Hagan posts quarterfinal finish in Topeka

May 22

Matt Hagan reached the quarterfinal round in Sunday’s NHRA Summer Nationals here at Heartland Park Topeka.

Hagan came out of the gate strong with an impressive run by his DieHard Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car in the first round of eliminations, recording the second best elapsed time of the session –  4.112 seconds at 304.12 miles per hour.

“We were feeling pretty good about the first run of the day, but also knew the conditions were changing,” stated Hagan. “The heat not only presented a tune-up challenge for our DieHard team, but based on all the tire smoke it was a universal issue here at Topeka.”

Entering the quarterfinal round, Hagan knew it was a roll of the dice.

“It was like throwing darts for the second round,” explained the 28-year-old cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va. “We did not see any of these conditions the past two days and it was a difficult time for all crew chiefs.”

In Hagan’s quarterfinal match against Robert Hight, both drivers lost traction with Hight getting to the finish line first.

“It was one of those deals that didn’t go our way,” noted the Don Schumacher Racing driver, who is fifth in Funny Car points. “But we’re not disappointed, we know what to do, we’re confident and having fun in the process.”

The next race is the NHRA SuperNationals, June 2-5 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.