Mopar Dodge Driver Hagan Extends Funny Car Championship Lead Heading into NHRA Pomona Finale
· Hagan qualifies No. 6 in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and leads John Force by 23 points heading into the final day of season
· Hagan’s margin is now more than one round over familiar foe Force
· Tommy Johnson Jr. starts highest for the Mopar Dodge Funny Car contingent at No. 2
· Six Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars will battle for the NHRA Finals Wally trophy
· Starting No. 4, Jeg Coughlin Jr. leads a trio of Mopar-powered Pro Stockers into Sunday eliminations
· Allen Johnson moves his Magneti Marelli/Mopar Dodge Dart to the sixth spot
Pomona, California (November 15, 2014) – Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car driver Matt Hagan fulfilled his goal during the final two sessions of qualifying on Saturday at the 50th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals, increasing his lead to 23 points — equal to more than one round of racing — in the battle for the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car crown. Now the biggest and most difficult mission remains for Hagan heading into the final day of the season: securing his second career NHRA Funny Car crown during Sunday eliminations.
Hagan saw championship foe John Force gain two points and cut his lead to less than a round — 19 markers — during Friday qualifying, but the 2011 NHRA Funny Car champ quickly reclaimed those precious points. Hagan’s 4.016-second elapsed time at 319.60 mph in Q3 was the quickest of the session, earning him three bonus points. In Q4, a 4.034/316.01 mark helped the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver collect another crucial bonus point and build a 23-marker cushion over Force. Starting No. 6, Hagan goes head-to-head against No. 11 qualifier Chad Head to open Sunday eliminations.
“It was great going up there that last round knowing that he (Force) didn’t get down the race track, because that meant we could go up there and do what we needed to do,” said Hagan, after Force hazed the tires on his last two qualifying passes. In four of the last five years, the Funny Car crown has come down to a fierce battle in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs between Hagan and Force.
“I think you really need to understand the team and the man that you are dealing with out there,” added Hagan. “He’s tough. He’s not a 16-time champion because he backed into anything. We have to treat him with the respect that he deserves and not brag or boast about having two out of four rounds on him. We have to definitely go out there tomorrow to work hard and match him round-for-round until we win the race or he goes out. Our guys are going to go that little extra mile because we are a family out here. This team digs a little deeper to give a little extra. Everyone wants to win and everyone out here is competitive, but I think we have the better team and better chance of winning tomorrow.
“The best thing about Dickie (Venables, Hagan’s crew chief) is that he’s a racer. It’s about running as hard as he can every lap. He’ll back it down, he’ll race the race track, he’ll do whatever it takes to turn the win light on. And that’s a big positive for us. It all comes down to this one day and this one race, but everyone forgets about all the little things that added up to get us to this point. The holeshot wins, the round wins, the people you beat, little victories here and there, and it ended up making a big difference, but it still comes down to this one day. We just want to be fresh tomorrow, work hard, be focused and give it our all.”
DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr., the provisional No. 1 qualifier thanks to his 4.003/317.34 Friday run, struck the tires early on both his Saturday attempts and will line up No. 2 in his HEMI-powered Dodge against No. 15 qualifier Tony Pedregon first on Sunday. No. 2 after Friday with a 4.005/317.79, Ron Capps earned two bonus points in both Saturday sessions with a 4.021/317.42 and a 4.010/318.02 and will start No. 3. The DSR Dodge racer has another Mopar, No. 14 qualifier Jeff Arend (4.126/287.05), to begin eliminations.
Not qualified after Friday, Jack Beckman muscled his Dodge Funny Car into the field on Saturday, posting a 4.029/313.29. The 2012 Funny Car champ will begin eliminations No. 7 and draw Del Worsham. Dodge Charger driver Gary Densham (No. 16, 4.136/305.84) will have a formidable first-round foe in top qualifier Alexis DeJoria.
In the third qualifying session Jeg Coughlin Jr. improved on his two Friday attempts with a 6.534/211.89, but was unable to move his JEGS.com/Dodge Dart up the charts, remaining fourth. The 2013 NHRA Pro Stock champ recorded a 6.555/211.23 in Q4 and will start No. 4 on Sunday, matching up first against fellow Mopar-powered Dodge Pro Stocker and No. 13 qualifier V. Gaines (6.577/211.43) as he seeks to score a fourth-career NHRA Finals victory.
Listed seventh after two rounds of Friday qualifying in his Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart, Allen Johnson jumped two spots in Q3 to the fifth position, recording a 6.539/211.33. The Team Mopar veteran was bumped down one position to sixth in the final session, where he recorded a 6.555/210.90, and the 2012 NHRA Pro Stock champion will start from there and battle Rodger Brogdon in round one.
“We’re still in testing mode, but we have something to work with tomorrow and we’ll just put the best that we tested all together and go forth into eliminations,” said Johnson, who has one previous NHRA Finals victory, during his title-winning 2012 campaign. “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day, but I’ve never raced on a Sunday that wasn’t. There will be a lot of drama and a lot of tension, and we’re going to be right in the middle of it because if we win first round, we’ll be facing Erica (Enders-Stevens, the points leader). I’d feel bad taking her out, but I’ll sure be trying.”