Tony Stewart Racing Announces Dodge NHRA Sponsorship

Matt Hagan will drive a Charger Hellcat funny car while Leah Pruett drives a Dodge sponsored top fuel dragster.

Tony Stewart introduced his new drag racing team late last year and when he did so, we learned that Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett would be leaving Don Schumacher Racing after the 2021 season. As you likely know, Don Schumacher Racing has long been the leading Dodge/Mopar team in NHRA Funny Car along with being a top competitor in NHRA Top Fuel Dragster. When Hagan and Pruett signed on with Tony Stewart for the 2022 season, there was no word whether they would still be flying the Team Mopar colors. It was rumored that Stewart would be buying all of his engines from Don Schumacher Racing – meaning that both teams would still be Dodge teams – but with his Ford connection in NASCAR, many Mopar drag racing fans were worried that they were losing two of their favorite drivers.

Fortunately, with today’s announcement by both Dodge and Tony Stewart Racing, we know that Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett will still be racing for Team Mopar in 2022. This is just the latest bit of news that comes as part of the Dodge Never Lift two-year plan.

“The Dodge brand has a long history of competing in and supporting motorsports.” says Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer – Stellantis. “For nearly a decade, NHRA drag racing has been our primary motorsports focus, helping deliver products like the Dodge Demon, 1320 and Super Stock; cars that resonate with the Brotherhood of Muscle. These vehicles will hold a place in muscle-car history for years to come. The Dodge brand embodies the philosophy of the ‘last tenth,’ and we are not done pushing the performance envelope.  So, we are extremely excited to partner with Tony Stewart and his drag racing team to help take Dodge to the next level. Tony is a racing legend with an attitude, personality and competitive drive that aligns perfectly with our goals.”

Tony Stewart Racing Teams for 2022

Tony Stewart Racing will field two nitro teams in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series – one in Top Fuel Dragster and one in Top Fuel Funny Car. The Top Fuel Dragster entry will be driven by Leah Pruett, who got married to Tony Stewart back in November 2022, while Matt Hagan will driven a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the Funny Car class. Both cars will start the season with the Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection livery shown here with a full-season sponsorship.

“I’m really pleased to have Dodge//SRT and Mopar as partners with our new NHRA venture as manufacturer and sponsor for our two entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car with Leah and Matt,” says Tony Stewart, TSR team owner. “It shows confidence in your program when an OEM wants to be on your team and for you to help support their program as well. They have obviously had a great relationship with both drivers for the last few years and to be able to continue that association is key to this team’s success and a huge benefit to the continuity for everyone involved. Having that kind of history definitely helps flatten the learning curve while raising expectations for our inaugural NHRA season. It’ll be nice to work with Dodge and Mopar again after sharing success together in USAC and the World of Outlaws nearly two decades ago. We are certainly setting the bar high and look forward to being competitive from the start.”

Pruett enters the 2022 season with 9 national event wins in her career while Hagan has 39 event wins and 3 national championships. With Hagan, Tony Stewart Racing is an early front-runner for the 2022 Funny Car title, but things will be a bit tougher for Pruett. The Top Fuel Dragster class has been dominated for years by Steve Torrence, having claimed the title for the past four years. Beating Steve Torrence and his brother Billy will be tough, but Pruett has shown that she knows how to win as a driver and Stewart has been successful in every form of motorsport.

“It was very important to me to continue the close relationship I’ve had with Dodge//SRT and Mopar in this new journey with Tony Stewart Racing,” says Pruett. “I’m appreciative of the support that Dodge and Mopar, and all their fans, have shown me these past few years and I’m proud to fly their colors as we move forward together and work to bring home wins and a championship in 2022. Having Direct Connection branding on my dragster this season is really exciting because it has such a rich history of success at the drag strip with racers like Don Garlits, and it’s amazing to help continue to build on that legacy and introduce it to a new generation of Dodge enthusiasts.”

The 2022 NHRA season kicks off on February 17 with the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California, with the action being broadcast on Fox and FS1. Check your local listings for times and channels.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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