Pomona: Matt Hagan Saturday notes

ROOKIE HAGAN LANDS IN NO. 14 IN POMONA QUALIFYING

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2009) - NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year contender Matt Hagan, racing the BrakeSafe Rear-End Collision Avoidance System Dodge Funny Car, posted a less-than-perfect pass of 4.345 seconds at 283.01 mph, but it was good enough to land him in the No. 14 position in the only qualifying session run at the NHRA Winternationals. Rain washed out Thursday's and Friday's qualifying rounds as well as one of two today.

In his first national event driving for Don Schumacher Racing, Hagan will face Ashley Force Hood in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

"I think that we had a really successful weekend so far," said Hagan. "Of course, we always like to have more laps, but we have a good baseline now and we're going to go out there tomorrow and let the clutch out and see what happens.

"We're having a lot of fun. The BrakeSafe guys are really getting along. And the name of the game here is to get everybody together and make sure we're working as one."

-credit: dsr