Stellantis Media Site Stewart, Hagan Record Quarterfinal Finishes at Brainerd Nationals, Stewart Remains Second in Top Fuel Points in TSR Dodge//SRT Dragster                                                Contact:                                                             Tom                          Blattler                                                                                                Kristin                         Starnes                                                                                                Darren                         Jacobs                                                                                                                                                                                   Stewart, Hagan Record Quarterfinal Finishes at Brainerd Nationals, Stewart Remains Second in Top Fuel Points in TSR Dodge//SRT Dragster                                           Tony Stewart, the former NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC champion, drove the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT Top Fueler to the quarterfinals Sunday Entering second in the current NHRA Mission Top Fuel points, Stewart continued his consistent performance with four 3.70 runs at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd   Qualifying fifth, Stewart defeated Josh Hart in round one and just missed a win in the quarterfinals after a strong starting line advantage with a 3.74 to 3.70 loss Despite the Brainerd defeat, “Smoke” remains second in the NHRA Mission points, just 45 markers behind leader Shawn Langdon entering the famed U.S. Nationals, Aug. 29-Sept. 1 Stewart still has a chance to capture the $150,000 top prize for the NHRA Mission regular season Top Fuel points championship which finishes at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis Matt Hagan, the four-time NHRA World Funny Car Champion, entered the Brainerd event seeking to improve on his 2024 NHRA runner-up finish in the TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat Hagan defeated Cruz Pedregon in the first round Sunday with a strong 3.883 run to the former World Champion’s 3.940 to advance to the quarterfinals against Austin Prock The recent NHRA Northwest Nationals winner had defeated Prock in Saturday’s Mission 2Fast2Tasty qualifying race and he left the starting first in Sunday’s matchup However, Hagan’s TSR Dodge//SRT Hellcat suffered a big engine explosion and fire at halftrack while Prock advanced to the semifinals With his quarterfinals placing, Hagan now stands third in the current NHRA Mission Funny Car points with the U.S. Nationals and the six-race “Countdown” remaining in the season    Follow Dodge in NHRA action at DodgeGarage.com                                                                                                                                                           August 18, 2025,                                                                                                                      Auburn Hills, Mich.                                                       -                                               Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan drove their nitro-burning Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Dodge//SRT machines to the quarterfinals Sunday in the Lucas Oil NHRA National drag races in unusually cool conditions at Brainerd International Raceway as the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series heads toward the all-important “Countdown for the Championship.”Stewart, the motorsports legend in his second year of Top Fuel competition, has been one of the highlights of the 2025 NHRA national tour with two event wins (Las Vegas and Chicago) and leading the Top Fuel points standings for several months. The former NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC series champion has been impressive in his fourth different racing discipline and remains in the Top Fuel fight for the title, ranking second in points.With four 3.70 runs this weekend, Stewart qualified fifth in his 12,000-horsepower American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Top Fueler and defeated Josh Hart in the opening round of eliminations Sunday at the Brainerd drag strip with 3.733 to Hart’s 3.788. In the quarterfinals, with cooler 65-degree weather, the man known as “Smoke” was again quick off the starting line against Billy Torrence. However, Stewart’s 3.746 was not enough to defeat Torrence’s 3.708 at the finish line. The race margin was just 0.01 seconds.Despite the loss, Stewart remains second to Shawn Langdon in the NHRA Top Fuel standings, just 45 points out of the lead. Stewart’s next race is the legendary U.S. Nationals on Aug. 29-Sept. 1.“There were a lot of positives to the weekend,” said Stewart. “The car made it down the track three of the four runs in qualifying. In the fourth run, we pressed knowing that the car may or may not make it down the track and didn’t have anything to lose. I’m proud of our qualifying effort. We stayed within the top two to six the whole time. We made two solid runs today, just fell short on both of them with what the crew chiefs were looking for in times.