Tony Stewart Racing Event Recap for the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage
Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
SUPERGRIP NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
June 6-8 | Bristol, Tennessee

Event Recap

Tony Stewart, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:

• Earned No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (5.775 ET at 121.40 mph)
• Q2 was canceled due to rain 
• Earned No. 1 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.755 ET at 325.77 mph). Stewart faced Antron Brown in Round 1 of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where his run defeated Brown’s 11.591 ET at 99.53 mph. 
• Secured No. 1 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q3 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 3.803 ET at 324.05 mph. Stewart faced Doug Kalitta in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Finals, where his run defeated Kalitta’s 11.082 ET at 86.78 mph. 
• Scored three bonus points for being the fastest car of the session
• Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.821 ET at 327.27 mph, defeated Cam Ferre (8.227 ET at 83.57 mph)
• Round 2: 4.178 ET at 212.13 mph in a bye
• Semifinals: 3.861 ET at 326.08 mph, lost to Steve Torrence (3.857 ET at 327.27 mph)
• Currently leading the Top Fuel championship standings, 76 points over Shawn Langdon  

Matt Hagan, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:

• Earned No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.060 ET at 319.75 mph)
• Scored one bonus point for being the third-fastest car of the session
• Fell to No. 9 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Hagan ran a 4.065 ET at 287.23 mph.
• Fell to No. 12 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 5.324 ET at 137.83 mph.
• Secured No. 14 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 7.114 ET at 92.26 mph.
• Round 1: 4.068 ET at 323.58 mph, lost to Ron Capps (4.050 ET at 316.90 mph)
• Currently fifth in the championship standings, 109 points behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

• Stewart earned his first NHRA Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier in 28 career starts.
• Stewart won his first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. It marked the sixth Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season that Stewart has participated in. The only event he hasn’t participated in the specialty race was the 65th NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California. The challenge brings competitive racing to the qualifying schedule at 13 regular-season events during the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series campaign, pitting semifinalists from the previous race against each other in a pair of rematches, with the two winners then matching up in the final qualifying session.
• By advancing to the Semifinals, Stewart qualified to participate in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next event, the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals, where he will face a rematch against Steve Torrence.
• Hagan is the current track record holder at Bristol for speed with a run of 330.34 mph, a mark he set on Oct. 16, 2021.  
• Hagan and Stewart represented Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage (JHG) this weekend in Bristol. JHG was formed in 2021 and brings a passion and flare to the automotive world. They aim to inspire, drive and celebrate progress. JHG spans across Jason Johnson’s car collection featuring more than 200 sought after vehicles from classics, to hot rods and supercars. Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage’s mission is to preserve and showcase the automotive industry. The vehicles are driven to and displayed at events by Johnson and his team with the goal of growing interest and keeping car culture thriving. Johnson’s history in the industry began with Mather Auto Dismantler, Mather Mini Trucks and U-Pull It in Northern California. He later held an instrumental role in the growth and success of Copart, Inc., a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. JHG also serves as a primary sponsor of Elite Motorsports in the NHRA Pro Stock series.

Tony Stewart, Driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster

“It was a great weekend overall. We didn’t make it down the track during the first round of qualifying. None of us knew what the track was giving us then and we didn’t realize what a problem the right lane was going to be for everyone all weekend. We had lane choice for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and took the left lane because it was the better lane. That gave us the number one qualifier. We had a great day on Saturday getting number one qualifier and winning our first #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. That set us up to have a great day today. Cameron Ferre had some trouble today in round one. We put a hole out during round two, so we lost lane choice for the Semifinals. The highlight of the weekend for me was the Semifinals. We made it down the track and we had also cut down a left front tire, but I was able to keep it on the track and almost win. I’m really proud of that. We gained five points from the last event. We aren’t continuing our final-round streak (five consecutive Finals coming into Bristol), but we are continuing our round one streak (only Top Fuel team to advance past round one in every event this season). I’m extremely proud of that. I’m really proud of this team and the crew chiefs are doing a phenomenal job. They’re getting this car dialed in, so that it’s consistent in all conditions.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“Obviously, it was a very tough race. We’ve had three or four in a row that we’ve just been on the back-side of a good drag race and that’s tough. Those are hard to swallow, but at the end of the day, you have to just keep cheering and know things are going to flip the other way. We’ve been in a lot worse shape, that’s for sure. I hate it for our guys because they work hard all week and first round losses are always tough. I believe in our program and I believe in our guys. Mike Knudsen (crew chief) is doing a great job. We’re adapting to some of the changes that we made with the car. It’s promising to see that he can bring some different stuff out and adapt to that. Unfortunately, we didn’t have lane choice and we knew we had to back it down to get down that lane. We’re still staying very positive. We have the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals coming up next weekend in Richmond. It’s going be a two-day show with qualifying on Saturday and race on Sunday. We’ll get there and hopefully put this American Rebel Funny Car in the Winner’s Circle. We have some more JHG races coming up and some more Dodge races, so I’m excited that the season still has a long way to go.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals June 20-22 at Virginia Motorsports Park.

-TSR-