Three-time Funny Car Champ Matt Hagan Gives Tony Stewart Racing Its First Drag Racing Win.
- Three-time Funny Car champ Matt Hagan gives Tony Stewart his first drag-racing victory.
- Tripp Tatum logs Gatornationals lore as second straight darkhorse to shock in Top Fuel.
- Erica Enders in Pro Stock, Karen Stoffer in Pro Stock Motorcycle make historic runs.
The two first-time nitro winners Sunday at the NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals made an unlikely podium pairing: one a household name as one of the most high-profile motorsports personalities, the other a reserved, media-shy businessman who’s just 12 races removed from running a snow-removal company in Maryland.
Newly established Camping World Drag Racing Series team owner Tony Stewart celebrated Matt Hagan’s Funny Car victory, a first for the new venture. It balanced out Tony Stewart Racing’s disappointment in seeing Hagan teammate Leah Pruett miss her 16-car cut in the Top Fuel class, thanks in large part to ugly weather conditions at Gainesville, Fla.
A year after Josh Hart christened the 2021 season by winning the first outing of his Top Fuel career at Gainesville Raceway, Tripp Tatum was the weekend’s big surprise, turning his No. 1 qualifying achievement into a victory over fellow first-time hopeful Doug Foley.
Erica Enders in Pro Stock and Karen Stoffer in Pro Stock Motorcycle made historic runs. And Top Fuel’s Brittany Force obliterated the track speed record at 337.75 mph, set top speed of the meet for third time in as many races this season, and advanced in the $80,000-to-win Pep Boys All-Star Callout specialty race.
Here are our bytes from the Gatornationals:
Matt Hagan helped his new team owner finally get in the win column.
NHRA/National Dragster
Matt Hagan Gives Tony Stewart Racing its First Funny Car Win
Before arriving at Gainesville, Hagan said, “I know Robert Hight has pulled off two wins now, but it’s just a matter of time before we start pulling in wins for TSR over here. They give us all the parts and pieces that we need. This Dodge Power Brokers Hellcat has been running strong, and we’re just piecing it together little by little. I haven’t yet won the Gatornationals, so I think that’s one I need to put down in my record book.”
He can write in there in ink now, as the whole puzzle came together Sunday when Hagan defeated Blake Alexander in the final round.
Happy owner. Happy driver. 😁#TSRnitro | #Gatornats | @NHRA | @Dodge | @OfficialMOPAR | @MattHagan_FC pic.twitter.com/CeVwnzLXRH
— TSR Nitro (@TSRnitro) March 13, 2022
While Hagan was receiving his 40th victory at the top end of the track, Stewart was back at the starting line, crediting his organization.
“It’s pretty bad-ass,” Stewart said of getting the monkey off his team’s back. “I’ve had a lot of good luck in Daytona but never in Gainesville. Pretty cool to move to the opposite side of the state. All these people who busted their ass trying to get parking spots here, they’re the heroes here this weekend with all the rain. Everybody has fought through it to come do what we love doing and go racin’.
“We’ve got two awesome race teams that have worked their butts off to get here. It was a very short winter. Man, I’m really proud of these guys. I’m proud of Matt Hagan and [crew chief] Dickie Venables, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conaway, and all the guys on this team. They’ve done an amazing job. Great way to get off the ground here.”
Top Fuel Winner Tripp Tatum Answers ‘Who’s He?’ with ‘You’ll See’
Tripp Tatum, 51, a former snow-removal entrepreneur who moved to Indianapolis to pursue his drag-racing dreams, plowed through the field in qualifying to seize the No. 1 starting spot Saturday and then again in eliminations Sunday to signal his serious intentions.
Tatum came into the race sitting 16th in the standings, and he has a limited schedule planned for this year because he needs a sponsor.
But after seeing his dragster’s capability, he said, “I am a 100 percent self-funded car. When it runs this good, you want to run more. I feel like this car can be a contender. I just need to work on finding some help so we can run more races.”
Anyone paying attention probably shouldn’t be stunned that Tatum ran well. His car is a virtual clone of the Capco Contractors Dragsters that four-time and current class champion Steve Torrence and his powerhouse part-time teammate/dad Billy Torrence drive. And the Capco brain trust, particularly brothers Bobby and Dom Lagana but also veteran tuners John Stewart and Tony Shortall, helps call the shots.
In a weekend that was primed to salute the class’ Elite Eight racers in an $80,000-to-win shootout, three of them didn’t make the Gatornationals field because of the one-and-done nature of qualifying. And Tatum emerged as another strong player in an already crowded field of stout drivers.
He teased that his is a “dream team of retired guys,” and John Stewart said they’ve borrowed the nickname of The Bad News Bears. But Tatum is putting these “retirees” to work and if they’re “bad news,” that’s bad news for his opponents from now on.
One-and-Done Top Fuel Qualifying Stings Elites
First-round losses in the Pep Boys All-Star Top Fuel Call-Out proved to be a double-whammy for contenders Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, and Leah Pruett.
