Hagan Takes Mopar to Track Record Provisional Pole in Qualifying for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

· Matt Hagan drove Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to provisional No.1 Qualifier position in rain shortened Friday qualifying at 7th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
· Hagan earned the top spot in Funny Car Friday qualifying with a track record 3.941-second run at track record speed 323.50 mph
· Capps rebounds from Las Vegas disappointment to put DSR Dodge Charger R/T fourth in rain shorten provisional qualifying

Concord, North Carolina (April 22, 2016) – For a seventh season, the National Hot Rod Association Four-Wide Nationals returns to the specially built zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C. for a unique event that doubles up on the challenge for competitors and the excitement for fans with a four lane drag racing format rather than the customary two.

It was a promising start to the weekend for at least one HEMI-powered entry as the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car of Don Schumacher Racing’s Matt Hagan took the top spot in a qualifying on Friday with a both the elapsed time and speed track records before a persistent drizzle limited activity to just the one session. Two sessions remain on Saturday to qualify for Sunday’s elimination rounds.

Hagan and his Mopar Express Lane team came out strong to kick off the fifth event of the 2016 season by racing their way to the top of the preliminary qualifying sheets with a track record 3.941 second run along with the speed record 323.50 miles per hour. It was a big improvement for Hagan and his Mopar crew after a rough start that saw them qualify tenth for three of the first four events, and endure three first round losses for a 1-4 record in eliminations thus far to find themselves tenth in the points standings.

Hagan is hoping to turn things around starting this weekend at the Four-Wide Nationals, an event where they have had a measure of success with a Wally trophy won in 2013 and where he also became the first driver to break the 4-second elapsed time barrier when he drove his Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for a 3.995 second run in 2011. He’s also won at the autumn event on two other occasions for a total of five final round appearances at the venue.

“Obviously, the season didn’t start the way we wanted,” said Hagan who now holds six NHRA track speed records and four elapsed time records. “(Crew Chief) Dickie Venables is a very smart dude and I have a lot of trust in the direction he is taking us. These cars are so very humbling. It’s kind of crazy; we’ve won championships, won races (18) and then you come out here and realize how important it is just to try and win a round. We have to put two runs together, and I’ll be tickled to death if we do that Saturday. This car will throw us a bone once in a while but we need to put some good runs together.”

Also starting off the weekend on a good note after missing out on the elimination rounds at Las Vegas was Ron Capps who, after a win and a runner-up finish to start the year did not qualify for race day at the last event but still sits third in the points, took his DSR Dodge Charger R/T straight to a 3.986 sec/319.67 mph elapsed time run to put himself fourth on the qualifying sheets.

DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. is 13th after an aborted first run while Jack Beckman is 15th.

In Pro Stock action, Erica Enders is looking to build on the improvements she and her Elite Motorsports team made to her Mopar Performance Dodge Dart GT in Las Vegas after posting her best qualifying performance thus far this season with a fifth place start on the eliminations ladder, and finally ending her unusual streak of first round losses to start the season with a semifinal appearance. Enders was the best of the Mopars with a 6.644/207.08 run for the eighth quickest run of the session.

Her Elite Motorsports teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. was close behind in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” /JEGS.com Dodge Dart in ninth spot with his lap of 6.660/207.37.

V. Gaines showed improvement as well in his HEMI-powered Western Motorsports Kendall Dodge Dart with the 11th quickest time of the session with a 7.433/204.98 pass. Meanwhile, Allen Johnson’s Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart GT didn’t get in a full lap and sits 13th along with Deric Kramer who sits 15th.

Greg Anderson paced the field with his 6.577/209.65 to earn the provisional pole heading into the final two qualifying sessions on Saturday.