Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Top Fuel | Funny Car
American Rebel Light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
April 25-27 | Charlotte, North Carolina
Event Recap
Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
- Earned No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.813 ET at 315.71 mph)
- Earned No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.711 ET at 324.05 mph)
- Maintained No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 8.827 ET at 79.79 mph. Q3 was also part of the NHRA’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Stewart faced Justin Ashley, Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence. Stewart lost to Kalitta’s 3.728 ET, 327.98 mph run, Torrence’s 3.739 ET, 329.75 mph run, and Ashley’s 4.614 ET, 167.18 mph run.
- Secured No. 8 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.782 ET at 321.65 mph.
- Earned three bonus points for quickest run of the session
- Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.774 ET at 325.53 mph, defeated Doug Kalitta (3.755 ET at 328.46 mph) and Lex Joon (8.651 ET at 84.90 mph). Steve Torrence also advanced to Round 2 (3.747 ET at 335.65 mph).
- Round 2: 3.760 ET at 323.35 mph, defeated Doug Foley (3.850 ET at 316.38 mph) and Steve Torrence (3.961 ET at 311.56 mph). Antron Brown also advanced to the Finals (3.751 ET at 334.24 mph).
- Finals: 3.792 ET at 309.06 mph, lost to Shawn Langdon in first (3.714 ET at 330.63 mph) and Justin Ashley in second (3.776 ET at 329.99 mph). Antron Brown finished fourth (5.441 ET at 136.39 mph).
- Currently second in the championship standings, 61 points behind Top Fuel leader Shawn Langdon
Matt Hagan, driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
- Earned No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.892 ET at 329.91 mph)
- Fell to No. 8 provisional qualifying in Q2 on Friday (3.873 ET at 330.39 mph)
- Maintained No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.993 ET at 307.23 mph. Q3 was also part of the NHRA’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Hagan faced Paul Lee, J.R. Todd and Daniel Wilkerson. Hagan defeated Lee’s 4.065 ET, 297.09 mph run, Wilkerson’s 4.219 ET, 229.24 mph run, and Todd’s 5.353 ET, 135.35 mph run.
- Secured No. 8 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.014 ET at 319.29 mph. Q4 was also served as the NHRA’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Finals, where Hagan faced Spencer Hyde, Paul Lee and Austin Prock. Hagan lost to Prock’s 3.949 ET, 322.50 mph run, Hyde’s 3.949 ET, 325.69 mph run, and Lee’s 3.978 ET, 311.70 mph run.
- Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.939 ET at 331.28 mph, defeated Paul Lee (4.469 ET at 189.39 mph) and Bobby Bode (8.190 ET at 91.64 mph). Dave Richards also advanced to Round 2 (4.439 ET at 306.26 mph).
- Round 2: 3.962 ET at 325.77 mph, defeated Dave Richards (10.378 ET at 88.51 mph) and Chad Green (4.574 ET at 218.37 mph – red lit). Alexis DeJoria also advanced to the Finals (5.115 ET at 147.20 mph).
- Finals: 3.939 ET at 329.10 mph, lost to Austin Prock in first (3.870 ET at 332.92 mph) and Ron Capps in second (3.920 ET at 327.51 mph). Alexis DeJoria finished fourth (3.933 ET at 327.98 mph).
- Currently second in the championship standings, 50 points behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock
Notes of Interest
- Stewart advanced to his third consecutive final round. The other Final appearances came at the 65th NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California and the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas.
- Stewart advanced to Round 2 after earning a holeshot in Round 1, with a RT (reaction time) of .069.
- The American Rebel Light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte marked Hagan’s second consecutive appearance to the Finals, following the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas.
- By finishing in the Semifinals, Hagan improved his position in the Funny Car championship point standings from fourth to second.
- Hagan advanced to his second consecutive Final at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, having earned the win in 2024 (3.946 ET at 332.34 mph) after defeating Daniel Wilkerson (3.923 ET at 327.59 mph), J.R. Todd (3.978 ET at 320.36 mph) and John Force (3.960 ET at 329.75 mph).
- By finishing in the Semifinals, Hagan and Stewart have secured their positions in the NHRA’s #2Fast2Tasty Mission Challenge, where Hagan will face off against Alexis DeJoria at Chicago and Stewart will race Antron Brown. The Semifinalists from Charlotte will rematch during qualifying on Saturday, with bonus money and points on the line.
- American Rebel Light served as the event sponsor for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. American Rebel Light is more than just a beer – it’s a celebration of freedom, passion, and quality. Brewed with care and precision, their light beer delivers a refreshing taste that’s perfect for every occasion. American Rebel Light is currently available in 10 states (Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee), with additional states being announced soon. They have been a partner of TSR for three seasons.
Tony Stewart, Driver of the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connecion Top Fuel Dragster
“It’s hard to be disappointed after we’ve made it to the finals for three races in a row. Like I said after Vegas, we still have a lot of work to do and today showed that. We still got to the finals, but we all have areas we need to work on. We had a lot of little problems this weekend that can turn into big problems if they’re not addressed. After the win at Vegas, everyone got a deep breath and got the monkey off our back. At the same time, it feels like we kind of open ourselves up to mistakes because we’re not as focused as we need to be. It’s a tough team meeting when it’s over, but when you can have a tough meeting after making the finals, it’s a good situation to be in. I’m proud of our team. They’re a group of guys that don’t historically make mistakes, so we aren’t going to sit there and say we’re in a bad shape with our guys because they’re doing great. We just have to make sure we stay focused and don’t let little issues creep in. We’re five races in and we’ve made it past the first round all five races. We’re leaving Charlotte still second in points. It’s not where I thought we’d be at this point in the year, so I’m very pleased. It was also really neat having Andy Ross and American Rebel Light sponsor this event. I haven’t had a chance to chat with him yet, but I have to think he really enjoyed the weekend. It was big for them to take on an event title sponsorship and awesome he got to perform a concert yesterday in between qualifying. It was a fun weekend for Dodge and American Rebel Light. I’m glad we could get both cars in the finals. It’s something to be proud of for TSR.”
Matt Hagan, Driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“It was really cool to have Andy Ross (American Rebel CEO) out here this weekend. It was a big weekend for him sponsoring the race and our car. I’m happy we were able to go rounds for him today and put on a good show for everyone. We went down the racetrack every run this weekend. We have new crew chiefs (Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler – co-crew chief). It’s no different than seat time. You get better after 20 years. The crew chiefs get better with making calls on the racetrack. It’s a very competitive field and we just needed a little more out there. We’ve been to a lot of rounds so far and it’s more than some of the seasoned crew chiefs can say. I’m confident in our guys and they’re doing a great job. I’m feeling good about the races we have coming up. We’ll be in Chicago next and we’ve won that one a few times (four). It’s been good to me, so we’ll roll into the next one. We’re still going to drink American Rebel Light no matter what.”
Next Up
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Racing Series schedule is the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK May 15-18 at Route 66 Raceway outside Chicago, Illinois.
-TSR-
