For the second consecutive week in NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series Top Fuel action, Hall of Famer Tony Stewart lost by inches in his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT dragster, but managed to extend his Top Fuel points lead with a semifinals finish, while Dodge//SRT racer Matt Hagan suffered another close defeat in the Funny Car division at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
Stewart, the Top Fuel champion at Las Vegas and Chicago this year, was seeking a sixth straight 2025 NHRA Top Fuel final round appearance at the legendary Bristol, Tenn., dragstrip after recording his first No. 1 qualifying position on Saturday with a 3.755. In addition, “Smoke” defeated former World Champion Doug Kalitta in the special Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Saturday for his first Mission trophy.
Entering the Thunder Valley Dragway event, Stewart held the top spot in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings and extend his advantage to 76 points after just missing by inches moving on to his sixth straight final round. In the semifinal, he took on former World Champion Steve Torrence with Stewart taking the starting line margin. However, Torrence nipped Stewart by 0.0025 seconds, less than a foot, with a 3.861 to Torrence’s 3.857 despite a cut left front tire. Torrence went on to win the Bristol event over Justin Ashley.
Stewart and his Dodge//SRT Top Fuel team, led by crew chiefs Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala, now take their 12,000-horsepower nitro-burning dragster to Richmond on June 21-22 for the annual NHRA Virginia Nationals, a special two-day event.
“It was a great weekend overall,” said Stewart after the race. “We didn’t realize what a problem the right lane was going to be for everyone all weekend. We had lane choice for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and took the left lane because it was the better lane. That gave us the number one qualifying spot. We had a great day on Saturday getting number one qualifier and winning our first #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. That set us up to have a great day today.
“The highlight of the weekend for me was the semifinals. We made it down the track and we had also cut down the left front tire, but I was able to keep it on the track and almost win. I’m really proud of that. We gained five points from the last event. We aren’t continuing our final round streak, but we are continuing our round one streak (only Top Fuel team to advance past round one in every event this season). I’m really proud of this team and the crew chiefs are doing a phenomenal job. They’re getting this car dialed in, so that it’s consistent in all conditions.”
The four-time NHRA World Champion, Hagan, had a tough time in qualifying with a 14th starting spot in the 16-car field, and he had to go up against three-time World Champion Ron Capps in the opening round of eliminations. Hagan again gained the starting line jump on Capps in the tough right lane, but Capps edged the Virginia racer by just 0.010 seconds at the finish.
Hagan’s 4.608 in the tough right lane wasn’t enough to better Capps’ 4.050. Despite the first-round defeat, Hagan ranks fifth in the NHRA Mission Funny Car points after eight events, as the national tour heads to Virginia Motorsports Park on June 21-22 for the NHRA Virginia Nationals.
“Obviously, it was a very tough race,” said Hagan. “We’ve had three or four in a row that we’ve just been on the back side of a good drag race and that’s tough. Those are hard to swallow, but at the end of the day, you have to just keep cheering and know things are going to flip the other way. We’ve been in a lot worse shape. I hate it for our guys because they work hard all week, and first round losses are always tough. I believe in our program, and I believe in our guys.
“Mike Knudsen (crew chief) is doing a great job. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the lane choice, and we knew we had to back it down to get down that right lane. We’re still staying very positive. We have Richmond next weekend. It’s going to be a two-day show with qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. I’m excited that the season still has a long way to go.”
Also in the Top Fuel category, Ida Zetterström, the former FIA European Top Fuel champion from Sweden, enjoyed her best NHRA qualifying performance on Saturday with an eighth starting position in the JCM Dodge//SRT dragster. However, she took on Epping winner Brittany Force in the first round of eliminations and the Swede’s nitro-burning dragster smoked the tires.
“It’s been a tricky weekend,” Zetterström said. “It was a big change from what we had in Epping, as the track conditions were completely different. We went into Sunday No. 8, but we had race Brittany who was No. 7 in qualifying. And we were the first pair out on Sunday, and we did not get lane choice. That proved to be crucial in the first round of eliminations here. But, like others, we didn’t make it down in the right lane.”
Defending Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) World Champion Mark Pawuk of Akron, Ohio, scored his first 2025 NHRA victory in the No. 1 Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger Mopar® DragPak machine with a 7.880 over James Betz in the final round. The victory vaulted Pawuk into the FFS points lead with 341 over 300 for Jason Dietsch.
The NHRA Virginia Nationals will have a special two-day event for the nitro cars with qualifying rounds set for 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 21, with final eliminations starting Sunday, June 22, at 12 p.m. EDT. Fox television coverage of the finals will begin at 4 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1.
This story was originally published on June 9, 2025. 
