Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Top Fuel | Funny Car
NHRA Midwest Nationals
Sept. 27-29 | St. Louis
Event Recap
Tony Stewart, driver of the Rush Truck Centers Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:
- Q1 on Friday was canceled due to rain
- Q2 on Friday was canceled due to rain
- Earned No. 7 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.779 ET at 320.13 mph)
- Secured No. 11 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q3 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.790 ET at 312.57 mph.
- Eliminated following Round 1 on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.755 ET at 323.58 mph, lost to Shawn Reed (3.773 ET at 319.29 mph)
- Currently ninth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 194 points behind leader Antron Brown
Matt Hagan, driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
- Q1 on Friday was canceled due to rain
- Q2 on Friday was canceled due to rain
- Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.962 ET at 274.89 mph)
- Secured No. 9 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.921 ET at 300.00 mph)
- Eliminated following Round 1 on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.976 ET at 297.55 mph, lost to Bob Tasca III (3.913 ET at 327.43 mph)
- Currently fifth in the Funny Car championship standings, 205 points behind leader Austin Prock
Notes of Interest
- Despite his first-round exit, Hagan has advanced to the finals six times at St. Louis (two wins in 2021 and 2023), with four runner-up finishes in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2020. In his last five starts, he has compiled a 13-3 elimination record.
- The NHRA is headed to Dallas next, where TSR earned its first double-up victory in 2023 with Leah Pruett in Top Fuel and Matt Hagan in Funny Car.
- American Rebel Beer CEO Andy Ross will be performing at the Stampede of Speed Fan Fest on Thursday, October 10 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. The event will take place at Railyard Park (455 S. College St. Waxahachie, TX 75165).
Tony Stewart, Driver of the Rush Truck Centers Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster
“This weekend was tough for TSR. We knew we had to stay in it during the first qualifying session yesterday, since we only got two runs. We weren’t able to improve in the second session, so we ended up No. 11 qualifier. Shawn Reed is a great competitor and we’re close to their family. At the end of the day, we were on the bad side of a good drag race. I really wanted to get a win for Rusty Rush and Rush Truck Centers. We haven’t been able to get them a win while they’re on the car, even on the (NASCAR) Cup side. We’ll look ahead to Dallas.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“We just missed it out here today. We didn’t have it together for the weekend and it didn’t help only getting two rounds of qualifying. At the end of the day, you have to tip your cap to (Bob) Tasca’s team. They’re on a different planet. That’s the nail in the coffin for us. I think we need to sit down and evaluate what we’re doing as a team and take these next three races to test. We haven’t been the caliber team that I think we are capable of being. We won the championship last year and we have a great group of guys. They work so hard, I’m so proud of all of them. You want nothing more than to be able to give them those wins. Hopefully we can go out there and be a spoiler these next few races and mix it up a bit, but I think that’s it for our championship hunt.”
Next Up
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Texas NHRA FallNationals Oct. 11-13 at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas. It is the fourth event in the Countdown to the Championship and the third-to-last race of the season.
-TSR-
