The 19th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park delivered heart-stopping action as TSR Nitro drivers Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan showcased the power of their Red and Blue Dodge//Direct Connection machines.
Friday’s qualifying sessions opened with dramatic fireworks, quite literally for Tony Stewart. Stewart made headlines by exploding an engine in spectacular fashion during his first qualifying pass. At half-track, his engine started to drop cylinders, leading to a BIG BOOM! He still managed to blast to an impressive 3.755-second run at 327.11 mph, landing him in third as qualifying came to an end. Justin Ashley powered to the pole position with a 3.752 at 330 mph, barely holding off Antron Brown’s 3.755, placing Brown in P2 just ahead of Stewart in P3 because of Brown’s slightly higher MPH attached to his 3.755 et.
For Stewart, the performance represented another step forward in his remarkable 2025 campaign. Entering the weekend leading the championship standings by 51 points over Shawn Langdon, Stewart has yet to suffer a first-round loss this season – a testament to the consistent progress of the TSR team under crew chief Neal Strausbaugh.
Meanwhile, Matt Hagan faced a more challenging start in Funny Car competition. Veteran Cruz Pedregon dominated Friday’s sessions, delivering the only run in the 3.80s with a 3.890 at 318 mph for the provisional pole, while Hagan’s 3.926-second pass placed him fifth. Despite the middle-of-the-pack qualifying position, this represented a positive step for the four-time champion.
In an interview before this weekend got underway, Hagan said, “We have to get the car running on all eight cylinders, and that’s been a challenge for us this season. It still shows how strong of a team we are that we qualify in the bottom half of the field most of these races and fight our way through and are still sitting third in points.”
Saturday brought the highly anticipated Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where semifinalists from the previous event faced off for bonus points and a chance to take home some prize money.
In Top Fuel, Stewart squared off against veteran Doug Kalitta in what would become a dramatic conclusion to the specialty race. Stewart advanced to the final round despite posting an off-the-pace 4.601-second run after defeating Shawn Langdon, who lit up the tree with an uncharacteristic red light. However, the final proved costly for the points leader. In the Top Fuel #2Fast2Tasty final round, Doug Kalitta delivered a 3.953 at 294.37 mph to defeat Stewart’s tire-smoking 11.598 at 72.03 mph.
Saturday’s final qualifying sessions determined the elimination ladder, with both TSR drivers securing respectable positions. Justin Ashley maintained the Top Fuel pole position, with Stewart holding onto his third-place starting spot despite his challenging day. In Funny Car, Cruz Pedregon’s Friday night 3.890 held for the pole, with Austin Prock, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan rounding out the top five in his Dodge//Direct Connection Funny Car.
For Hagan, maintaining his fifth-place starting position represented solid progress for a team that has battled setup challenges throughout the season. The consistent improvement from Friday to Saturday gave the TSR Nitro Funny Car team confidence as they headed into Sunday’s elimination rounds.
Sunday’s eliminations began with promise for both TSR drivers. Tony Stewart opened elimination against Kyle Wurtzel and took the victory; Stewart clocked a 3.89-second run but at only 270 mph due to a mechanical issue close to the finish line.
Matt Hagan began his elimination quest successfully, taking his Direct Connection Dodge to victory over J.R. Todd, who smoked the tires early in the run. The win advanced Hagan to the second round, where he would face Jack Beckman in what promised to be a heavyweight battle between former world champions.
In the second round, Hagan faced Jack Beckman in an epic battle that came down to a thousandth of a second! Hagan secured the victory on a slim holeshot (.071 to .073 reaction times) and by just .001 at the finish line, running 4.088 to Beckman’s 4.087 – one of the closest margins in NHRA history.
Stewart’s day ended in the semifinal round against Clay Millican. Both drivers left with identical .085 reaction times, but Millican’s 3.958 outpowered Stewart’s 3.974, ending the points leader’s bid for his first Norwalk victory.
Hagan’s remarkable run continued into the semifinals, where he defeated top qualifier Cruz Pedregon with a 4.12 to 4.14 performance, advancing to his 94th career final-round appearance. There, he would face Austin Prock, who had defeated Ron Capps on a holeshot in the other semifinal. Hagan left on Prock with a .050 to Prock’s .069 RT, but it didn’t take long for Prock to start clawing back the time he lost at the tree, getting to the finish line just .0166 seconds ahead of Hagan at the finish.
The significance of competing near Dodge’s Auburn Hills headquarters wasn’t lost on either driver. “Anytime we can get the Dodge folks out to the track and continue to build on that relationship, it’s great,” Hagan noted. “It takes an army to do what we do, and Dodge//Direct Connection is a big piece of the puzzle to keep things moving forward out here. “
As the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals conclude, both Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan can take positives from their weekend performances. Stewart’s semifinal finish maintains his points lead and continues his streak of advancing past the first round at every event this season. For Hagan, reaching the final round represents his best performance in recent weeks and could signal a turnaround in Funny Car for TSR Nitro.
The weekend reinforced TSR’s status as a championship-caliber organization, with both drivers showing the speed and consistency needed for title contention. With Stewart leading the Top Fuel points and Hagan fighting to climb the Funny Car standings, the Dodge//Direct Connection program remains a force to be reckoned with as the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season continues.
The TSR team will look to build on this momentum as they head across the country to Kent, Washington, for the Northwest Nationals, taking place from July 18th to 20th. For now, the thunder at Norwalk has demonstrated that when it comes to nitro-powered excitement, Tony Stewart Racing and their Dodge//Direct Connection machinery continue to deliver spectacular performances on drag racing’s biggest stage!
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