{"id":61421,"date":"2022-05-02T08:26:53","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T12:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=61421"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:20:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:20:37","slug":"consistency-and-steady-improvements-for-tony-stewart-racings-dodge-power-brokers-funny-car-and-top-fuel-entries-at-nhra-four-wide-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2022\/05\/consistency-and-steady-improvements-for-tony-stewart-racings-dodge-power-brokers-funny-car-and-top-fuel-entries-at-nhra-four-wide-nationals.html","title":{"rendered":"Consistency and Steady Improvements for Tony Stewart Racing\u2019s Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car and Top Fuel Entries at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Six events into the 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag\nRacing Series\u2019 season and the new Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) nitro team\ncontinues to demonstrate consistency and steady improvement with both\nDodge\/\/SRT\u00ae<\/sup> and Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>-supported entries in Funny Car and Top Fuel as drivers\nMatt Hagan and Leah Pruett both qualified their 11,000 horsepower machines No.\n2 in their respective categories for the elimination rounds of the Circle K\nNHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This weekend\u2019s\nuniquely formatted competition, the second of the two national events this\nseason in which competitors battle across four lanes instead of the usual two,\nkicked off with four qualifying attempts to set the field for Sunday\u2019s event.\nHagan, who arrived at the Charlotte area dragstrip with two wins and three\nconsecutive final round appearance aboard the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT\nHellcat, set his quickest qualifying lap in the second session with a 3.867\nsecond elapsed time at 330.55 mph to earn the provisional No. 2 spot and two\nbonus points. He added another bonus point with his final qualifying effort of\n3.921 seconds at 328.70 mph which was third quickest of the session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From the No. 2\nspot on the Funny Car eliminations ladder, Hagan\u2019s Shelor Motor Mile Dodge\nCharger SRT Hellcat was quickest off the start line and turned on the opening\nround win light with a 0.086-second reaction time, 3.895-second pass at 331.69\nmph ahead of No. 15 seed Mike McIntire Jr. (0.100\/3.966\/316.01), No.7 seed\nBlake Alexander (0.097\/5.652\/127.04) and No. 10 Paul Lee (0.101\/13.325\/62.51). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Matt<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The three-time\nFunny Car world champ advanced to the second stanza along with McIntire to meet\nup with No. 3 qualifier Ron Capps and No. 6 seed J. R Todd. While Hagan had a\nquick 0.045-second reaction time, after losing traction early was able to\nrecover (8.168 sec.\/ 91.59 mph) to beat Todd to the finish but not enough to\ncatch Capps (0.035\/3.954\/323.89) and McIntire Jr. (0.184\/4.031\/312.64) to\nadvance further. Hagan\u2019s performance was enough to stay in the Funny Car\nchampionship lead with a 22-point advantage over second place contender Robert\nHight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In Top Fuel\nqualifying, Pruett improved on her first pass of 3.730 seconds at 319.29 mph by\ntaking her Dodge Power Brokers dragster for a stout 3.686-second drive at\n327.51 mph with her second lap to earn the No. 2 spot for Sunday\u2019s elimination\nand collect two bonus points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Two more solid\nqualifying laps of 3.773 sec.\/326.40 mph and 3.734 sec.\/ 329.10 mph\ndemonstrated consistent performance by the TSR team and driver on their way to\nrace day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leah<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The last time\nshe started eliminations for the No. 2 position, Pruett won the Pomona national\nevent in July 2021. With the hope of repeating that success, the Dodge Power\nBrokers Direct Connection driver staged her HEMI\u00ae<\/sup>-powered dragster for Top\nFuel\u2019s opening round against No. 7 qualifier Brittany Force, No. 10 seed\nSpencer Massey and No. 15 seed Tony Schumacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leah<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pruett and\nForce left the line with identical 0.079-second reaction times, but while her\nadversary recorded the quickest run of the quad (3.732 sec.\/329.67 mph) and the\nTSR driver\u2019s run (3.741\/323.89) was second quickest, Massey\u2019s slower\n3.749\/323.27 pass beat Pruett to the finish with the help of a hole shot (0.035\nsec. reaction time) to eliminate her from advancing further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Additionally,\nin Funny Car action, the Cruz Pedregon Racing team continued their string of\nconsistent qualifying performances by qualifying the Snap-on Tools Dodge\nCharger SRT Hellcat in the top-five for a fifth time in the first six national\nevents of the season. Team owner and driver, Cruz Pedregon set the second\nquickest laps in both Q1 and Q3 session aboard his HEMI-powered machine to earn\na total of four bonus points and put himself fifth on the eliminations ladder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A\nquick 0.037-second reaction time by Pedregon gave his Hellcat Funny Car the\nadvantage on the start over No. 4 qualifier Robert Hight, No. 12 seed Tim\nWilkerson and No. 13 seed Jim Campbell. His 3.921 seconds\/ 328.46 mph run\nhelped him finish second to quad winner Hight\u2019s (0.057 sec. reaction time)\n3.880\/332.67 pass and beat Wilkerson and Campbell to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second round didn\u2019t go as the Cruz Pedregon team has hoped when a loss of traction at the hit of the throttle ended his hopes of advancing to the final quad in his battle against Hight, No. 1 qualifier John Force and No. 8 seed Bob Tasca III. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a weekend off, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will return to action May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park for the Virginia NHRA Nationals, the seventh of 22 NHRA national events this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n