Mopar Funny Car Driver Hagan Powers to First Three-Second Run at Vegas, Locks Down No. 1 Spot
Matt Hagan steers his Mopar Dodge Funny Car to a 3.983-second track-record pass to claim the Vegas No. 1 qualifier position
With nine bonus points total in qualifying, Hagan extends his lead over John Force to 41 points, or more than two rounds of racing
Hagan’s three-second run is the fifth of his career and 12th by a Mopar Dodge, matching the most by a single manufacturer
Five Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Funny Cars will start from the top half of the field in Vegas eliminations on Sunday
No. 3 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr. is the quickest Mopar in the Pro Stock field

Allen Johnson to start No. 6 needing Vegas win to keep Pro Stock title chances alive
Las Vegas (November 1, 2014) – Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car driver Matt Hagan lit up The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during final qualifying on Saturday at the NHRA Nationals, becoming the first driver to record a three-second run at the track and locking down the No. 1 qualifier spot, the second of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season for Hagan and 17th of his career.
Hagan also collected critical qualifying bonus points on Saturday, gaining six — four more than rival John Force — in the pair’s tight battle for the 2014 NHRA Funny Car championship. Hagan moved up to the No. 1 spot in Saturday’s first session thanks to a 4.010/320.66 mark, earning three bonus points, and the 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) pilot wrapped up qualifying with his track record 3.983-second elapsed time at 322.42 mph, racking up three additional markers.
Hagan upped his lead to 41 points over Force, equal to more than two rounds of racing, with just eight rounds remaining in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The three-second pass was the fifth of Hagan’s career and also the 12th by a Mopar-powered Dodge Funny Car, tying for most by one manufacturer.
“Three rounds on John (Force), that is huge, but we just have to stay focused on the task at hand,” said Hagan, who will first have to get past Terry Haddock in eliminations on Sunday to have a chance to hit the jackpot and claim his first career Vegas win after two previous runner-up finishes. “I’m sitting in the car, and obviously my adrenaline is pumping and I’m starting to think, ‘What should we do here, because nobody is making it down the race track.’ I get on the radio and say ‘Dickie (Venables, Hagan’s crew chief), man, we have to get three more points on this guy, so maybe we should back it up, because he went up there to run in the threes. Dickie just gets on the radio calm, cool and collected and says, ‘Hey kid, chill out. It’s going to be alright.’ It was a really cool deal that it all came together and I was glad we were able to do it for the fans out there. They wanted to see a three-second run.
“We have to go race our car. I can’t control what John or Courtney (Force) or anyone’s crew chief is doing out there. We have to worry about what we can control and that’s leaving on time, keeping it in the groove and turning the win light on. I’ve been in this hunt for the majority of my career. I guess me and John have been battling it out for four of the last five years and it’s pretty phenomenal to have a kid slugging it out with an all-time legend.”
DSR Dodge driver Ron Capps improved on his 4.058/318.62 Friday pass, reeling off a quicker 4.037-elapsed time paired with a career best speed of 322.34 mph in Saturday’s first session to earn the No. 4 qualifier spot and a round one battle with Tony Pedregon. Mopar HEMI-powered racer Jeff Arend also made a move up the charts in early Saturday qualifying, jumping from the tenth spot to No. 5 with a 4.042/310.91, setting up a first round match with Del Worsham.
A pair of DSR drivers, Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson, were unable to improve on their Friday times during Saturday qualifying but will start strong in the top half of the field in their respective Dodge machines. Beckman (No. 6, 4.045/318.84) will go head-to-head against Robert Hight, while Tommy Johnson Jr. (No. 8, 4.065/311.41) squares off with Alexis DeJoria. Paul Lee (No. 14, 4.151/301.40) will post his Dodge against Courtney Force in the first round.
JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Dart racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. added to the four bonus points and best run of 6.653/207.69 he collected on Friday, moving up to the No. 1 spot in the first session on Saturday with a 6.597/209.20 and banking three bonus points. In his final qualifying attempt, the defending NHRA Pro Stock champ was solid with a 6.613/209.14 (even after his Dodge made a move to the left) but was shuffled to the No. 3 spot and a date with Aaron Stanfield in round one of eliminations.
“We can’t complain at all really because my Dodge Dart is as good as it has been all year,” said Coughlin, who will seek his sixth career win at Vegas on Sunday. “We were second the first two sessions, low the third session and knew that we’d need to improve that last session to stay up top, but I don’t know that we would have had enough for that .57 that Erica (Enders-Stevens) ran. I feel really good behind the wheel and like where we sit to make a day of it on race day.”
Allen Johnson steadily improved over his first three qualifying runs in his Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart, recording 6.665- and 6.659-second passes on Friday and a 6.605/209.10 in his first Saturday run. After a 6.614/208.65 in his fourth attempt, Johnson will start sixth on Sunday against Chris McGaha. Both Johnson and his teammate Coughlin have qualified in the top half of the field at 21 of the 23 events held thus far.
“We made four very decent runs even when on that last run the track got cold and it got a bit precarious all the way down the track,” said Johnson, owner of three previous Vegas victories. “We just have to do the same thing on race day and we’ll be right there. You got to do everything right to have a shot, but we need a little Vegas luck, too, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
V. Gaines (No. 13, 6.653/208.59) will match his Mopar-powered Dodge Pro Stock car against Dave Connolly to begin eliminations. Dodge driver Deric Kramer failed to qualify for race day, but will count himself lucky after walking away unscathed from a spectacular crash in which his Dodge Avenger flipped multiple times and made contact with both walls.