Matt Hagan
By: Stellantis
- Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) drivers Matt Hagan and Tony Stewart opened the 2025 NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series Sunday driving their new red-and-blue Dodge//SRT nitro cars
- Debuting the new livery at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals, Hagan and Stewart wheeled their Direct Connection Dodge//SRT cars to strong performances in eliminations
- Hagan, the two-time Gatornationals champion, advanced to the semifinals Sunday by defeating former World Champion Cruz Pedregon and No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman
- Driving the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat with a revamped crew, Hagan was nipped at the finish line in the semis by event winner Chad Green, 3.92 to 3.98
- The four-time NHRA World Funny Car Champion now ranks fourth in Funny Car standings as the NHRA Mission Series heads to Phoenix, Ariz., on March 21-23
- Stewart, the three-time NASCAR series champion, began his second Top Fuel tour in the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster and showed great consistency at Gainesville
- Stewart, who announced the TSR Dodge//SRT multi-year partnership extension Friday, set low elapsed time of the first round of eliminations Sunday with a stellar 3.722 run
- In the second round, Stewart lost to race runner-up and former World Champion Shawn Langdon with another solid time of 3.742 to Langdon’s 3.739 in the rain-delayed event
- Stewart’s quarterfinal finish places him in the seventh position the NHRA Mission Top Fuel point standings with 19 races remaining in the 20-event drag racing campaign
- Follow Dodge in NHRA action at DodgeGarage.com
March 10, 2025, Auburn Hills, Mich. – Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) drivers Matt Hagan and Tony Stewart opened their 2025 NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series championship campaigns Sunday at the rain-delayed NHRA Amalie Gatornationals with the new red-and-blue 11,000-horsepower nitro-burning Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Funny Car and Top Fuel machines, respectively.
Despite losing two rounds of qualifying on Saturday to rain and a four-hour delay on Sunday, both TSR Dodge//SRT drivers put in strong performances during Sunday’s final eliminations with Hagan advancing to the event’s Funny Car semifinals and Stewart setting low elapsed time in the opening round in Top Fuel.
Earlier in the weekend, the Dodge brand announced a multi-year partnership extension with TSR to continue to field a Top Fuel dragster and Funny Car for the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series, as Stewart, Hagan and Leah Pruett held a press conference to discuss the longtime Dodge alliance.
The Hagan team went through some changes during the winter with veteran Mike Knudsen taking over as the TSR Funny Car crew chief in 2025, with Phil Shuler as co-crew chief and Alex Conaway as the car chief. Recent testing had Hagan very confident entering the Gatornationals, an event he captured in 2022 and 2023.
Despite losing two rounds of qualifying, Hagan’s mount came out strong on Sunday after the rain delay with a first-round victory over former NHRA World Champion Cruz Pedregon and No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman in the second round. In the semifinals, Hagan took a starting advantage over eventual race winner Chad Green, but Green’s 3.92 run was too much for Hagan’s 3.98 run.
“It’s been a very good weekend for our Funny Car team with the TSR Dodge partnership extension, the great coordination with the new crew positions and taking on tough track conditions at Gainesville,” said Hagan, the four-time NHRA World Funny Car Champion. “We have new crew chiefs with Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler and some guys in new positions. We were able to go rounds with the tough weather and that made qualifying tricky.
“We had to go against some heavy hitters, and Jack (Beckman) was a big one to get around. I’m really happy with my guys making the calls. It speaks volumes to having a group of guys that are trained in different positions. Alex (Conaway) really stepped up and was doing two jobs this week. Now, we move on to Phoenix in a few weeks (March 21-23), and it was a good start to the season here. We had a great drag race with Chad (Green) today.”
Stewart, named the NHRA Pro “Rookie of the Year” in 2024, also missed two rounds of qualifying due to the rain and had to go up against two-time NHRA World Top Fuel Champion Brittany Force in the first round, but the driver known as “Smoke” was not intimidated, recording the low elapsed time of the round with a stellar 3.722 pass in very difficult track conditions.
In the quarterfinals, Stewart set a strong 3.742 run in the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster, but former World Champion Shawn Langdon nipped Stewart’s machine at the finish line with close a 3.739. Langdon went on to finish runner-up in Top Fuel Sunday.
“We were all thrown a curveball today with an early start time, weather and tough track conditions,” said Stewart. “I was super proud of Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief), Mike (Domagala – co-crew chief), Ryan (McGilvry – car chief) and the whole team. We were the only car to make it down the racetrack in round one with low E.T. We lost in a good drag race to (Shawn) Langdon.
“The team went back and did a yard sale with our entire program and came here with a new approach. It’s showing a lot of promise. We have room for improvement performance-wise, but we have a car that is consistent. We’ll go to Phoenix to keep building the program. My crew chiefs are gaining confidence. We’re in a position where we can start racing, rather than just hoping the car makes it down the racetrack.”
Sweden’s Ida Zetterström, the multi-time European drag racing champion, returned to the NHRA Mission Series this weekend at the Gatornationals, driving the JCM/Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster, but lost in first-round action to former World Champion Doug Kalitta.
“Obviously, a very tough weekend with the weather,” said Zetterström. “We only got the two qualifiers. We struggled with some parts on the second run. Then today, I did the burnout and even when backing up, you could see that there was no traction on the starting line, and we couldn’t catch Doug.”
Zetterström’s JCM teammate Alexis DeJoria drove the Bandero Café Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car to the semifinals Sunday after wins over Terry Haddock and Bob Tasca III in the first two rounds of eliminations. DeJoria’s machine lost traction in the semifinals and three-time World Champion Ron Capps advanced to the final round.
The next NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series event is the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park in Chandler, Ariz., on March 21-23. Nitro qualifications are scheduled for Friday, March 21, at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. PDT, and Saturday, March 22, at 11:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. PDT. Final eliminations are set for Sunday, March 23, at 11 a.m. PDT. The Finals will be televised on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. PDT.
Direct Connection
The Direct Connection portfolio, available online and through the Dodge Power Brokers dealer network, includes modern performance, crate engine, race and vintage muscle high-performance products for Dodge performance vehicles, offering factory street, strip and track performance parts developed by SRT engineers and backed by a Mopar® warranty for peace of mind.
Performance enthusiasts and racers can access the Direct Connection hotline at (800) 998-1110 for technical and race support. More information on Direct Connection and Dodge Power Brokers is available at DCPerformance.com.
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.
Dodge//SRT
For 110 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge, America’s performance brand, shifts into high gear with a lineup that delivers unrivaled performance in each of the segments in which the brand competes while moving forward to a future that includes electrified muscle in the form of the next-generation, all-new Dodge Charger.
The next-generation Dodge Charger electrifies a legend, with the Charger retaining its title as the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car led by the all-new, all-electric 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack. The all-new Dodge Charger will also offer performance choices via multi-energy powertrain options, including the 550-horsepower Dodge Charger SIXPACK H.O., powered by the 3.0L Twin Turbo Hurricane High Output engine.
Dodge also keeps its foot on the gas as a pure performance brand with the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful gas engine SUV ever, and best-in-class standard performance in the compact-utility vehicle segment with the Dodge Hornet.
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news, including daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise.
Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis (NYSE: STLA).
Mopar
Mopar is the global name for Stellantis genuine parts and authentic accessories.
A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over more than 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.
Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.
Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com and the newly redesigned Mopar blog at blog.mopar.com.
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