The desert heat was no match for the nitro fury unleashed by Matt Hagan and Tony Stewart this past weekend at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, but a few inches—and a few thousandths of a second—were enough to end their Sunday prematurely.
In Funny Car, Matt Hagan’s TSR Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT® Hellcat was on a rail all weekend, posting a solid 3.987-second run at 324.44 mph in Round 1 to take down Bobby Bode. That win set up a heavyweight quarterfinal bout with reigning World Champ Austin Prock in a clash of the last two title holders.
Hagan delivered a quicker 4.005-second run to Prock’s 4.010, but Prock’s razor-sharp 0.070 reaction time edged Hagan’s 0.078 at the hit. Final margin: 0.0036 seconds. Inches. Literally.
“It was a tough weekend to go out second round when we’re used to going some more rounds,” said Hagan. “The loss fell on the driver today. We got beat on a little baby holeshot. He had a .070 light to my .078 light, so I didn’t get it done and it falls on me. Everything is coming together, and we’ll be ready for Pomona this week.”
Meanwhile, Tony Stewart’s Top Fuel campaign continues to show serious momentum. Stewart qualified seventh in the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster and took out Shawn Reed in Round 1 before facing two-time champ Brittany Force in Round 2. Unfortunately, tire smoke ended Stewart’s run early, but the NASCAR legend is keeping his eyes on the bigger picture.
“We had eight or nine runs between Gainesville and Phoenix where the car didn’t smoke the tires and made it down the track,” Stewart said. “I’m excited and grateful that we have a car that’s going down the racetrack now. We’ve made huge strides in a short amount of time.”
In other Dodge//SRT action, Swedish Top Fuel champ Ida Zetterström nearly stole the show in her JCM Dodge//SRT dragster, running a strong 3.818 in Round 1, but narrowly fell to Justin Ashley’s 3.805.
“On race day, we put down a strong run,” said Zetterström. “It’s hard to lose, but we made really good progress. We are rolling into Pomona with some newfound confidence.”
Alexis DeJoria qualified sixth in the Bandero Café Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car but was ousted early by veteran Cruz Pedregon, who piloted his Snap-On Dodge//SRT Hellcat to the win.
Now, all eyes turn to the legendary In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip for the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, March 28–30. Nitro qualifying kicks off Friday with eliminations set for Sunday at 11 a.m. PDT. Catch the finals on FS1 at 6:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. PDT.
Stay locked in to all the Dodge//SRT NHRA action right here at DodgeGarage.com, and follow @DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram for behind-the-scenes coverage.
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