Funny Car and Top Fuel Entries at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
- Dodge//SRT and Mopar supported Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Funny Car and Top Fuel entries continue to demonstrate consistency steady improvements during first part of National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season by qualifying No. 2 in both Top Fuel and Funny Car categories for elimination rounds of Circle K Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway
- TSR wheelman Matt Hagan muscled his Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat from the No. 2 position on the eliminations ladder to battle through to the second quad and maintain his lead in the Funny Car championship standings after six national events this season
- TSR pilot Leah Pruett recorded her best qualifying effort of the year thus far by driving the Dodge Power Brokers dragster to a No. 2 starting position at zMax Dragway
- Cruz Pedregon and his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat stay consistent with a fifth top-five qualifying performance to advance to the second quad of eliminations at the second of the four-wide national events this season
May 1, 2022, Concord, North Carolina — Six events into the 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season and the new Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) nitro team continues to demonstrate consistency and steady improvement with both Dodge//SRT and Mopar-supported entries in Funny Car and Top Fuel as drivers Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett both qualified their 11,000 horsepower machines No. 2 in their respective categories for the elimination rounds of the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway on Sunday.
This weekend’s uniquely formatted competition, the second of the two national events this season in which competitors battle across four lanes instead of the usual two, kicked off with four qualifying attempts to set the field for Sunday’s event. Hagan, who arrived at the Charlotte area dragstrip with two wins and three consecutive final round appearance aboard the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat, set his quickest qualifying lap in the second session with a 3.867 second elapsed time at 330.55 mph to earn the provisional No. 2 spot and two bonus points. He added another bonus point with his final qualifying effort of 3.921 seconds at 328.70 mph which was third quickest of the session.
From the No. 2 spot on the Funny Car eliminations ladder, Hagan’s Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat was quickest off the start line and turned on the opening round win light with a 0.086-second reaction time, 3.895-second pass at 331.69 mph ahead of No. 15 seed Mike McIntire Jr. (0.100/3.966/316.01), No.7 seed Blake Alexander (0.097/5.652/127.04) and No. 10 Paul Lee (0.101/13.325/62.51).
The three-time Funny Car world champ advanced to the second stanza along with McIntire to meet up with No. 3 qualifier Ron Capps and No. 6 seed J. R Todd. While Hagan had a quick 0.045-second reaction time, after losing traction early was able to recover (8.168 sec./ 91.59 mph) to beat Todd to the finish but not enough to catch Capps (0.035/3.954/323.89) and McIntire Jr. (0.184/4.031/312.64) to advance further. Hagan’s performance was enough to stay in the Funny Car championship lead with a 22-point advantage over second place contender Robert Hight.
In Top Fuel qualifying, Pruett improved on her first pass of 3.730 seconds at 319.29 mph by taking her Dodge Power Brokers dragster for a stout 3.686-second drive at 327.51 mph with her second lap to earn the No. 2 spot for Sunday’s elimination and collect two bonus points.
Two more solid qualifying laps of 3.773 sec./326.40 mph and 3.734 sec./ 329.10 mph demonstrated consistent performance by the TSR team and driver on their way to race day.
The last time she started eliminations for the No. 2 position, Pruett won the Pomona national event in July 2021. With the hope of repeating that success, the Dodge Power Brokers Direct Connection driver staged her HEMI-powered dragster for Top Fuel’s opening round against No. 7 qualifier Brittany Force, No. 10 seed Spencer Massey and No. 15 seed Tony Schumacher.
Pruett and Force left the line with identical 0.079-second reaction times, but while her adversary recorded the quickest run of the quad (3.732 sec./329.67 mph) and the TSR driver’s run (3.741/323.89) was second quickest, Massey’s slower 3.749/323.27 pass beat Pruett to the finish with the help of a hole shot (0.035 sec. reaction time) to eliminate her from advancing further.
Additionally, in Funny Car action, the Cruz Pedregon Racing team continued their string of consistent qualifying performances by qualifying the Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the top-five for a fifth time in the first six national events of the season. Team owner and driver, Cruz Pedregon set the second quickest laps in both Q1 and Q3 session aboard his HEMI-powered machine to earn a total of four bonus points and put himself fifth on the eliminations ladder.
A quick 0.037-second reaction time by Pedregon gave his Hellcat Funny Car the advantage on the start over No. 4 qualifier Robert Hight, No. 12 seed Tim Wilkerson and No. 13 seed Jim Campbell. His 3.921 seconds/ 328.46 mph run helped him finish second to quad winner Hight’s (0.057 sec. reaction time) 3.880/332.67 pass and beat Wilkerson and Campbell to advance.
