Tony Stewart Impresses at NHRA U.S. Nationals, Prepares for Playoffs

Tony Stewart, in his remarkable “rookie” season in NHRA Top Fuel, delivered another stellar performance at the prestigious 70th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals held at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on September 2, 2024. Piloting his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge//SRT dragster adorned with special 50th-anniversary Direct Connection graphics, Stewart secured his second consecutive No. 2 qualifying position in a fiercely competitive 19-car field and powered his way to the semifinals.

Stewart’s impressive showing began in qualifying, where he rocketed to the top of the charts with a blistering 3.707-second pass at 331.04 mph. However, his time was narrowly bested by Brittany Force, who took the pole with a 3.693-second run. Undeterred, Stewart demonstrated his resilience in hot conditions, managing a solid 3.79-second pass on a 130-degree track surface.

In Monday’s final eliminations, Stewart continued his strong run, posting a 3.723-second pass to defeat Doug Foley in the first round and then following up with a 3.747-second pass to take out Justin Ashley in round two. Despite his efforts, Stewart missed gaining lane choice for the semifinals against former world champion Steve Torrence. In a tightly contested semifinal race, Stewart and Torrence left the starting line together, but Stewart’s dragster lost traction down the track, allowing Torrence to advance to the final round.

Despite the semifinal exit, Stewart’s performance at the U.S. Nationals secured his place in the final six-race NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series “Countdown” playoffs. The Indiana native, affectionately known as “Smoke,” now holds the seventh position in the standings. Stewart is set to kick off the “Countdown” playoffs at the NHRA Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania, from September 13-15.

Reflecting on his weekend, Stewart remained optimistic, saying, “I’m still encouraged by the weekend, even with the semis loss. I don’t know what we have to do to win one of these races. That’s two races in a row in which we qualified second. We are in the game now. We have a car that is capable of finishing off one of these events with a win. We just need a little luck on our side. We have to create our own luck, too. It was nice to not have to sweat it after the second round of qualifying when we jumped to No. 2. I think we have a lot of confidence leaving this race, even though it didn’t go how we wanted at the end. We have a lot to look forward to with this final stretch in the ‘Countdown’.”

Stewart’s teammate, reigning Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, faced a challenging day when his TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT HELLCAT Funny Car lost traction in the first round of eliminations on Monday. Hagan, who has already claimed two NHRA national event victories in 2024, saw his 11,000-horsepower machine smoke the tires at half-track, allowing opponent Alexis DeJoria to advance to the quarterfinals. Despite the early exit, Hagan remains confident, heading into the NHRA “Countdown” playoffs ranked third in the standings.

“We were trying to run hard in the first round with the cooler air (66 degrees), and I let the car get inside a little too much in the lane,” said Hagan, who also carried 50th-anniversary graphics celebrating 50 years of the Dodge Direct Connection performance parts brand. “I smoked the tires. For me, I felt a light rattle with the tires, and I got in the marbles a bit. That one is on me. We looked at it on video, and we have learned info from that run. We always learn with every run. The faster you run, the harder these cars are to drive. The car was on a good pass, maybe 3.86 or so.

“We are ready for the ‘Countdown’ now, and we had a good performance last year with wins at St. Louis and Dallas taking us to a championship. You have to win races in the ‘Countdown’ to win a championship. This TSR Direct Connection team is experienced, and they know how to win titles too. We just have to keep our heads down and the wins will come to us. We know we can do it.”

Adding to the excitement of the U.S. Nationals, Sweden’s Ida Zetterström made a strong impression in only her second NHRA national event. Driving her JCM Racing/Dodge Top Fuel dragster, Zetterström secured a first-round upset victory over the No. 3 qualifier with a solid 3.759-second pass. The 2023 FIA Top Fuel Champion advanced to the second round, where she narrowly lost a close battle against Steve Torrence with a 3.797-second pass to Torrence’s 3.742.

“I’m very proud of the team and what we are showing here,” Zetterström said. “Going into Indy is hard for everyone. We saw some really heavy hitters on the outside (in qualifying). Usually, when you go into a race, you have the mindset that qualifying is where you try things out, you set the field, and you go into race day. But Indy is different. It feels like every day is race day because it’s so hard to just get into the show. That’s been new to me to have that feeling of being under pressure constantly for four days in a row. Being able to qualify was a great feeling in itself.”

As the NHRA season heats up, all eyes will be on the NHRA Pep Boys Nationals, the opening round of the six-race NHRA Mission “Countdown” playoffs. The action begins on Friday, September 13, with nitro qualifying scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT and 6:00 p.m. EDT, followed by additional qualifying sessions on Saturday, September 14, at 1:00 p.m. EDT and 3:30 p.m. EDT. Final eliminations are set for Sunday, September 15, starting at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

Fans can catch the NHRA Pep Boys Nationals on Fox Sports 1, which will broadcast the event on Friday, September 13, at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The final eliminations will be televised on FOX Network at 2:00 p.m. EDT and 4:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 15.