Hagan says the only way to heal disappointing season is to start winning Sunday at Motorplex in Aaron’s Dodge

September 22

ENNIS, Texas (Sept. 22, 2012) – Matt Hagan has a simple plan for Sunday’s championship eliminations of the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas.

“I just want to win ... win, win, win. That’s our motto. Just to win.”

After 13 disappointing races to start this year’s NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Hagan and the Aaron’s Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T team have advanced to the semifinals of the past five events including two championship rounds.

“We need so many wins to make up for so many losses we’ve had,” said Hagan, the reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion. “We need it for our guys on the Aaron’s team, we need it for our sponsors and I need it for myself.

“Our guys out here bust their butts everyday working on this Dodge. We’ll get there.”

Hagan is qualified seventh and in the first round will face John Force, who won Saturday’s inaugural Traxxas Nitro Shootout.

“Our Aaron’s Dodge went down the racetrack three out of four times during qualifying, and we have a pretty good feel for the track,” Hagan said.

“We have a tough draw with John in the first round, but our car is just as tough as his. He’s probably thinking the same thing. It will be a good drag race for the fans.

“I’m going up there and will let it all hang out.”

FUNNY CAR
No. 1 Qualifier: Courtney Force 4.081 sec., 308.21 mph

Matt Hagan, Aaron’s Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 7
Round 1 opponent: John Force

FRIDAY QUALIFYING
Session 1: 4.353, 229.24 mph
Session 2: 4.172, 299.60
SATURDAY QUALIFYING
Session 3: 4.151, 296.63
Session 4: 4.208, 294.69

WEATHER.COM FORECAST
SUNDAY: High 92 degrees; 10 percent chance of rain

THIS WEEKEND’S EVENT SCHEDULE
Sunday: Championship eliminations, 11 a.m. (ET)

ON ESPN2
SUNDAY: 1 p.m., qualifying with Traxxas Shootout; 8:30 p.m., eliminations (all times ET)

About Aaron’s, Inc.
Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), the nation's leader in the sale and lease ownership of residential furniture, computers, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories. Aaron’s Inc., which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, has over 1,940 company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. Founded in 1955 by entrepreneur and current Chairman R. Charles Loudermilk Sr. and headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron's has been publicly traded since 1982. For more information, visit www.aarons.com.

About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of seven professional NHRA teams: in Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the FRAM/Prestone dragster of Spencer Massey and the Matco Tools dragster of Antron Brown; and in Funny Car, 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the Aaron’s Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T, Valvoline NextGen Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Service Central Dodge of Johnny Gray. DSR has won 192 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

- 192 -