The second round didn’t go as the Cruz Pedregon team has hoped when a loss of traction at the hit of the throttle ended his hopes of advancing to the final quad in his battle against Hight, No. 1 qualifier John Force and No. 8 seed Bob Tasca III.
Following a weekend off, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will return to action May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park for the Virginia NHRA Nationals, the seventh of 22 NHRA national events this season.
ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES:
Leah Pruett, Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.686 seconds at 327.51 mph)
Round 1: (0.079-second reaction time, 3.741 seconds at 323.89 mph) defeated No. 15 Tony Schumacher, loss to No. 7 Brittany Force (0.079/3.732/329.67) and No. 10 Spencer Massey (0.035/3.749/323.27)
“I think determination is our key factor here. Having five plain runs down the track and chipping away at it, we are a product of the short end of the stick of a really good race. We missed it by just a couple thousandths [of a second] to advance. Going into Richmond (Virginia Nationals), we will take a lot away from this weekend from the warm track to our warmup and setup. I started out really hitting the tree well in qualifying. As I tried to work on it, I actually graduated the other way. I didn’t have the peak performance that I wanted on Sunday, but it was almost enough to get the job done. I will be right back on my Christmas tree every day and we will be making sure all eight of our Mopar cylinders are lit. The execution of this team has been impeccable and that’s why we have the consistency that we have. We will continue that and look forward. My consolation prize is that I get to spend a lot of time with the fans here in Charlotte. In between this weekend and Richmond, we are working on a spare car, so a lot is happening between now and then.”
Matt Hagan, Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.867 seconds at 330.55 mph)
Round 2: (0.045/8.168/91.59) defeated No. 6 J.R. Todd (0.060/10.389/89.36), loss to No. 3 Ron Capps (0.035/3.954/323.89) and No. 15 Mike McIntire Jr. (0.184/4.031/312.64)
“I’m glad the four-wides are behind us. I would have loved to have won it, but it is a chaotic event. It is a great show for the fans, but what we normally do is repetition and doing the same thing every time. Swapping lanes, trying to figure out who did what, who to pick and who did what is a lot going on. At the end of the day, we still leave here with the points lead. We have gone some rounds, we’ve been qualifying well and the car is running good. There will be peaks and valleys with drag racing, that’s just part of it. There will be a lot of highs and a lot of lows and a little in between. I would have loved to have won for Shelor Motor Mile and my family’s company. Maybe we will get them in Richmond. I’m looking forward to crawling back in a race car and keep what we’re doing going.”
Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 5 Qualifier – 3.876 seconds at 325.30 mph)
Round 1: (0.037-second reaction time, 3.921 seconds at 328.46 mph) finishes second to quad winner No. 4 Robert Hight (0.057/3.880/332.67), and defeated No. 12 Tim Wilkerson (0.103/3.918/311.05), and No. 13 Jim Campbell (0.160/4.005/307.44)
Round 2: (0.094/8.660/86.83) loss to No. 4 Robert Hight (0.066/3.902/329.83), No. 1 John Force (0.083/3.934/328.62) and No. 8 Bob Tasca III (0.045/3.975/325.30
“The Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat continued its great qualifying performance with runs of 3.87 (seconds), 3.88, and 3.94, all were in the top three of our group and then we spend the tires in Q4. We came right back for the first round of eliminations and ran a great 3.92, but in the second round, the track was a little tricky early in the run. The track has some character at the starting line and that contributed to spinning the tires against our opponents to end our weekend. It was still a great effort by the team and it’s like a prize fight. A lot of these rounds, we going to the body and trying to get better every week. I feel like I’m getting better as a driver. The team’s getting better, so we’re just going to keep on doing our thing, chopping wood, as they say, and get better. I look forward to Virginia. It’s great to go to Richmond again. We’ve been going off and on there for many years since the late nineties, and I always looking forward to getting after it there.”
NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS:
Following the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 567 (2)
2. Robert Hight: 545 (2)
3. Ron Capps: 501 (1)
4. John Force: 375
5. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 340
6. J.R. Todd: 241
7. Bob Tasca III: 283
8. Alexis DeJoria: 273
9. Chad Green: 269
10. Tim Wilkerson: 217
TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)
1. Brittany Force: 478 (2)
2. Mike Salinas: 461 (2)
3. Justin Ashley: 432 (1)
4. Steve Torrence: 427
5. Clay Millican: 328
6. Josh Hart: 294
7. Austin Prock: 288
8. Doug Kalitta: 263
9. Tony Schumacher: 243
10. Antron Brown: 230
13. Leah Pruett (Dodge Power Brokers): 210
DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.
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The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World 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
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