That specialty-race pass, which was folded into qualifying for the Gatornationals, was the only one the class got all weekend. Persistent rain washed out Friday qualifying and delayed Saturday’s action long enough to make rapidly dropping temperatures the culprit. NHRA officials canceled the third and last opportunity.
It marked the first time since 2013 at Indianapolis that Pruett missed the cut for a race she entered. That marked the first time since 2013 (Indianapolis) that Pruett missed the cut for a race she entered. It was only the fourth time in 463 races that Brown had a DNQ, and it was the first miss for Langdon in 221 events (since 2011).
Callout Finish Delayed Until September
The Funny Car class was set to have the spotlight all to itself Labor Day weekend with its version of the $80,000-to-win Pep Boys All-Star Call-out at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. But with just one round completed for the Top Fuel Callout at Gainesville, the dragsters will complete the semifinals and final at newly renamed Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
First-round winners were Justin Ashley, Mike Salinas, Brittany Force, and Steve Torrence. Doug Kalitta red-lit against Ashley, Langdon’s car was wounded before it rolled to the starting line and never even made a burnout against Salinas, and Antron Brown (facing Force) and Pruett (racing Torrence) lost traction early in their runs.
Blake Alexander Buoys Jim Head Racing in First Appearance Since Tragedy
Funny Car racer Blake Alexander gave Jim Head and his team the boost in the arm they all needed by reaching the final round Sunday. Alexander lost traction early in his run and lost to Matt Hagan. But it was a huge performance leap for the tight-budgeted team that was making its first appearance since losing promising crew member Dylan Cromwell in a fatal hauler accident last October just a few miles from the Indianapolis shop.
An emotional Alexander said after winning his semifinal match-up against Ron Capps, “We’re trying to find a rhythm for our [four] new crew guys [who are working on nitro cars for the first time]” and that “I think of Dylan. We’re going to keep going.”
Head simply said, “It was a long winter. We’ve been pretty down. It’s good to be back.”
Erica Enders Sets Pro Stock National E.T. Record—and Loses
Bo Butner cut a nearly perfect .002-second reaction time (.000 is perfect) in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations to score a holeshot round-win and send reigning champion Erica Enders home early – despite her 6.450-second elapsed time that is the quickest pass in class history. So she left early, but she left with the national record (which eclipsed Jason Line’s previous best of 6.455 seconds from the March 2015 Charlotte race).
Erica Enders makes history in tough loss.
NHRA/National Dragster
Enders topped Aaron Stanfield’s No. 1 qualifying E.T. of 6.468 seconds that Saturday night was the quickest run in Pro Stock since the class switched to electronic fuel injection in 2016. Stanfield followed in Sunday’s first round with a 6.457.
Pro Stock Bike Winner Karen Stoffer Makes Record Runs
Karen Stoffer capped a productive weekend with more than just her 11th career victory and third at Gainesville in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class’ season opener. She also reeled off a couple of powerful runs. In eliminations, she made the two quickest passes in the history of the NHRA bikes. First, she ran a 6.682-second elapsed time, then in the quarterfinals she lowered that to 6.665 seconds.
“When you’re going down the racetrack, the smoother it is, the faster it is. It felt really smooth. It wasn’t pulling hard. It was a smooth, consistent pull. I didn’t know it was going to be that good,” Stoffer said of her first-round pass. “Tim [crew chief Kulungian] said it was out there, but I didn’t know it was going to be on my bike. It was my first time down the racetrack [this year].
“I’ve never in the NHRA—and I’ve been a longtime member from way back when—been the first in anything. I wasn’t the first female. I wasn’t the first 200-mile-an-hour (bike racer). I wasn’t the first ‘six’ [racer in the six-second range]. So to get this here, that’s huge to me.” She told her White Alligator Racing (W.A.R.) team, including boss Jerry Savoie whom she beat in the semifinal, “It’s all about you.”
Unofficial NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Updated Top 10 Points Standings
TOP FUEL – 1. Mike Salinas, 256; 2. Justin Ashley, 233; 3. Steve Torrence, 209; 4. Brittany Force, 178; 5. Clay Millican, 173; 6. Tripp Tatum, 160; 7. Josh Hart, 157; 8. Doug Foley, 155; 9. Austin Prock, 146; 10. Doug Kalitta, 130.
FUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, 308; 2. Matt Hagan, 297; 3. Ron Capps, 231; 4. Cruz Pedregon, 188; 5. John Force, 155; 6. Tim Wilkerson, 149; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 140; 8. Bob Tasca III, 137; 9. Chad Green, 133; 10. J.R. Todd, 118.
PRO STOCK — Aaron Stanfield, 285;2. Erica Enders, 225; 3. Kyle Koretsky, 218; 4. Dallas Glenn, 198; 5. Mason McGaha, 175; 6. Greg Anderson, 167; 7t. Rodger Brogdon, 158; 7t. Troy Coughlin Jr., 158; 9. Deric Kramer, 144; 10. Camrie Caruso, 139.
Keyword: NHRA Gainesville Results, Updated Points, Views from Historic Event for Tony Stewart