Dodge//SRT and Mopar Partner With Tony Stewart Racing to Compete in NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

• Dodge//SRT and Mopar are partnering with Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) for the team's inaugural season in the 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series 
• Nine-time Top Fuel national event winner Leah Pruett will drive a TSR Top Fuel dragster with Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection livery throughout the season, continuing a partnership with Dodge//SRT and Mopar that started in 2016
• Three-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion (2011, 2014, 2020) Matt Hagan continues his partnership with Dodge//SRT and Mopar that began in 2009 
• Hagan will carry the Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection colors on his Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
• Hagan has driven a Dodge Charger Funny Car in 293 races, earning 39 career wins, 32 runner-up finishes and 43 No. 1 qualifier positions
• Announcement opens sixth "garage door" of the Dodge Never Lift campaign, which provides a two-year road map to the brand's electrified performance future
• Visit Dodgegarage.com/never-lift to view the 24 Months of Muscle calendar

Dodge//SRT and Mopar announce their support of the newest team in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series, Tony Stewart Racing (TSR). Dodge//SRT and Mopar will be primary sponsors for Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett and three-time Funny Car World Champion Matt Hagan in TSR's inaugural 2022 NHRA season. 

Today's announcement opens the sixth "garage door" of the Dodge Never Lift campaign, a 24-month road map to the brand's electrified performance future. The Dodge 24 Months of Muscle calendar can be viewed at Dodgegarage.com/never-lift.

"The Dodge brand has a long history of competing in and supporting motorsports." says Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer – Stellantis. "For nearly a decade, NHRA drag racing has been our primary motorsports focus, helping deliver products like the Dodge Demon, 1320 and Super Stock; cars that resonate with the Brotherhood of Muscle. These vehicles will hold a place in muscle-car history for years to come. The Dodge brand embodies the philosophy of the 'last tenth,' and we are not done pushing the performance envelope.  So, we are extremely excited to partner with Tony Stewart and his drag racing team to help take Dodge to the next level. Tony is a racing legend with an attitude, personality and competitive drive that aligns perfectly with our goals."

"I'm really pleased to have Dodge//SRT and Mopar as partners with our new NHRA venture as manufacturer and sponsor for our two entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car with Leah and Matt," says Tony Stewart, TSR team owner. "It shows confidence in your program when an OEM wants to be on your team and for you to help support their program as well. They have obviously had a great relationship with both drivers for the last few years and to be able to continue that association is key to this team's success and a huge benefit to the continuity for everyone involved. Having that kind of history definitely helps flatten the learning curve while raising expectations for our inaugural NHRA season. It'll be nice to work with Dodge and Mopar again after sharing success together in USAC and the World of Outlaws nearly two decades ago. We are certainly setting the bar high and look forward to being competitive from the start."

TSR was formed in November 2000. Since its inaugural season in 2001, TSR has earned 27 owner championships – 14 in USAC, nine in the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series, and four in the All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets. TSR will embark upon its first NHRA campaign in 2022 while simultaneously running its sprint car program for a 22nd straight season. TSR's NHRA and sprint car entries will operate out of its existing 25,000-square-foot facility in Brownsburg, Indiana.

Pruett's and Hagan's nitro-fueled drag cars will have primary branding throughout the season that spotlights the recently announced Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection programs.

The Dodge Power Brokers dealership program is the exclusive source for all new Direct Connection performance parts, including tuner, stage and performance kits for the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and race-ready kits for the Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak. Dodge Power Brokers dealership staff will be trained to deliver a performance-focused customer service experience.

Pruett first joined forces with Dodge//SRT and Mopar in 2016 and has consistently competed among the top contenders in each of the last five seasons. The 33-year-old Redlands, California, native has nine Top Fuel national event victories, nine runner-up finishes, 12 No. 1 qualifier honors in 172 races, a career best elapsed time run of 3.631 seconds and a best speed of 334.15 miles per hour. She will drive the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel dragster this year.

"It was very important to me to continue the close relationship I've had with Dodge//SRT and Mopar in this new journey with Tony Stewart Racing," says Pruett. "I'm appreciative of the support that Dodge and Mopar, and all their fans, have shown me these past few years and I'm proud to fly their colors as we move forward together and work to bring home wins and a championship in 2022. Having Direct Connection branding on my dragster this season is really exciting because it has such a rich history of success at the drag strip with racers like Don Garlits, and it's amazing to help continue to build on that legacy and introduce it to a new generation of Dodge enthusiasts."

In addition to carrying on the legacy of drag-racing innovator and multi-time champion Garlits, representing Direct Connection has personal meaning to Pruett.

"While Dodge//SRT was developing the new Drag Pak, we were also testing and developing some of the stage kits," Pruett said. "It seemed almost unbelievable that an OEM would make available various stage kits capable of adding so much additional power, all while maintaining the car's warranty. To be on the presenting side of a massive program that I contributed to, while watching it progress in pure secrecy, makes me incredibly proud to run Direct Connection and Power Brokers on my Top Fuel dragster."

Dodge//SRT and Mopar continue their long relationship with three-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion Hagan with primary sponsorship of his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. The brands have supported Hagan since his rookie year in 2009.

With Dodge//SRT and Mopar on board, Hagan has vied for the Funny Car crown as either championship points leader or challenger heading into a season finale on seven occasions, including the 2021 season. Together, they have competed in 293 races, earning 39 Wally trophies, 32 runner-up finishes, and 43 No. 1 qualifier positions with a career best elapsed time run of 3.799 seconds and his best speed is 338.85 mph.

The 38-year-old from Christiansburg, Virginia, will drive his TSR HEMI®-powered machine dressed with Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection branding throughout the 2022 season.

"I'm so grateful to have represented and shared so many successes with Dodge//SRT and Mopar for most of my career and to say I'm excited to continue our relationship in this next chapter with Tony Stewart Racing is an understatement," says Hagan. "I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead and introducing our passionate fans to a new-look livery featuring Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection. 

"My family has been a Dodge dealer since 1979 and we're really proud of that. We're also ready to celebrate Mopar's 85th anniversary this year as we battle for a championship with a few wins along the way."

The 2022 NHRA Camping World Series season kicks off February 17-20 with the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California, the first of 22 events on the schedule and broadcast on FOX and FS1.

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com. 

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World 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.

Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2022 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the Dodge Durango SRT 392, America's fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry's most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2020, Dodge was named the "#1 Brand in Initial Quality," making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). In 2021, Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market) — making it the only domestic brand ever to do so two years in a row.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

Follow Dodge and company news and video on:
Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dodgeofficial
Twitter: @Dodge and @StellantisNA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge and www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

Mopar
2022 marks the 85th anniversary of Mopar.

A simple contraction 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 nearly 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.

Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com. 

Follow Mopar and company news and video on:
Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Mopar brand: www.mopar.com
Mopar blog: blog.mopar.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mopar
Instagram: www.instagram.com/officialmopar
Twitter: twitter.com/OfficialMOPAR 

SOURCE Stellantis