[coverattach=1]ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 13, 2010) - On a hot steamy day in Englishtown, N.J., Matt Hagan impressed again by reaching the Funny Car semifinal round of the 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Driving the DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car and aiming for a repeat of last
week's victory in Chicago, the 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from
Christiansburg, Va., advanced past Tony Pedregon with a 4.226-second elapsed time at 297.94 mph and Jeff Arend with a 4.194/296.37, but was halted by Bob Tasca III in the semifinal round.
Without lane choice for the first time today, Hagan launched ahead of Tasca
at the starting lights, crossing the beams at .063 of a second (.000 is
perfect) to Tasca's .093, but Tasca took the lead after the 660-foot mark
and won the contest with a 4.154/302.89 to Hagan's 4.187/299.40. Margin of
victory: .0032 of a second, or 17 inches!
Hagan extended his third-place standing in the points and is now just 96
markers out of the lead (Robert Hight), and 71 short of third (John Force).
"The DieHard Dodge team had a great day," said Hagan. "I'm proud of (crew
chiefs) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen. Those guys are really putting a great
race car underneath me. We're working on our hot-weather tune-up as well as getting our cool-weather tune-up down pat. (Hagan won the Chicago event in cooler conditions, setting a national elapsed-time record in the process.)
"Very, very productive day. We secured third spot in the points and I'm
really excited to be a part of this DieHard team. (He had been tied in third
with Ashley Force Hood entering this event.)
"We came up a little short. I sure would have liked to have gotten a
holeshot win on Tasca, but they have a good race car and race team over
there. We'll go to Bristol (Tenn.) next weekend, my 'hometown' track, and
get them next time.
"It was just a little soft in the middle," he said of that run. "Tommy knew
it. We were in a different lane than we were used to, so there was a big
variable there and he didn't want to do anything out of the ordinary because
we were going down the race track. Why mess anything up? If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.
"Those DieHard guys did exactly what they were supposed to this weekend and we're looking forward to Bristol."
Next up is the 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway,
June 18-20.
As of 3:45 p.m., the final rounds of all pro classes are halted because of
rain in Englishtown. Following are the points, as they stand before the
final. The number in parentheses is the number of points that driver will
receive if he wins.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after 11 of 23 events:
1. Robert Hight, 844
2. John Force, 819
3. Matt Hagan, 748
4. Jack Beckman, 724
5. Ashley Force Hood, 705
6. Ron Capps, 663
7. Bob Tasca III, 657 (677)
8. Del Worsham, 591 (611)
9. Tim Wilkerson, 572
10. Tony Pedregon, 554
Driving the DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car and aiming for a repeat of last
week's victory in Chicago, the 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from
Christiansburg, Va., advanced past Tony Pedregon with a 4.226-second elapsed time at 297.94 mph and Jeff Arend with a 4.194/296.37, but was halted by Bob Tasca III in the semifinal round.
Without lane choice for the first time today, Hagan launched ahead of Tasca
at the starting lights, crossing the beams at .063 of a second (.000 is
perfect) to Tasca's .093, but Tasca took the lead after the 660-foot mark
and won the contest with a 4.154/302.89 to Hagan's 4.187/299.40. Margin of
victory: .0032 of a second, or 17 inches!
Hagan extended his third-place standing in the points and is now just 96
markers out of the lead (Robert Hight), and 71 short of third (John Force).
"The DieHard Dodge team had a great day," said Hagan. "I'm proud of (crew
chiefs) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen. Those guys are really putting a great
race car underneath me. We're working on our hot-weather tune-up as well as getting our cool-weather tune-up down pat. (Hagan won the Chicago event in cooler conditions, setting a national elapsed-time record in the process.)
"Very, very productive day. We secured third spot in the points and I'm
really excited to be a part of this DieHard team. (He had been tied in third
with Ashley Force Hood entering this event.)
"We came up a little short. I sure would have liked to have gotten a
holeshot win on Tasca, but they have a good race car and race team over
there. We'll go to Bristol (Tenn.) next weekend, my 'hometown' track, and
get them next time.
"It was just a little soft in the middle," he said of that run. "Tommy knew
it. We were in a different lane than we were used to, so there was a big
variable there and he didn't want to do anything out of the ordinary because
we were going down the race track. Why mess anything up? If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.
"Those DieHard guys did exactly what they were supposed to this weekend and we're looking forward to Bristol."
Next up is the 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway,
June 18-20.
As of 3:45 p.m., the final rounds of all pro classes are halted because of
rain in Englishtown. Following are the points, as they stand before the
final. The number in parentheses is the number of points that driver will
receive if he wins.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after 11 of 23 events:
1. Robert Hight, 844
2. John Force, 819
3. Matt Hagan, 748
4. Jack Beckman, 724
5. Ashley Force Hood, 705
6. Ron Capps, 663
7. Bob Tasca III, 657 (677)
8. Del Worsham, 591 (611)
9. Tim Wilkerson, 572
10. Tony Pedregon, 554
