Stewart and Hagan Perform at NHRA Somona Nationals

It was a big weekend in California as Tony Steward and Matt Hagan raced in their Dodge vehicles. Stewart, a legend in the field, just missed out on making racing history with a runner-up finish, while Hagan qualified for the semifinals and ranked third in NHRA Mission Funny Car points overall. 

Stewart, a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, was aiming to become the first driver in racing history to earn major professional race wins in four separate disciplines (NASCAR, IndyCar, USAC and NHRA). He prevailed in the first three rounds of this competition, but just lost to former world champion Antron Brown in the Top Fuel final round. 

“This was a much better weekend than I anticipated,” said Stewart after the final. “We knew after last week’s Seattle race that we had to regroup. Dickie Venables from Matt’s (Hagan Funny Car) team offered to help us, and we walked through many things with our Top Fuel guys and Dickie. We were trying to see if there was a ‘smoking gun’ we were missing. We needed a day like today for the team guys. In the final, we did everything we could as we left on one of the best drivers in Top Fuel. To leave on Antron in the final is very big for me as a driver. We spit a couple of (spark) plugs out at the far end and, if Antron had any problem, we were right there for the win.

“I’m so proud of the team and the morale is great. That was the key to the success today. We gained speed this weekend and ran three 330s (m.p.h.). We’ll take want we learned this weekend and try to make it better. We kept Antron honest in the final and we made improvements with the car. It was my first two-car final and I’m proud how the weekend went overall.”

Meanwhile, Matt Hagan took his TSR JHG Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car to the semifinals, Jeff Diehl and Chad Green in the opening two rounds of eliminations before facing former champion Ron Capps in the semifinals and suffering a close loss to Capps.

“The Dodge//SRT race car is coming around now,” said Hagan. “We tried some things in the bellhousing in the summer races. We have to do that to grow. This weekend we went back to the direction we have run over the past years with the car. With our proven setup, the car ran well all weekend including qualifying No. 2 with a 3.839. It was a great weekend overall with the facility, race surface and the great crowd. We put on a good show too.

“We were just on the back side of a good drag race with Ron (Capps) in the semis. We just didn’t have enough. We’ll get in our ‘Countdown’ mindset now. You have to win a couple of races in the ‘Countdown’ to have a shot at the championship. We have some work to do. It’s never easy in this sport. So, when you win it, it does feel so good. We are usually good in the ‘Countdown’ and that’s our goal again. I’m really excited for Tony (Stewart) and his crew to go to the final round. This is a team effort with TSR.”

Stewart and Hagan will both be back in action at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, from Friday, August 16th to Sunday, August 18th.