• Tony Stewart drove his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Rinnai Dodge//SRT Top Fueler to the final round Sunday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals and placed runner-up
  • In an impressive run through three former NHRA Top Fuel World Champions (Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and Shaun Langdon), Stewart lost to Clay Millican in the final round
  • Stewart, the Motorsports Hall of Fame driver, qualified eighth Saturday and then drove past Brown, Kalitta and Langdon in a sensational run to the final with consistent 3.70s
  • In the final, Stewart’s mount smoked the tires at the 200-foot mark and Millican was able to drive to victory despite exploding his engine in a “fireball” at the finish line
  • The runner-up finish was Stewart’s third final round Top Fuel appearance in an NHRA national event since he began piloting the TSR Dodge//SRT dragster
  • Stewart ran 3.713 in beating Brown in the first round, 3.702 in defeating Kalitta in round two and 3.723 in winning the semifinal over Langdon to reach the final round Sunday
  • Stewart’s teammate, former NHRA Winternationals champion Matt Hagan, advanced to the semifinals at Pomona in his TSR Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat
  • The four-time NHRA World Champion, who qualified eighth, drove past Alexis DeJoria in the opening round and young Blake Alexander in the quarterfinals, moving to semifinals
  • Hagan, who recorded spectacular reaction times in the 0.040s, left the starting line ahead of race winner Jack Beckman, but the Virginia racer lost at the finish line, 3.860 to 3.915
  • Hagan’s semifinal finish moved him to third in the current NHRA Funny Car points standings in his search for a fifth World title as the tour heads to Las Vegas on April 10-12
  • Follow Dodge in NHRA action at DodgeGarage.com

March 31, 2025, Auburn Hills, Mich. – Motorsports legend Tony Stewart came close to auto racing history at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster by placing runner-up on Sunday, with teammate Matt Hagan driving to a solid semifinals run in the TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car.

Stewart, the many-time Hall of Fame driver, was seeking to become the first auto racer to win races in four different professional motorsports disciplines (with previous victories in NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC) when he advanced to the final round of the Top Fuel class against Clay Millican. Unfortunately, Stewart’s TSR Rinnai Dodge//SRT dragster smoked the tires at the 200-foot mark and Millican drove to victory, despite a fiery engine explosion at the finish line.

Sunday’s path to the final round was not an easy one for Stewart, who took down three former NHRA World Champions in succession before facing multi-race winner Millican in the final. In the first round, Stewart defeated reigning World Champion Antron Brown with an elapsed time of 3.713 seconds followed by wins over 2023 World titleholder Doug Kalitta with a 3.702 and current point leader and former World Champion Shaun Langdon with a 3.723.

It was Stewart’s third Top Fuel final round performance since he took over the driving chores in 2024 from his wife, Leah Pruett, who removed herself from the Top Fuel car to start a family with Stewart. Their son, Dominic James, was born on Nov. 17, 2024, the same weekend as the NHRA World Finals.

“The day I get upset with losing is the day I retire from racing,” said Stewart. “But the team is upset because they want to win. These TSR crew guys have done an awesome job and have been very consistent. Especially this weekend, having three runs on Friday and four today, these guys busted their butts. There were no mistakes. We just want to take this car to victory lane very badly.

“My lights were better, and the car’s performance was better. We just didn’t get the last little bit. We took down three big guys in a row, all former Top Fuel champions (Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and Shaun Langdon). To be the best, you have to beat the best. I’m very proud of the whole team and it just wasn’t our time yet. Everyone comes here to win, and one driver leaves as the winner, and we raced that guy in the final. We just got a little too aggressive in the final. We have good data heading to Las Vegas now too.”

Stewart’s TSR Dodge//SRT teammate, Matt Hagan, looked to be on a run to the final round as well with two impressive early-round victories in his nitro-burning TSR Johnson Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car. Hagan, who qualified eighth, was looking for his fifth NHRA Winternationals victory, and scored wins over Alexis DeJoria and young Blake Alexander in the first two rounds of elimination at the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip.

Hagan was magnificent off the starting line with spectacular reaction times in the 0.040s and proved it again against Jack Beckman in the semifinals. Off the line, the Virginia racer clocked 0.041 to lead at the green light, but Hagan’s 3.915 run wasn’t enough to best Beckman’s 3.860. Beckman went on to take the NHRA Winternationals Funny Car title.

Despite the semifinals finish, Hagan moves to third in the current NHRA Mission Funny Car points standings as the NHRA tour heads to Las Vegas for the popular Four-Wide Nationals at the Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Our TSR crew did a great job this weekend with some of the guys swapping positions,” said Hagan. “Thomas (Brown) lost his mother yesterday and he’s right back at it today. I’m sure it’s an emotional battle for him right now and we are thinking about him and his family in this tough time. We are making great progress with this TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat team. We are steadily making good runs at each event.

“That was a big ‘boomer’ at the top end against Jack (Beckman). It looks like the engine broke a rod there. I’m glad there wasn’t a big fire, and I could see things in front of me. I had no warning about the ‘boomer’, and it was big enough that it stung my hands pretty good. You’ll have those things in big time drag racing. Tony Stewart Racing gives us plenty of parts and pieces. We’ll go to the Four-Wide in Las Vegas looking to win that one again.”

Ida Zetterström, the former European Top Fuel champion from Sweden, lost to Langdon in the first round in the JCM/Dodge//SRT dragster with a solid 3.806 to Langdon’s 3.668.

“We want to find some more momentum to qualify higher and also be able to have that consistency going rounds,” Zetterström said. “I think that will build my confidence, too, and that will make me a better driver, so it’s all just a combination of things. I’ve ended up racing against World Champions like Kalitta or Langdon, or Justin Ashley, who’s the best leaver in the class, every race day. That makes it tough.”

The next NHRA Mission event, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at the Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is set for April 10-12 with nitro qualifying scheduled to begin on Friday, April 10, at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. PDT. Saturday’s qualifying rounds start at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. PDT with final eliminations getting underway for 12 p.m. PDT, Sunday, April 12.

The NHRA Winternationals finals will be televised on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, April 12, 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.

Follow Dodge, Mopar and Stellantis news and video on:

Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com
Mopar brand: www.mopar.com
Mopar blog: blog.mopar.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge and www.facebook.com/mopar
Instagram: @DodgeMoparMotorsports, @DodgeOfficial and @OfficialMopar
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The post Tony Stewart Takes TSR Dodge//SRT Dragster to Top Fuel Final at NHRA Winternationals, Matt Hagan Goes to Semifinals in Funny Car appeared first on Matt Hagan Racing.

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