The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season is coming to a close, so that makes what happens at Brainerd International Raceway very important. Both Tony Stewart and Matt Hagan are looking to use the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals as a momentum builder for the Countdown to the Championship.

This will be Stewart’s second trip to Brainerd, but he’s already had some success at the track. In 2024, he was the number two qualifier and made it to the second round. This year, Stewart is second in the points behind Shawn Langdon and is chasing a world title. At Sonoma, Stewart earned his spot in the Countdown to the Championship. Now, Stewart is trying to fight his way back to the top and win the regular season title.

“It’s a big deal and it’s a big deal to our team to win the regular season championship. To make it through 14 races in the regular season and have a chance to win a championship like that, even though it’s not the world championship you win at the end of the season, is still special. It means a lot to not only myself as an owner and driver, but it means a lot of these crew guys as well, so it’s definitely a big deal,” Stewart said.

Hagan has one win to his name at Brainerd, and he’s looking to add another. Currently, Hagan and the rest of the NHRA Funny Car field is chasing Austin Prock for the regular season and world championship. The Lucas Oil Nationals will play an important role in who is crowned king of the Funny Cars in 2025, so Hagan wants that win.

The semi-final performance that Hagan laid down at the Sonoma Nationals qualified him for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at Brainerd. Hagan is ready to munch his way through the #2Fast2Tasty to pick up those valuable championship points.

“It’s incredible that we’ve gathered that many #2Fast2Tasty points. I figured with (Austin) Prock’s five wins that they would have the most. It just shows that even though we’ve been on the back side of some good drag races, we’ve been consistent. Hopefully, that is changing for the better, and we are peaking at the right time. The Mission Foods points add up, and we can always use those once the points reset. We want to fight our way through it. (Mike) Knudsen (crew chief) has that first win under his belt, and I think the confidence is growing. Our team has a lot of synergy, and I’m excited about that. Moving forward, we’ll have more Wallys pile up. We’ve been showing the last couple of races that we can be aggressive, earning a number one qualifier and advancing to two Finals. Everything takes tim,e and we’re doing the things we need to be doing to grow as a team,” Hagan explains.

We’ll have all the results and news from the Lucas Oil Nationals right here on Dragzine.