Tony Stewart Racing NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals Event Preview

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage
Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
June 7-9 | Bristol, Tennessee

Event Overview

Friday, June 7 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 5:30 p.m. EDT
• Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 8 p.m. EDT

Saturday, June 8 (Nitro Qualifying & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Top Fuel qualifying session (Q3) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge – Round 1: 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Funny Car qualifying session (Q3) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge – Round 1: 2:05 p.m. EDT
• Top Fuel qualifying session (Q4) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge – Finals: 4:15 p.m. EDT
• Funny Car qualifying session (Q4) & Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge – Finals: 4:45 p.m. EDT

Sunday, June 9 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

• Round 1: 12 p.m. EDT
• Round 2: 2:15 p.m. EDT
• Semi-Finals: 3:50 p.m. EDT
• Finals: 5:15 p.m. EDT

TV coverage on FS1

• Friday, June 7: Bristol Qualifying (7 p.m. EDT)
• Sunday, June 9: Qualifying Show 2, recapping Saturday’s action (12:30 p.m. EDT)
• Sunday, June 9: Bristol Finals (7 p.m. EDT)

Notes of Interest

• The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway hosts the eighth event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ 20-race calendar in 2024. Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) brings its two full-time entries – one in Top Fuel for Top Fuel rookie Tony Stewart and one in Funny Car for 51-time Funny Car winner and four-time champion Matt Hagan.

• Coming into Bristol, Stewart is ninth in the Top Fuel standings, 221 points behind leader Justin Ashley. Hagan is third in the Funny Car standings, 68 points behind leader Austin Prock.

• Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage (JHG) is the primary partner of Hagan and Stewart 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.

• The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals will mark Stewart’s eighth career Top Fuel start and his first at Bristol. For Hagan, the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals will be his 340th career Funny Car start and his 15th at Bristol. 

• Stewart is looking for his first victory at the Thunder Valley Nationals and his first No. 1 qualifier at the event.

• Hagan has one career win at Bristol in 2015 (4.164 ET at 303.23 mph) when he defeated Ron Capps (4.186 ET at 307.02 mph). He also advanced to the finals in 2016, but his 4.030 ET at 317.57 mph run fell short of the one from Tommy Johnson Jr. (4.038 ET at 313.22 mph). Hagan is seeking his first No. 1 qualifier at the event.

• 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. Bristol is the only track that currently hosts an event in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at which Hagan has never started from the No. 1 qualifying position.

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

You’re representing Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage for their first race as primary sponsor on the Top Fuel Dragster. How special will it be carrying their colors?
“Jason (Johnson) is one of those guys that is super cool to hang out with and he has turned into family here at TSR. To get him on the Top Fuel car and be able to represent him and his family is really special. I’m excited and hope we perform well for him. We want to perform well for all of our partners, but Jason does it for the passion. I want to represent him well.”

The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals will mark the completion of the first half of the regular season, prior to the Countdown. By the end of the weekend, teams will have established their routines, so how will that help you and your crew carry momentum through the second half of the regular season?
“Following Epping, I feel really good about where our team is at. You can never say you’re in the hunt after just one event, but we are definitely gaining on it and getting closer to where we need to be. I told our crew in Epping ‘Sure, we just got beat by (Doug) Kalitta, but we’re on our game and we gave him a run for his money.’ We ran right there with them. You’re frustrated when you lose close races, but you have to be proud that the team that’s been the most consistent from the playoffs on last year (Kalitta), all the way to present, we ran with them. If teams have any glitch in their run, we’re right there to beat them. I’m proud of our guys and the progress we are making. I feel like the test we had in Indy a couple weeks ago was really beneficial for us. My head is high because I feel like our team gained a ton between Chicago and Epping. I’m a happy driver and a happy owner. My wife (Leah Pruett) told me she’s proud of me and that makes me feel great because she knows the standard I want to be at. If there’s something I can be better at, she lets me know.”

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

Bristol is considered a home race for you. You also made a visit to Bristol for the NASCAR race to promote the NHRA. What makes the event so special?
“Bristol is two hours from me, so you see all the people you grew up with and have supported you racing. Bristol is a bit of a challenging track with the tunnel, especially in the left lane, so you hope to keep lane choice to go some rounds. We have to learn to navigate the track no matter what. What makes it so great is that Bristol is a Bruton Smith track and his facilities are always great. It has beautiful scenery cut through the mountains. It’s loud and fast and just cool. Anytime we get to race there, it’s just special. We have a lot of fans, friends and family that will be out there supporting us, so I’d love to win for them.”

The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals will mark the completion of the first half of the regular season, prior to the Countdown. By the end of the weekend, teams will have established their routines, so how will that help you and your crew carry momentum through the second half of the regular season?
“I think our team has been a well-oiled machine for a long time now. We’ve been together over 15 years. We’ve had a couple guys come in and out, but over the last couple years, we’ve been able to keep our crew. I feel like that’s just a testament to TSR, Tony and Leah and everything they’re putting together behind the scenes to keep our guys here. Being well-oiled season-after-season only allows us to stay in the groove of things as the year passes. I have one hundred percent confidence in my guys every time we roll up to the starting line.”

-TSR-