NHRA

Matt Hagan Saturday report

Houston

Edited: May 1, 2011, 4:39 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

MATT HAGAN GRABS FIFTH STARTING SPOT FOR SUNDAY’S SPRING NATIONALS

Funny Car Driver Matt Hagan

Photo by: Ted Rossino

BAYTOWN, TEXAS, April 30, 2011 – Matt Hagan drove his DieHard Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into the fifth starting position for Sunday’s 24th annual NHRA Spring Nationals as today’s qualifying rounds ended here at Royal Purple Raceway.

The 28-year-old cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va. will face Robert Hight, points leader in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car championship standings, in the first round of eliminations. Hagan expects a battle from the onset against both the elements and the driving competition.

“It’s going to be tough,” said the Don Schumacher Racing driver, who is the defending event champion. “The conditions will be like today, when we had trouble getting down the track, and Robert is always a tough competitor.

“I’m prepared to do what it takes. Last year, the track threw us a curve and I had to pedal the car to the finish in the finals. I’m prepared to do it again this year, if that is what is necessary.”

The runner-up for last year’s Funny Car championship remains optimistic in the face of these obstacles.

“We had trouble getting down the track today, but so did Hight; everyone is in the same boat here,” he said. “I am just looking forward to going rounds and getting myself back up in the points and building momentum for the future.”

Hagan entered this weekend holding fifth place in the standings, trailing Hight, Mike Neff, DSR teammate Jack Beckman and Cruz Pedregon.

“They’re all great drivers with great teams,” he said. “But I know Tommy DeLago (crew chief), just an animal tuner, and my DieHard guys are the equal to any of them and we are capable of winning on any given Sunday.

“I would like to begin that process tomorrow, here, the place where I got my first Funny Car win, which launched us on that great run last year.”

-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

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Greg Anderson Saturday report

Next article Lucas Oil Racing Saturday report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

1 h

Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”

Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

2 h

Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP

How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Talladega II

2 h

How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Talladega II

2 h

Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green

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