{"id":59668,"date":"2022-02-15T13:13:25","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T18:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=59668"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:20:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:20:43","slug":"dodge-srt-and-mopar-head-to-staging-lanes-for-2022-national-hot-rod-association-drag-racing-series-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2022\/02\/dodge-srt-and-mopar-head-to-staging-lanes-for-2022-national-hot-rod-association-drag-racing-series-season.html","title":{"rendered":"Dodge\/\/SRT<sup>&reg;<\/sup> and Mopar<sub>&reg;<\/sub> Head to Staging Lanes for 2022 National Hot Rod Association Drag Racing Series Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A\nnew season, new team, new livery, new performance parts offerings for racers\nand enthusiasts, and a new track surface have Dodge\/\/SRT<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> (Street and Racing\nTechnology) and Mopar<sub>\u00ae<\/sub> brands excited to hit the throttle on the 2022 National\nHot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series season February\n17-20 with the season-opening 62nd annual Lucas Oil Winternationals presented\nby ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodge\/\/SRT and Mopar recently announced their partnership with the NHRA\u2019s newest team, Tony Stewart Racing (TSR), which is set to make its competition debut in Pomona this weekend with Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection primary sponsorship of Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett and three-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nnew Dodge Power Brokers program will roll out ready to serve as the exclusive\nsource for all new Direct Connection, Dodge\u2019s factory-backed performance parts\nprogram, and equipped with staff trained to deliver a performance-focused customer\nservice experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDodge\/\/SRT\nperformance enthusiasts have plenty to look forward to this NHRA season as we\nlaunch our new partnership with Tony Stewart Racing,\u201d said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge\nBrand CEO &#8211; Stellantis. \u201cFans will see the new Dodge Power Brokers and Direct\nConnection colors for us this year, and also have the chance to check out\nDirect Connection factory-backed performance products at the display in the\nManufacturers Midway. It\u2019s a brand new season, a brand new team with brand new\nDodge programs we\u2019re bringing to the NHRA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nWinternationals return as the traditional season opener for the NHRA\u2019s 22-race\ncalendar and will (literally) present a new level playing field for racers to\nkick off a season of tough competition with a freshly prepped track after the\nhistoric California dragstrip was ground and polished for its first facelift in\n20 years. The action kicks off Friday, February 18, with one qualifying session\nfor pro categories, followed by two more nitro runs on Saturday, February 19,\nand elimination rounds scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday,\nFebruary 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hagan,\na three-time (2011, 2014, 2020) NHRA Funny Car World Champion, closed out the\n2021 season as runner-up in the title fight after taking his 11,000-horsepower\nDodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to a category-best four national wins to\nfinish the year with a top-10 result for the 11th time in his\ncareer.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While he begins the new chapter in his career with his new team and the new Dodge Power Brokers livery, Hagan is confident that he\u2019ll benefit from the consistency provided by once again having his HEMI<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>-powered machine tuned by longtime crew chief Dickie Venables and fully expects to add to his 39 career victories tally that currently has him fifth on the all-time Funny Car win list.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\nhave an amazing crew headed by Dickie Venables, Mike Knudson and Alex Conaway\nwho have been with me for many years and provide the confidence and expectation\nthat even with a new team, we\u2019re going into this weekend and a new season\nlooking to win,\u201d said Hagan, who is second on the win-list at the Pomona\ndragstrip with six victories (2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011) and set the\ncurrent 3.822-second track record run in 2017. \u201cThey\u2019re pumped up, focused,\nexcited and more motivated than ever before. We have renewed energy, a new\nlivery and a great race car. We know we\u2019re going to contend from the start and\nwe\u2019re focused on driving the Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car to the winner\u2019s\ncircle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nine-time\nnational event winner Pruett begins her 10th year of Top Fuel competition after\na sixth consecutive season with a top-10 finish that included a win at the July\nedition of the 2021 Winternationals that came on the heels of her runner-up\nfinish at Sonoma Raceway. She\u2019ll work again with Neal Strausbaugh, who takes on\ncrew chief duties for her TSR Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel dragster along with\nMike Domagala and car chief Ryan McGilvery.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nCalifornia native has two career wins (2021 and 2017) at her hometown track,\nwhich is also the site of her quickest career run of 3.631-seconds in 2018, but\nshe expects her first competition pass with the fledgling Tony Stewart Racing\nteam to be just as memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAfter such\nextensive structuring, planning, and being alongside the team, working through\nordering of parts, building of racecars and partner programs, I do truly\nbelieve that first burnout to turnout will be one of the most fulfilling passes\nI will have personally made,\u201d said Pruett. \u201cStepping on the grounds of Pomona\nand rolling out our Dodge Power Brokers race cars will initially have the\nfeeling of a win itself, but I am also ready for that moment to go away as soon\nas it comes, appreciate it, then welcome the feeling of a new era of\ncompetition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will be\nmaking every performance-enhancing attempt to defend last year\u2019s\nWinternationals win but we are focused on the fundamentals and coming together\nas a new team. A win would be nothing short of magical but we\u2019ll strive for\ncreating continuity amongst our people and parts at a faster rate than anyone\nhas seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional\nDodge Charger SRT Hellcat drivers set to battle for national event wins and the\nFunny Car crown include two-time world champion Cruz Pedregon and reigning\nworld champion Ron Capps.\n\nPedregon hopes this year to\nbuild on his Cruz Pedregon Racing team\u2019s positive performance after driving his\nSnap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the winner\u2019s circle twice in 2021\nand finishing fourth in the final standings. Capps will drive the NAPA Auto\nParts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat into his 28th NHRA season of competition and\nalso make his debut in the dual role of driver and team owner of Ron Capps\nMotorsports, all while looking to defend his second Funny Car world title.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new season, new team, new livery, new performance parts offerings for racers and enthusiasts, and a new track surface have Dodge\/\/SRT\u00ae (Street and Racing Technology) and Mopar\u00ae brands excited to hit the throttle on the 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series season February 17-20 with the season-opening 62nd annual Lucas Oil Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California.&nbsp; Dodge\/\/SRT and Mopar recently announced their partnership with the NHRA\u2019s newest team, Tony Stewart Racing (TSR), which is set to make its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":59683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[528,615,2992],"class_list":["post-59668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-drag-racing","tag-nhra","tag-tony-stewart-racing"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/NHRASeasonPreview_Feature.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59668"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59668"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59697,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59668\/revisions\/59697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}