BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Feb. 20, 2013) - Matt Hagan the race car driver became Matt Hagan the fisherman during downtime between NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events this week.
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Hagan opted to stay on the West Coast after last weekend's NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., instead of flying home to Christiansburg, Va. He spent Tuesday afternoon fishing with friends near Phoenix. For Hagan, it's all about slowing down when he's not behind the wheel of his 10,000-horsepower Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car.
"I love doing anything outdoors," Hagan, a cattle farmer, said after a successful day on the water. "It's just fun to chill out and do something outdoors and have a little break from the otherwise fast paced life I live."
Hagan, who was able to test some new Rocky boots and apparel while fishing, hopes he's as successful on the track at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix as he was on the water.
After a solid first outing for the team last weekend in the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., Hagan hopes to build on the team's top-10 qualifying effort and quarterfinals finish at Pomona.
"We just need more laps under our belts," Hagan said of his team led by crew chief Dickie Venables, who was hired by Don Schumacher Racing on Feb. 1.
"Our guys have had a total of six laps together, and they're still learning how to work together. The only way we're going to get more laps is to keep racing and winning so I'm definitely ready to crawl back in this Mopar/Rocky Funny Car."
With the first event in the books, Hagan said any nervous jitters are out of the way for his team.
"I think Dickie was relieved to get that first weekend out of the way. He's got a little bit of data on his own now and a lot of data from the past so we'll take that to Phoenix and see what we can do."
With 2013 already off to a better start than the previous season, Hagan only has high hopes things will continue to get better.
"I look at it this way, we're one race in and already have our first round win under our belts. Sometimes getting that first one can be the toughest and we've already accomplished that."
After winning the 2011 NHRA Funny Car world championship, Hagan's team lost in the first round of last season's first three events and were unable to qualify for NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoff.
From: Jeff Wolf
More...
View attachment 4657
Hagan opted to stay on the West Coast after last weekend's NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., instead of flying home to Christiansburg, Va. He spent Tuesday afternoon fishing with friends near Phoenix. For Hagan, it's all about slowing down when he's not behind the wheel of his 10,000-horsepower Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car.
"I love doing anything outdoors," Hagan, a cattle farmer, said after a successful day on the water. "It's just fun to chill out and do something outdoors and have a little break from the otherwise fast paced life I live."
Hagan, who was able to test some new Rocky boots and apparel while fishing, hopes he's as successful on the track at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix as he was on the water.
After a solid first outing for the team last weekend in the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., Hagan hopes to build on the team's top-10 qualifying effort and quarterfinals finish at Pomona.
"We just need more laps under our belts," Hagan said of his team led by crew chief Dickie Venables, who was hired by Don Schumacher Racing on Feb. 1.
"Our guys have had a total of six laps together, and they're still learning how to work together. The only way we're going to get more laps is to keep racing and winning so I'm definitely ready to crawl back in this Mopar/Rocky Funny Car."
With the first event in the books, Hagan said any nervous jitters are out of the way for his team.
"I think Dickie was relieved to get that first weekend out of the way. He's got a little bit of data on his own now and a lot of data from the past so we'll take that to Phoenix and see what we can do."
With 2013 already off to a better start than the previous season, Hagan only has high hopes things will continue to get better.
"I look at it this way, we're one race in and already have our first round win under our belts. Sometimes getting that first one can be the toughest and we've already accomplished that."
After winning the 2011 NHRA Funny Car world championship, Hagan's team lost in the first round of last season's first three events and were unable to qualify for NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoff.
From: Jeff Wolf
More...
