Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
“This is a massive achievement to win 50 NHRA national events. It’s great to have Dodge with us in the winner’s circle for so many years. It’s so special to be around a great group of guys at Tony Stewart Racing. We have had the same crew for three straight years. Great people make the difference between winning and losing and this team is so strong and consistent. Dickie (Venables – crew chief), Mike Knudson (co-crew chief), Alex Conaway (car chief) and the whole team work so hard to give me a great race car. It’s always fun to put this Dodge//SRT Hellcat in the winner’s circle. This 50th win just passed a legend in Don “the Snake” Prudhomme in career wins and to have four NHRA Funny Car championship with John Force, Snake and Kenny Bernstein. I’m so honored to be with that group. T
his track is just two hours from my home in Virginia, so this is a home track for me. Winning four NHRA races at the zMAX Dragway in my career is special too. This place has always been special. I have so many fans here. I actually think I outsold Tony (Stewart) in T-shirts this weekend. So, right now, we might not be the fastest car, but the crew can really race on Sundays and showed again today. We just need to keep clicking away and score points and win races. We are going to the meat of the season, and we have been trying a lot of different pieces with this car. We didn’t get as much testing early this year due to the poor weather, but we are gaining on the tough Funny Car field with each race, and you saw that today. I never dreamed I would race a Funny Car, let alone win 50 races at the NHRA national level. We can’t do it without great sponsors like Dodge, Direct Connection, Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, American Rebel and so many other supporters of the TSR team. I’m very excited to win again at zMAX Dragway and bring another “Wally” to the TSR crew and our sponsors.”
- Earned No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.914 ET at 321.81 mph)
- Fell to No. 6 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Friday, Hagan ran a 8.292 ET at 84.19 mph.
- Fell to No. 8 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 5.634 ET at 126.93 mph. Q3 was also part of the NHRA’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Hagan faced Ron Capps, Paul Lee and J.R. Todd. Hagan lost to Lee’s 3.901 ET, 321.96 mph run and Todd’s 3.932 ET, 296.50 mph run. Capps also lost with a 3.994 ET, 279.79 mph run.
- Secured No. 6 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.880 ET at 331.04 mph.
- Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
- Round 1: 3.918 ET at 331.61 mph, defeated Austin Prock (4.609 ET at 225.86 mph) and Blake Alexander (no time). Dave Richards also advanced to Round 2 (4.014 ET at 319.60 mph).
- Round 2: 3.879 ET at 334.24 mph, defeated Bob Tasca III (4.825 ET at 186.95 mph) and Dave Richards (6.568 ET at 99.14 mph). Daniel Wilkerson also advanced to the Finals (3.906 ET at 328.30 mph).
- Finals: 3.946 ET at 332.34 mph, defeated 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).
- Currently third in the championship standings, 32 points behind Funny Car leader Austin Prock
- Hagan’s win at the Four-Wide Nationals marked the 50th win of his career. It was his fourth win at Charlotte (2011 and 2014 Carolina Nationals, 2013 Four Wide Nationals). It was Hagan’s first win at the track in 10 years.
- The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte marked Hagan’s second consecutive appearance to the Finals, following the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas.
- Stewart’s Q2 run on Friday marks a new career-best ET (elapsed time) with a run at 3.716 seconds. His previous best was 3.725 ET, a mark he set on March 9, 2024 at Gainesville.
- Stewart’s No. 6 qualifying position marks the first time this season he has qualified in the top-half of the Top Fuel field.
- Despite losing in Round 2, Stewart had the quickest reaction time (RT) of the quad at .047. Ashley had a .054 RT, Brown had a .057 RT and Force had .124 RT.
