NHRA
Matt Hagan Bristol Dragway Final Report
Bristol Dragway
Edited: Jun 1, 2018, 1:05 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Matt Hagan Reaches Quarterfinals Of NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Matt Hagan drove the DieHard Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into the quarterfinal round of today’s NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals here in the culmination of what he called a progressive weekend of racing.
Performing in front of a “hometown” audience, his Christiansburg, Va. home is but a couple-of-hours’ drive from Bristol Dragway, Hagan followed four solid qualifying runs, which put him in the number-two starting position, by defeating Paul Lee in the opening round of final eliminations. His 4.148-second, 305.70-mile-per-hour pass earned him a second-round match with Jeff Arend.
Matt Hagan, Sears DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car Driver
Photo by: Ted Rossino
The warming track, thanks to an appearance by the sun after a storm delayed the start of racing by four hours, helped produce a pedalfest between Hagan and Arend, with the latter maintaining traction a bit longer in the run and winning the round. Hagan’s pass of 5.340 at 268.60 was not enough to catch Arend’s 4.653 at 278.52.
According to the 28-year-old Don Schumacher Racing driver, the overall Bristol experience was a positive one for the DieHard team.
“All in all it was a decent weekend,” he said. “We made a lot of progress. We had good, solid runs Friday and Saturday and then in the first round today. Tommy DeLago (crew chief) has really got a handle on this car.
“What happened in the run against Jeff happens; that’s drag racing and we are just going to stay after it!”
The qualifying sessions produced consecutive runs, under a variety of weather and track conditions, of: 4.165 at 298.87, 4.112 at 303.50, 4.228 at 294.63 and 4.082 at 308.07; he was never lower than third after any of the four rounds.
“Again, this consistency and success throughout qualifying and then the first round really shows how well Tommy and the DieHard team is doing with this car,” explained Hagan. “I know we haven’t gotten into the winner’s circle yet, but we’ll get there – and soon!”
And Hagan’s next chance to meet his goal of gaining a trophy comes in less than a week as the next, and 10th stop, on the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series moves to Norwalk, Ohio for the June 23-26 fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
Hagan will go to Ohio holding the fifth spot in the Funny Car standings trailing Cruz Pedregon, Robert Hight, DSR teammate Jack Beckman and points-leader Mike Neff (respectively).
-source: dsr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Greg Anderson Bristol Dragway Final Report
Next article NHRA Teams Head to Norwalk Raceway Park
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robert Hight
John Force Racing confirms its return to action
NHRA
NHRA
John Force Racing confirms its return to action
John Force Racing pauses racing activities until 2021
NHRA
NHRA
John Force Racing pauses racing activities until 2021
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
NHRA
NHRA
Pomona II
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
Latest news
Esteban Ocon responds to Haas signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
41 min
Esteban Ocon responds to Haas signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 1 h
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 2 h
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe