Stellantis Media Site Hard Work With Hagan’s Rebuilt Dodge Funny Car Just Misses In Tricky Conditions at Gerber Route 66 Nationals Sunday Contact: Tom   Blattler Hard Work With Hagan’s Rebuilt Dodge Funny Car Just Misses In Tricky Conditions at Gerber Route 66 Nationals Sunday Matt Hagan’s rebuilt Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Direct Connection Dodge/SRT Hellcat Funny Car returned to action this weekend at the NHRA Gerber Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois, and qualified fourth in the 16-car lineup However, after three tough weeks of rebuilding the car for this weekend, Hagan’s machine lost traction in the first round and was eliminated from competition Despite the first record loss, Hagan continues to lead the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Funny Car point standings heading to Epping, New Hampshire, in two weeks Leah Pruett, who ranked fourth in NHRA Top Fuel points with Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster, advanced to the second round Sunday after a strong win over four-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Steve Torrance Pruett remains in the top-five in the current NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings Cruz Pedregon qualified second at the Route 66 Nationals in the Funny Car division with a 3.889 run with his Snap-On Dodge// SRT Hellcat May 21, 2023,  Auburn Hills, Mich. - It was a tough three weeks for the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team with the rebuilding of Matt Hagan’s Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car after the Charlotte incident into the catch netting.Having the first eight feet of the Funny Car chassis replaced at a local Brownsburg, Indiana repair shop, Hagan, the winner of three 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series national events, tested well before this weekend’s NHRA Gerber Route 66 Nationals and the Dickie Venables-led crew was prepared for the return to the Illinois drag strip south of Chicago.Unfortunately, after qualifying fourth in the 16-car field, Hagan’s Funny Car lost traction in the first round of eliminations Sunday in tricky track conditions.Despite the first-round loss, Hagan maintains the top position in the current NHRA Funny Car point standings as the tour moves to the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, New Hampshire, on June 2-4.“We’ve had two tough races in a row with first-round losses (Charlotte and Joliet),” said Hagan. “It is not a representation of what I feel like this team is or the level we’re at. It didn’t help that I put the car in the sand in Charlotte and we had to put a new front half of the car. At the end of the day, I know what we are capable of and isn’t a reflection of what happened today.“We didn’t have a good showing on our end this weekend for Dodge and Direct Connection. Epping is where we’ve won four races. This weekend was tough because my guys have put in a lot of work the last couple weeks with the new front half of the car. We’ll hit the reset button and go from there.”Hagan’s TSR teammate, Leah Pruett, advanced her Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster to the second round at the Route 66 Nationals with a first-round win over four-time NHRA series champion Steve Torrance. However, Pruett’s machine lost traction at half-track in round two and lost the race to local driver T.J. Zizzo in the first NHRA national event at the Route 66 Raceway since 2018.Despite the second-round loss, Pruett maintained her top-five spot in the NHRA Top Fuel standings as the Arizona driver heads to New Hampshire in two weeks.“If there was one word to describe this Dodge Direct Connection team and our experience at Route 66 Raceway, it’s adaptability,” said Pruett. “Coming into this race, it’s a lot different having 21 hard-hitting cars on a new racetrack with new conditions. By qualifying ninth, on the other side of the field for the first time this season, it disrupted our qualifying average (in top-five).“We committed to a new tune-up program going into Charlotte last race. We have very few runs with it and are continuing to learn in these various conditions. It’s very science and math-based developed by our crew chiefs. Leaving here strong in points has everything to do with being consistent and making it down the racetrack when other cars have not. We’re prepared now with Epping around the corner.”Cruz Pedregon qualified second with his Snap-On Tools Dodge// SRT Hellcat at 3.8889, trailing only Robert Hight’s pole time of 3.831. Pedregon reached the second round in Funny Car eliminations Sunday. @DodgeMoparMotorsports on InstagramThe @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.DodgeFor 112 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Today, that legacy roars louder than ever in the next-generation lineup of Dodge, America’s performance brand.The next-gen Dodge Charger multi-energy lineup features: the 550-horsepower Dodge Charger Scat Pack, powered by the 3.0L Twin Turbo SIXPACK high-output (H.O.) engine — the most powerful Hurricane engine in production the SIXPACK-powered standard-output (S.O.) 420-horsepower Dodge Charger R/T with standard all-wheel drive and the highest entry-level horsepower of any muscle car  the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car in the all-electric 670-horsepower Dodge Charger Daytona Scat PackEvery Charger comes standard with all-wheel drive and offers two-door coupe or four-door sedan configurations — because with performance comes choice.The Dodge lineup is also fueled by the fastest American gas-powered SUV ever, the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, powered by the legendary supercharged HEMI V-8 engine, now available in all 50 states. The new Durango SRT Hellcat Jailbreak breaks free from conventionwith the three-row SUV, unlocking  more than13 million potential customization combinations. The 360-horsepower 5.7-liter Durango GT HEMI AWD remains the most affordable AWD V-8 in the industry.Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news, including daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise.Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis (NYSE: STLA).  MoparMopar is the global name for Stellantis genuine parts and authentic accessories.A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over more than 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.Follow Dodge, Mopar and Stellantis news and video on:Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.comMedia website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.comDodge brand: www.dodge.comDodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.comMopar brand: www.mopar.comMopar blog: blog.mopar.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/dodge and www.facebook.com/moparInstagram: @DodgeMoparMotorsports, @DodgeOfficial and @OfficialMoparTwitter: @Dodge, @OfficialMopar and @StellantisNAYouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, www.youtube.com/c/mopar and www.youtube.com/StellantisNA