- The NHRA U.S. Nationals Aug. 28-Sept. 2 at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) is the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ regular season finale. The Big Go marks the 14th race on the 20-race calendar before the Countdown to the Championship begins Sept. 13-15 with the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. 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.
- At the conclusion of the U.S. Nationals, the top 10 drivers in the standings in each of the four professional categories of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – qualify for the Countdown to the Championship. The top 10 drivers in each class then compete in the final, six-race playoffs to vie for the title. Coming into Indianapolis, Stewart is seventh in the Top Fuel championship standings, 357 points behind leader Doug Kalitta. Hagan, meanwhile, is third in the Funny Car championship standings, 230 points behind leader Austin Prock. Hagan secured his position in the Countdown to the Championship during the previous event in Brainerd, Minnesota.
- The Big Go is always a big deal, and the points that can be earned in the U.S. Nationals reflect the magnitude of the event. Round wins are worth 1.5 times more at Indianapolis (30 points per round). Stewart and Hagan will also participate in five qualifying rounds, versus the standard three or four rounds at all other events. At the conclusion of the weekend, points will be adjusted for the start of the Countdown to the Championship. First and second place will be separated by 20 points, while the remaining top 10 drivers are separated in 10-point increments. Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge points from the season will be added on top of the points reset. Each Challenge win is worth three bonus points, runner-ups earn two points, and the quickest losing semifinalist earns one point. Hagan has earned eight points in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge this season. Stewart has earned one point thus far, with the possibility of earning more points in Indianapolis.
- The NHRA U.S. Nationals is a marquee weekend for TSR and team partner Dodge. Direct Connection adorn Stewart’s Top Fuel dragster and Hagan’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. With muscle car enthusiasts looking for “ready to run” parts, Direct Connection serves as the source for high-performance parts and technical expertise straight from the factory. To commemorate Direct Connection’s 50th Anniversary, Stewart and Hagan will be running special red, white and blue schemes. Direct Connection was first launched in 1974 when Dodge ad man Joe Schulte came up with the Direct Connection idea. Little did he know he started the way factory performance parts were marketed to street enthusiasts and grassroots bracket racers, but it also helped professional teams put their competitors on the trailer. Now, 50 years later, Direct Connection is still a leader in the performance parts industry.
- The NHRA U.S. Nationals will serve as Stewart’s 14th career Top Fuel start and his first in the event. For Hagan, this will be his 346th career Funny Car start and his 16th in the U.S. Nationals. It will mark his 19th overall start at Indianapolis, which includes three pandemic-related special-event starts in 2020.
- Stewart is seeking his first victory in the NHRA U.S. Nationals, as well as his first No. 1 qualifier at the event. However, he is no stranger to Indianapolis Raceway Park. He made one national event start in 2023 in the Top Alcohol Dragster (TAD), where he qualified sixth and advanced to Round 2. Stewart competed in TAD’s Division 3 Cleetus and Cars event in 2023 at IRP, where he was the No. 1 qualifier and won the event. He backed-up that effort in 2024 by earning No. 1 qualifier and once again winning the Cleetus and Cars event in TAD.
- Hagan won the NHRA U.S. Nationals in 2016. His run of 3.964 ET at 327.43 mph defeated Del Worsham (3.958 ET at 324.20 mph). Hagan also has five No. 1 qualifiers at Indianapolis, which came in 2010 (4.039 ET at 299.86 mph), 2013 (4.007 ET at 319.22 mph), 2014 (3.998 ET at 318.99 mph), 2016 (3.858 ET at 330.80 mph) and 2017 (3.799 ET at 338.77 mph).
- Hagan is the track record holder at Indianapolis in both time and speed (3.799 seconds, 338.77 mph), which he set on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017. The 3.799-second mark is a personal best and it made Hagan just the second Funny Car driver to break the 3.800 second barrier. In addition to his 2016 victory in the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals, Hagan won two of the three special events contested at Indianapolis in 2020 during the COVID-19 shortened season. On July 12, he beat Tommy Johnson Jr., to win the E3 Spark Plugs Nationals and on July 19 he beat Jack Beckman to win the Summernationals.
