[coverattach=1]POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 13, 2010) - Matt Hagan, driving the DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car, rocked in qualifying for the 50th annual NHRA Winternationals, clocking the quickest pass of the third qualifying session of 4.091 seconds at 308.64 mph to claim fifth place at the end of four runs.
In his first try, he came up with a 4.109/305.01, good for No. 5, then smoked the tires in the second round to record a 9.029/76.25 (No. 6). The DieHard team, led by crew chief Tommy DeLago, then went for broke in the final session, under nearly-perfect and cool conditions, but loss of traction slowed Hagan to a 4.783/167.43.
"Qualifying went great," said Hagan, the 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va. "We were low for the session today with a 4.09. That's our race day tuneup. This last run tonight was just for everyone's ego at night time, to see who can run the fastest.
"We knew we were in the field. I know Tommy was pretty aggressive with it and it smoked the tires. But we have a good race-day baseline to go off of for tomorrow and I'm really excited."
Hagan faces Gary Densham in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.
In his first try, he came up with a 4.109/305.01, good for No. 5, then smoked the tires in the second round to record a 9.029/76.25 (No. 6). The DieHard team, led by crew chief Tommy DeLago, then went for broke in the final session, under nearly-perfect and cool conditions, but loss of traction slowed Hagan to a 4.783/167.43.
"Qualifying went great," said Hagan, the 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va. "We were low for the session today with a 4.09. That's our race day tuneup. This last run tonight was just for everyone's ego at night time, to see who can run the fastest.
"We knew we were in the field. I know Tommy was pretty aggressive with it and it smoked the tires. But we have a good race-day baseline to go off of for tomorrow and I'm really excited."
Hagan faces Gary Densham in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.
