Matt Hagan, driver of the TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
“It was a really tough weekend for TSR. I’m really glad Tony was okay because it was a nasty lick that he took. We love doing this and going fast, but it’s always good to see your buddy crawl out of the car and see that he’s okay. We’re blessed to do what we do, but sometimes we get so caught up in the adrenaline and winning that we forget how dangerous it is. I got reminded of that today when we exploded as well. The tethers came up and I couldn’t see out to drive the race car. I didn’t know where I was at on the track or where my opponent was. That is a bad feeling. As a driver, you pride yourself on having seat time and being able to get yourself out of bad situations. When you feel like you’re along for the ride, it is a hopeless feeling. I’m glad today’s outcome was what it was and that everyone is okay and Tony has that cute baby (Dominic) to go home to. We’re going to stay over and do some testing tomorrow so we can figure out what’s wrong. We have something going on in the valve train. The crew chiefs (Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler) are really smart, so they will figure it out. There’s a lot of parts to pick through. With Blake (Alexander) and Cruz (Pedregon) in the Final, it was the best scenario we could have hoped for points-wise. We will keep working hard and see what we can come up with in Charlotte.”
The post Reading Event Recap for the 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish appeared first on Matt Hagan Racing.
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- Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.017 ET at 321.04 mph)
- Fell to No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.932 ET at 330.80 mph)
- Maintained No. 9 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.134 ET at 242.98 mph.
- Secured No. 9 qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.008 ET at 318.62 mph.
- Eliminated following Round 1 on Sunday:
- Round 1: 4.605 ET at 177.56 mph, lost to Blake Alexander (3.966 ET at 326.40 mph)
- Currently fifth in the Funny Car championship standings, 55 points behind leader Austin Prock
- The 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish served as the first race in the Countdown to the Championship, with five events remaining.
- Stewart has advanced past Round 1 in three consecutive NHRA events (Brainerd and Indianapolis were the two previous events).
- Stewart and Kalitta were involved in an on-track incident in Round 2, when Kalitta had a front wheel malfunction, causing his Top Fuel dragster to cross over into Stewart’s lane, collecting the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster. Both drivers were checked and released from NHRA’s medical team.
- The 40th Annual NHRA Nationals had a sold-out crowd on Saturday for the fourth consecutive year.
“It was a really tough weekend for TSR. I’m really glad Tony was okay because it was a nasty lick that he took. We love doing this and going fast, but it’s always good to see your buddy crawl out of the car and see that he’s okay. We’re blessed to do what we do, but sometimes we get so caught up in the adrenaline and winning that we forget how dangerous it is. I got reminded of that today when we exploded as well. The tethers came up and I couldn’t see out to drive the race car. I didn’t know where I was at on the track or where my opponent was. That is a bad feeling. As a driver, you pride yourself on having seat time and being able to get yourself out of bad situations. When you feel like you’re along for the ride, it is a hopeless feeling. I’m glad today’s outcome was what it was and that everyone is okay and Tony has that cute baby (Dominic) to go home to. We’re going to stay over and do some testing tomorrow so we can figure out what’s wrong. We have something going on in the valve train. The crew chiefs (Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler) are really smart, so they will figure it out. There’s a lot of parts to pick through. With Blake (Alexander) and Cruz (Pedregon) in the Final, it was the best scenario we could have hoped for points-wise. We will keep working hard and see what we can come up with in Charlotte.”
The post Reading Event Recap for the 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish appeared first on Matt Hagan Racing.
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