Matt Hagan taking nothing for granted as he races for title at this weekend's NHRA Finals outside Los Angeles

November 07

Carrying a paper-slim one-point lead into this weekend’s 47th-annual Automobile Club of ¬Southern California NHRA Finals, DieHard Advanced Gold/Rimco Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Matt Hagan remains both optimistic and realistic about his chances of leaving Auto Club Raceway here as the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle champion.

According to the 28-year-old flopper pilot, solid preparation, based on staying with the program which has brought them to this point, is crucial to success.

“We just have to take this in stride and go race our race car,” said Hagan, who leads Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman by the narrow margin and then is less than two rounds ahead of both Cruz Pedregon and Mike Neff. “We won’t do anything above and beyond what has gotten us to this point. We went to the finals here during the first race of the season, so we are not afraid of the track.

“It looks like the weather should be cool, which ought to make it a fast race, a driver’s race.”

Two keys for Hagan, who came into last year’s race with a narrow lead over eventual race winner and champion John Force, are not making mistakes and taking advantage of any opportunity.

“When you put pressure on yourself, you can make mistakes,” he explained. “You can’t stay up all night biting your nails. You make a mistake, you could provide your opponent with an opportunity. One of the ways to win this thing is to recognize an opportunity and take advantage of it when it happens, not give it away.

“Nobody lucked into this; all of the top teams have good crew chiefs, good crews and are good drivers. We all can’t win the race, but we have to be ready to take it if it is offered.

“A big part of being ready means being prepared; proper planning helps and I have all the confidence in Tommy DeLago (crew chief) in having us ready when it all begins Thursday.”

Generally, the Christiansburg, Va. native is ready for the decisive race; qualifying begins at 1 p.m. Thursday, followed by another single session Friday, two on Saturday and final eliminations Sunday.

“It’s tough for drivers and crews, with an entire season of battling coming down to one race, where anything can happen,” he said. “It’s tough to come down to who has a good day and who has a bad one, but it’s great for the fans.

“I feel really good about the whole deal. We’re in a good place. We want to win. I want to win so bad it burns.”