- Hagan and seven of his Funny Car counterparts have a race within the race at Indianapolis. On Sunday, the Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout pits the top eight Funny Car drivers against one another in a winner-take-all event worth $80,000 and televised live on FOX. Hagan is the third seed in the specialty race by way of qualifying points since last year’s specialty race. Hagan is joined in the Callout by Bob Tasca III, who earned the top seed, Ron Capps in the second seed and fellow Funny Car drivers Chad Green, J.R. Todd, Cruz Pedregon, Alexis DeJoria and Paul Lee. The Callout is exactly what it sounds like. Prior to the second round of qualifying on Saturday, drivers will “call out” who they want to go up against on Sunday. Tasca III gets to pick from the seven drivers who he wants as his opening-round opponent. Capps would get the next pick, provided he is not called out by Tasca III. Hagan would follow until all the first-round matchups are set. The first round of the Callout will take place at 1:05 p.m. EDT on Sunday with the semifinals set to follow at 2:40 p.m. FOX comes on the air at 5 p.m. EDT to recap the action from the first round and semifinals before showing the final round that begins at 4:30 p.m. where the last two drivers standing in the bracket-style elimination go head-to-head for bragging rights and the $80,000 payday.
- Hagan and the other seven Funny Car Callout competitors will be participating in an autograph session on Sunday at 10 a.m. EDT. The session will take place at the Pep Boys Display.
- By advancing to the Semifinals at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Hagan qualified to participate in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, where he will face a rematch against J.R. Todd.
- Hagan will participate in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge autograph session on Saturday at 10 a.m. EDT, which will take place at the Mission Foods tent in the pits.
- Hagan, Pruett and Stewart will participate in a Dodge autograph session on Friday from 6:45-7:15 p.m. EDT and Pruett and Stewart will participate in another session on Saturday from 11:45-12:15 p.m. EDT. Both sessions will take place in the pits at the Dodge display.
- Stewart will participate in a NHRA Q&A session on Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT. It will take place on the Nitro Alley Stage.
- Stewart will participate in a Tony Stewart Store merchandise trailer signing on Sunday from 12:00-12:30 p.m. EDT.
- Hagan and Stewart will be unveiling their U.S. Nationals paint schemes on Wednesday, September 28 on the Pat McAfee show. Both drivers will be available to speak with the media on Friday from 5:30-6:00 p.m. EDT at the TSR pit.
- Hagan will be participating in a Rinnai appearance that is open to the public on Thursday, August 29. Hagan will be available for autographs from 12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT. The appearance will take place at Winsupply of Indianapolis (5700 Wayne Raymond Street, Indianapolis, IN 46241)
You’re coming off of a runner-up finish at Brainerd International Raceway and you also got to test following the race. What momentum does that give you coming into the NHRA U.S. Nationals, knowing that round wins are worth 1.5 times more at Indianapolis?
“It was nice to have a runner-up finish at Brainerd. We’ve kind of been digging our way out of qualifying all year long. We’re not used to being in the back half like we have all season. We’ve been able to dig on Sunday and work past the adversity. It was great to go to the Finals. Obviously, I red lit and I felt like I let my team down. As a driver, you have to have broad shoulders. You get to celebrate and hold a trophy when you do well, but you also have to take the brunt of it when you don’t. I feel like I have to make it up to my guys. I won on a couple holeshot wins the last couple races, but at the end of the day, they pay me to win races. I’m carrying a little bit of that burden into Indy, but I do feel like we race well on Sunday overall. I’m hoping we can have a little better qualifying position in Indy and have a better-looking ladder for race day. I’ve been blessed to win Indy before. It’s a special race and it means a lot when you win it. We were able to test after Brainerd, which didn’t go great. We smoked the tires three times and then put a cylinder out the fourth time, but I feel like we found some power. Things are promising, we just have to figure out how to apply everything. If anyone can do that, it’s our team. I believe in Dickie Venables (crew chief), Mike Knudsen (co-crew chief), Alex Conaway (car chief) and all the guys. They’re smart and we’ll go out there swinging. We’ll have a full week in Indy and we’re going to enjoy it.”
You and teammate Tony Stewart will be running unique schemes in commemoration of Direct Connection’s 50th Anniversary. How special will it be sporting their red, white and blue colors for the NHRA’s biggest event?
“Being able to fly the Dodge banner for almost 15 years and win four championships with them is really special. All of my 51 career wins have been with them. Hopefully people can look back down the road and say ‘Wow, they made history.’ It’s really cool to be able to commemorate Direct Connection’s 50th anniversary. Their whole group is great and we love having Mark Whitney at the track. We’re really excited to be able to fly a new scheme for them. We always have a great time doing it and they make it fun for us. Hopefully the new scheme is fast. We’ll go out there and put on a show like we always do and hopefully we can get them the win.”
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