Mopar HEMI(R)-Powered Hagan Drives to Funny Car Runner-up at Concord
Matt Hagan drove his Mopar-powered Valvoline Engine Guarantee/Shelor.com Dodge into his second final round of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series at the NHRA Carolina Nationals on Sunday, Sept. 20. Hagan lost in the final at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., to John Force Racing's Robert Hight.
The NHRA rookie-of-the-year frontrunner disposed of both Pedregon brothers in the lead up to his finals appearance: points leader Tony in the opening round with a 4.141-second pass at 305.91 mph, then Cruz in the semifinal with a stout 4.102/307.72, each quicker than his No. 13 qualifying pass of 4.145/292.14. In between the Pedregon dismissals, he ousted Jeff Arend with a 4.143/304.67 in the quarterfinals.
"Just a great day of racing," said 26-year-old Hagan, who is awaiting the birth of his second child and first daughter Penny Louise at any moment. "I think we all did our jobs out there this weekend. Hight just had a little better car and got me a little bit on the light (reaction time)."
Ron Capps, Hagan’s Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate, exited in the first round on Sunday and is now fourth in the Countdown standings. DSR pilot Jack Beckman advanced to the quarterfinals and is now sixth in the Countdown. The DSR trio will head next to the second race in the six-race playoffs, the O’Reilly SuperStart Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals, Sept. 24–27 at the Texas Motorplex. For more information on the NHRA, visit http://www.nhra.com.