Courtesy NHRA Communications (Photos Courtesy NHRA)
TOPEKA, Kan. (Aug. 12, 2023) – Funny Car’s Matt Hagan powered to his second win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge for Tony Stewart Racing on Saturday at Heartland Motorsports Park, defeating Chad Green in the final round of the bonus race as part of this weekend’s Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Topeka.
Hagan made the best Funny Car run on Saturday, going 3.960-seconds at 318.24 mph in his 11,000-horsepower American Rebel Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, racing past Green’s 4.039 at 313.73 in the championship round of the bonus race. Hagan, who is second in points, won the bonus race in Denver and capped off that weekend with an event win, and will look to do the same this weekend in Topeka. He defeated J.R. Todd earlier in the way, chasing down Green to finish off his day in style.
“That bonus money goes a long way with my guys, and you want to dig deep on the starting line for them,” Hagan said. “But Chad had a .010 light against me, he was digging a little bit deeper than I was, I think. Chad’s a great driver, he’s come a long way with his program and what he’s doing. They’re a tough car, and there’s just no easy draws out here. You have to bring everything you’ve got, and then you have to bring a little bit more. That’s just what it takes to turn win lights on in a Funny Car.
“I’ve been very, very blessed to have (Dickie Venables) tuning the car and letting me drive the wheels off of it. I’m excited we were able to pull down our second #2Fast2Tasty win, and I can’t wait to see what happens on raceday tomorrow.”
Top Fuel’s Steve Torrence stayed red-hot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, winning the bonus race for the third straight event, knocking off points leader Justin Ashley in the final round with a run of 3.767 at 319.90 in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors/Toyota dragster. Torrence has impressed over the last three races, winning in Seattle, Sonoma and now Topeka on Saturday, also handing Ashley his first defeat in the bonus race. Torrence knocked off Antron Brown earlier in the day and then made the best run in the class on Saturday to pick up yet another win.
“Justin Ashley has shown himself to be a fierce competitor, and he’s got a good team over there,” Torrence said. “Admittedly, we’ve not been the CAPCO boys of the past. We’re doing the best we can to get back to that. I think that at some point, we might have given these guys a false sense of hope that we aren’t the team we used to be. Maybe we’re not there yet, but we’re coming back. It gives me a lot of confidence and makes me feel excited about the rest of the year. We’re building the steam, building the momentum at the right time, and that CAPCO train is coming.
“We need to get those challenge points. Justin had built a little bit of a lead, and we’re cutting that down. [The Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge points] are going to be crucial.”
Dallas Glenn had appeared in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge before, but was able to put together a winning performance for the first time on Saturday in Topeka, knocking off Erica Enders in the finals. Enders went red on the starting line, but Glenn would have been difficult to track down, as the points leader made the quickest run of the weekend in the category, going 6.642 at 205.26 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro against the defending world champ.
Glenn knocked Camrie Caruso earlier in the day with another stellar run, putting on another strong performance to close out the day.
“This definitely takes some pressure off,” Glenn said. “I’ve been in four or five of these already and just haven’t been able to seal the deal so to finally be able to do it when I’ve got such a good car, it means a lot. To try to get three championship points, that’s a big deal. We’ve got the points lead right now going into Sunday, we’ve got No. 1 qualifier. This car is running awesome right now and I just want to keep the momentum going.”
Eliminations for the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor begin at 10 a.m. CT on Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park.
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Saturday’s final results from the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the 34th annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park.
Top Fuel Challenge — Steve Torrence, 3.767 seconds, 319.90 mph def. Justin Ashley, 3.842 seconds, 319.37 mph.
Funny Car Challenge — Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.960, 318.24 def. Chad Green, Ford Mustang, 4.039, 313.73.
Pro Stock Challenge — Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.642, 205.26 def. Erica Enders, Camaro, Foul – Red Light.
