{"id":5764,"date":"2023-10-17T01:02:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T01:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/?p=5764"},"modified":"2023-10-17T01:13:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T01:13:14","slug":"to-the-top-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/?p=5764","title":{"rendered":"“To the Top” In Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Team owner Tony Stewart described his NHRA Nitro team\u2019s performance as a great \u201cdouble up\u201d as drivers Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan drove their Dodge\/\/SRT machines to the winner\u2019s circle in the Texas NHRA Fallnationals at the Texas Motorplex.
 
It marked the first \u201cdouble\u201d victory for Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) since the team was established in 2022 as Pruett took top honors in the Top Fuel category and Hagan captured the win in the Funny Car division.
 
With two races remaining at Las Vegas and Pomona, California, in the \u201cCountdown to the Championship,\u201d both Pruett and Hagan have vaulted to their respective class points leads. Pruett holds a four-point margin over Doug Kalitta, while Hagan leads by 36 markers over Bob Tasca III.
 
Both drivers and their crews put in sensational performances on race day with Pruett (Top Fuel) clocking consistent runs of 3.678, 3.697, 3.681 and 3.684, while Hagan (Funny Car) posted passes of 3.895, 3.868, 3.875 and 3.883 seconds.
 
\u201cThis is the \u2018double up\u2019 we have been looking for,\u201d said Stewart, the three-time NASCAR Cup champion. \u201cI really don\u2019t know how I feel right now. We have been trying to win both classes in a race for the past two seasons and we were close with Leah winning at Norwalk and Matt winning at St. Louis. I\u2019m so excited for our drivers, crews and partners like Dodge, Direct Direction, Mobil 1 and American Rebel for this \u2018double event win.\u2019 And we have the points leads with two races to go. It\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Hagan<\/strong> outgunned John Force in the fuel FC final at the Texas Motorplex — to earn his 6th NHRA event win this year and the points lead with 2 races remaining.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cWe are thrilled to congratulate our Dodge\/\/SRT Dodge drivers Leah Pruett, Matt Hagan and the entire Tony Stewart Racing team on their first NHRA double-event wins at the Texas NHRA Fallnationals,\u201d said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer — Stellantis. \u201cThe competition in the 11,000-horsepower NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions is the toughest in motorsports, and Leah and Matt\u2019s performances are proof that Dodge vehicles and Direct Connection parts are a winning combination on the track and on the street for Dodge and Mopar enthusiasts.\u201d
   
Hagan, the three-time NHRA World Funny Car Champion, qualified a solid fifth in the TSR American Rebel Dodge\/\/SRT Hellcat and produced impressive runs in bettering Paul Lee, Alex Laughlin, Tim Wilkerson and John Force in the final round.
 
In the final, Hagan recorded a 3.883 over Force\u2019s 6.818 to score his sixth win of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and his 49th career victory. With the win, Hagan now moves to a 36-point lead over Bob Tasca III with the series\u2019 final two events set for Las Vegas (Oct. 27-29) and Pomona (Nov. 10-12). Hagan entered the Texas event in third place, just 13 points out of the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Team owner Tony Stewart<\/strong> celebrates an event “double up” with his winning drivers Leah Pruett (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


\u201cTony said, \u2018Let\u2019s double up today,\u2019 and it\u2019s a great day for Tony Stewart Racing and all of our partners such as Dodge, Direct Connection and America Rebel,\u201d said Hagan after taking the win. \u201cWe are surrounded with a great group of people and partners that can make this possible. I love seeing my teammate, Leah, jump into my arms in victory lane. I know we have come close to the \u2018double\u2019 this year, but this is the right time when we are in the \u2018Countdown.\u2019 I can\u2019t thank Tony enough for keeping this team together and working with Dickie (Venables), Stretch (Mike Knudson), Alex (Conaway) and all of the crew guys and gals that make days like this one possible. We needed back-to-back wins at St. Louis and Dallas to go after this championship. Now, we have two more left and we are ready for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bob Tasca III <\/strong>ran a career quick and fast 3.822 secs at 338.57 mph to qualify #1 at the Dallas area event.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Legendary driver John Force<\/strong> also ran his career quick ET — 3.823 secs – while enroute to a R\/UP placing.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Texas Fall Nationals FC Class Racing Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WIN: Matt Hagan 3.882 secs 332.25 mph (Career win #49)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\/UP: John Force \u2013 6.818 secs 94.02 mph<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low ET: Bob Tasca III \u2013 3.822 secs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top MPH: Bob Tasca III \u2013 338.57 mph<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bump: 4.233 secs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entries \u2013 18 cars<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted with files by Tom Blattler & Bruce Biegler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos courtesy of NHRA & Auto Imagery<\/p>\n\n\n\n


 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team owner Tony Stewart described his NHRA Nitro team\u2019s performance as a great \u201cdouble up\u201d as drivers Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan drove their Dodge\/\/SRT machines to the winner\u2019s circle in the Texas NHRA Fallnationals at the Texas Motorplex. It marked the first \u201cdouble\u201d victory for Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) since the team was established in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5764"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5775,"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5764\/revisions\/5775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}