Hagan looks for more records at Dallas

MATT HAGAN HOPES TO BUILD ON RECORD RUNS WITH REPEAT AT AAA TEXAS NHRA FALL NATIONALS

Matt Hagan, Sears DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car Driver

Photo by: Ted Rossino

ENNIS, TEXAS, September 20, 2011 – Coming off a record-setting, historic North Carolina weekend, Matt Hagan brings his Service Central/DieHard Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the Lone Star State looking to have history repeat itself this weekend during the 26th-annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals here.

Last week he produced the first sub-four-second and fastest laps in Funny Car history, a four-place jump in the Countdown to the Championship standings and his first win of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, but the history the 28-year-old Don Schumacher Racing wants to repeat is his 2010 performance at the Texas Motorplex.

“It was like being in a fairy tale, last week, right down to the perfect ending,” Hagan said. “I’m so happy we’re going right to Dallas; maybe we can just keep the mojo going and make a second-consecutive visit to the winner’s circle there.”

The Christiansburg, Va. scorched the Texas earth in setting the track elapsed-time record of 4.062 seconds en route to his third victory of the 2010 season. The e.t. number pales in comparison to the 3.995 he posted last Friday in capturing the pole at zMAX Dragway where he also produced the fastest 1,000-foot lap during Sunday’s final eliminations, blasting down the strip at 322.27 miles per hour.

“But all of those things are in the past and we have to look forward, not back,” reminded the focused flopper pilot. “Tommy DeLago (crew chief) worked his magic, taking advantage like no other crew chief of the cool, overcast weather we had throughout the Charlotte race.

“The conditions will probably be very different this week outside Dallas, where the forecast is for summer-like heat. But we are confident going into the race; Tommy has shown his ability to meet these types of track and weather challenges, like he did in Denver earlier this summer (a runner-up finish at Bandimere Speedway during intense heat).

Hagan’s success in Charlotte propelled him from sixth to second in the standings, 22 points – just over one round – behind leader Mike Neff.

“Last year, we jumped from third to second after winning here,” he said. “We’d love to repeat both the victory and another jump in the standings at the end of Sunday.”