Tony Stewart’s Dodge NHRA Team Gets Win #1 at the Gatornationals

Matt Hagan and his Dodge Charger scored Stewart is first win as an owner in just the third event.

When we talk about racing results, we typically focus on the driver and the car far more than the team owner, but when Matt Hagan won the 2022 NHRA Gatornationls this past weekend in his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car, it was a major milestone for his team owner. As you may know, Hagan left his longtime role at Don Schumacher Racing to join Tony Stewart’s new team and in just their third event together, they won one of the marquee events of drag racing’s big leagues.

“Congratulations to Matt Hagan and the Tony Stewart Racing team for their first win of the 2022 season aboard the Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car at the NHRA Gatornationals,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer – Stellantis. “It’s great to see Matt earn his 40th career win and continue to demonstrate what Dodge//SRT performance looks like and what enthusiasts can expect from Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection.”

TSR Win #1

For Tony Stewart and his new NHRA racing team, the Gatornationals Funny Car victory breaks the ice for what is likely to be yet another successful venture in motorsports for the NASCAR legend. Folks often say that the first win is the toughest, and TSR has gotten that out of the way.

Of course, with a championship driver and the best race cars in the field, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but after great success in both open wheel and NASCAR as an owner, there was little doubt that “Smoke” would work his magic in the NHRA as well.

“Our NHRA Nitro team is appreciative of the long-standing relationship our drivers Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett have had with Dodge//SRT and Mopar,” team owner Tony Stewart said. “Everyone in racing knows the value of OEM support and its importance to a team’s success, so we’re pleased to have that relationship with Dodge in drag racing and how that quickly culminated in our first Funny Car win at the NHRA Gatornationals.”

Dodge Shines through the Weather

The 2022 Gatornationals got off to a rough start, with cold weather and rain preventing qualifying on Friday and delaying the process on Saturday. As a result, the funny cars only got one qualifying pass and half of the field headed into eliminations without making a solid pass. Ron Capps qualified 10^th in his Dodge Charger with a 7.487 at 90 miles per hour while the 11^th through 16^th place cars all qualified with a time in the 8s or 9s.

Fortunately, Hagan was one of the drivers who put down a good run in qualifying, with his Dodge Charger Hellcat running a 3.898 at 320, good enough for the 4^th starting spot. Cruz Pedregon was a touch quicker in his Dodge, running a 3.891 and starting in the 3^rd spot while Robert Hight’s Camaro was the quickest of the class with a 3.831 at 333.

The rain and cold weather was a major problem for qualifying, but Mother Nature also created some issues in eliminations. After all of the rain coupled with the cool air, track conditions were in question and constantly changing while the cool air led to big power from the supercharged Hemi race engines.

The combination of big power and a questionable track surface led to all sorts of traction issues in the first round of eliminations. As a result, many of the elimination runs saw one car making a good run while the other went up in smoke, but when there were only two left, Hagan faced-off against Blake Alexander.

Matt Hagan and his Dodge Charger crushed Alexander on the starting line and never looked back, running a 3.91 at 330 while his opponent’s Mustang limped across the line with a 9.56.

As for Matt Hagan, it was the first Gatornationals win in his career.

“To get this first win at the Gatornationals and Tony Stewart’s first win in a drag car, it’s pretty awesome,” said the three-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion. “He wants to be here and it says a lot for our sport. It was a good weekend for Tony, a good weekend for NHRA and I’m just very blessed and humbled to be here. I want to make sure I’m showing up on the starting line and doing my part and I just know what this team is capable of.

It’s a lot of tough competition, but as a driver that’s exciting,” said Hagan. “It just was a big weekend for me personally because I’ve been wanting to win this race and check it off on my career box, and I think this allows me to accomplish everything I’ve ever set out to do in NHRA.”

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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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