Racing legend Tony Stewart had a memorable day Sunday with the birth of his first child and advanced to the semifinals in his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge//SRT® Top Fuel dragster at the In-N-Out NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., while his TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT teammate Matt Hagan also scored a semifinal finish in the Funny Car division.
Stewart, a Top Fuel rookie, qualified seventh in the 16-car field on Saturday and then flew to Phoenix to support his wife, Leah Pruett, for the birth of their son, Dominic James, at 4:43 a.m. Sunday morning, before returning to the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip at 8 a.m. for the final eliminations of the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series finale.
After replacing his wife as the driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster in March when the Stewarts decided to start a family in 2024, the man known as “Smoke” proved to be consistent and quick off the starting line during the season. On Sunday, he scored victories over Billy Torrence and Gary Pritchett in the opening two rounds of Top Fuel action.
With little or no sleep, Stewart advanced to the semifinals to take on defending World Champion Doug Kalitta and held a slight advantage early in the matchup. However, Kalitta’s nitro-burning dragster won the race with a 3.678 to Stewart’s 3.738.
The semifinal finish for the NASCAR Hall of Famer secured him the ninth spot in the final NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings in his first season at the wheel of a 11,000-horsepower dragster.
“I’m proud of how I drove the car this year in my first Top Fuel season. I say that not from my own assessment, but from my team’s assessment – my crew chief, my guys, my wife Leah, and Matt Hagan. That made me feel good as a rookie driver. We lost in the semifinals today against Doug Kalitta. Since I had very little sleep last night and left the hospital this morning, I feel I still had great reaction times today. Now we have to make our program better in the offseason.”
Pruett watched eliminations on television from her hospital room with little Dominic by her side and was proud of her husband ‘s performance in light of the hectic weekend events.
Hagan, the four-time and reigning World Funny Car Champion, qualified fourth in his TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat and scored early round wins over Steven Densham and Daniel Wilkerson to advance to the semifinals Sunday.
A six-time winner at the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip in his Funny Car career, Hagan took on the new World Champion Austin Prock in a classic semifinal matchup, but Prock’s 3.812 run was too much for Hagan’s 3.866. With the semifinal finish Sunday, Hagan finished fourth in the final NHRA Mission Funny Car points standings with a trio of victories during the season, ending just ten points out of third.
“I know we will work hard over the off-season to be ready for a championship run in 2025 at Gainesville. We have a championship crew here. My guys are just as good as the Force guys. We beat them last year for the title. It was a great day for Tony and Leah with their first son being born this morning, and I’m so happy for them. Of course, he was born on race day. That’s fitting. Tony supplies us with great sponsors like Dodge and Direct Connection, and great parts and pieces. I’m confident we’ll be fighting for the championship in 2025.”
Driving the JCM/Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster in her initial NHRA Mission season, Ida Zetterström of Sweden continued her learning curve in the highly competitive Top Fuel category at Pomona, running consistently in the 3.70 range. Unfortunately, she was matched up against Kalitta in the first round of action Sunday and lost when her dragster’s tires lost traction right after the starting line.
The 2024 NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series Awards presentation will take place on Monday, Nov. 18, at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif.
The 2025 NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series is scheduled to begin at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., on March 6-9.
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