay because it was a nasty lick that he took. We love doing this and going fast, but it’s always good to see your buddy crawl out of the car and see that he’s okay. We’re blessed to do what we do, but sometimes we get so caught up in the adrenaline and winning that we forget how dangerous it is. I got reminded of that today when we exploded as well. The tethers came up and I couldn’t see out to drive the race car. I didn’t know where I was at on the track or where my opponent was. That is a bad feeling. As a driver, you pride yourself on having seat time and being able to get yourself out of bad situations. When you feel like you’re along for the ride, it is a hopeless feeling. I’m glad today’s outcome was what it was and that everyone is okay and Tony has that cute baby (Dominic) to go home to. We’re going to stay over and do some testing tomorrow so we can figure out what’s wrong. We have something going on in the valve train. The crew chiefs (Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler) are really smart, so they will figure it out. There’s a lot of parts to pick through. With Blake (Alexander) and Cruz (Pedregon) in the Final, it was the best scenario we could have hoped for points-wise. We will keep working hard and see what we can come up with in Charlotte.”

NEXT UP

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals Sept. 19-21 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It marks the second event in the Countdown to the Championship and the fifth-to-last race of the season.