“We still have a consistent car that is making it down the racetrack. We’ll go to Indy and our biggest race of the season. Indy is for points and a half and we’re only within 45 points to Shawn Langdon, which is less than two rounds. We have to keep our nose to the ground. We’re going to test in Brainerd Monday, so hopefully we can find some things with the car’s performance. And once we get to Indy, everything is sorted the way we want it.”It was a tougher and more eventful day for Stewart’s TSR Dodge//SRT teammate Matt Hagan, who piloted his American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car past former World Champion Cruz Pedregon in the opening round of competition Sunday with a strong 3.883 run and 333.58 miles per hour.Hagan, the four-time NHRA World Champion and recent Northwest Nationals winner, moved to the quarterfinals in a classic matchup with reigning World Champion Austin Prock. Hagan had already defeated Prock in Saturday’s Mission 2Fast2Tasty qualifying race.The Virginia racer took the starting advantage against Prock and was leading at the 330-foot mark before his engine suffered an explosion and fire at halftrack, ending Hagan’s charge to the semifinals. Matt was uninjured in the incident and the TSR team plans to test on Monday as they prepare for the biggest NHRA event of the year, the U.S. Nationals on Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.Despite the loss to Prock, Hagan sits third in the current NHRA Mission Funny Car points standings entering the final race of the regular season at Indianapolis. The six-race “Countdown for the Championship” begins on Sept. 12-14 at Reading, Pa.“We had an unexpected blow-up in the second round, but the car is running good,” Hagan said. “It was nothing that the crew chiefs or guys did wrong, we just had a parts failure. Sometimes, you push these cars as hard as you can and parts break. It cost us a round win. We were winning, until we weren’t. We were planning on testing the valvetrain anyways, so we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again.“I just feel bad that we weren’t able to take our cars further in eliminations for our sponsors. Like Dodge, American Rebel Light is a great sponsor to work with. We were looking for another celebration like Seattle. Now, we are definitely preparing for Indy. It’s our biggest race.”Sweden’s Ida Zetterström, the 2023 FIA Top Fuel Champion, made a return to Brainerd International Raceway after her NHRA Top Fuel debut last year at the Minnesota racing plant. Driving the JCM/Dodge//SRT dragster, the popular Zetterström qualified 11th and faced Torrence in the first round of eliminations Sunday. Unfortunately, Zetterström’s nitro dragster shook the rear tires off the starting line and she shut down the engine, leaving Torrence to advance against Stewart.    “We’re frustrated right now,” said Zetterström. “We changed things in the car for this race. I had really hoped it was going to show in a big way, and it didn’t. But like a lot of people keep reminding me, it takes time. You don’t change something and then, in one round, it’s going to be an automatic fix. It takes time.” Nitro action for the upcoming NHRA U.S. Nationals begins on Friday, Aug. 29, with one qualifying round set for 7:30 p.m. EDT, followed by Saturday’s qualifying sessions at 12:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. EDT. Sunday’s qualifying begins with Top Fuel at 12 p.m. EDT followed by NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout eliminations at 12:45 p.m. and final qualifying 2:45 p.m. EDTThe final eliminations will begin on Monday, Sept. 1, at 10 a.m. EDT with the national telecast scheduled for 12 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1 and 2 p.m. EDT on the FOX Network.Direct ConnectionThe Direct Connection portfolio, available online and through the Dodge Power Brokers dealer network, includes modern performance, crate engine, race and vintage muscle high-performance products for Dodge performance vehicles, offering factory street, strip and track performance parts developed by SRT engineers and backed by a Mopar® warranty for peace of mind. Performance enthusiasts and racers can access the Direct Connection hotline at (800) 998-1110 for technical and race support. More information on Direct Connection and Dodge Power Brokers is available at DCPerformance.com.                         @DodgeMoparMotorsports on InstagramThe @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.Dodge//SRTFor 110 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge, America’s performance brand, shifts into high gear with a lineup that delivers unrivaled performance in each of the segments in which the brand competes while moving forward to a future that includes electrified muscle in the form of the next-generation, all-new Dodge Charger.The next-generation Dodge Charger electrifies a legend, with the Charger retaining its title as the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car led by the all-new, all-electric 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack. The all-new Dodge Charger will also offer performance choices via multi-energy powertrain options including the 550-horsepower Dodge Charger SIXPACK H.O., powered by the 3.0L Twin Turbo Hurricane High Output engine.Dodge also keeps its foot on the gas as a pure performance brand with the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful gas engine SUV ever, and best-in-class standard performance in the compact-utility vehicle segment with the Dodge Hornet.Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news, including daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise.Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis (NYSE: STLA).  MoparMopar is the global name for Stellantis genuine parts and authentic accessories.A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over more than 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com and the newly redesigned Mopar blog at www.blog.mopar.com. Follow Dodge, Mopar and Stellantis news and video on:Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.comMedia website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.comDodge brand: www.dodge.comDodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.comMopar brand: www.mopar.comMopar blog: blog.mopar.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/dodge and www.facebook.com/moparInstagram: @DodgeMoparMotorsports, @DodgeOfficial and @OfficialMoparTwitter: @Dodge, @OfficialMopar and @StellantisNAYouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, www.youtube.com/c/mopar and www.youtube.com/StellantisNA