In a thrilling display of speed and skill, Matt Hagan stormed to the top spot during qualifying at the 64th Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. Piloting his formidable 11,000-horsepower Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge Charger SRT HELLCAT, Hagan clinched his first No. 1 qualifier of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
The reigning Funny Car world champion, Hagan, who claimed victory at the Winternationals the previous year, delivered a blistering run on Saturday, clocking in at 3.893 seconds at 330.15 mph. This impressive performance not only secured Hagan his 51st career No. 1 qualifier but also injected a surge of momentum as he aims for his milestone 50th career victory on raceday.
“To do a burnout and still have that many fans in the stands after the weather was pretty cool,” Hagan said. “The track was tricky, so we’ll take that run. All in all, I’m pretty happy with that. We’ve had a lot of success here and to make that run makes me feel confident going into tomorrow. We’ve won a lot of races because Dickie (Venables, Crew Chief) has been good on Sunday. It would be great to get that 50th (win) in Pomona. It’s such a special place and it’s really magical here. There’s so much history and when you show up here, you get chill bumps. It’s just a cool feeling.”
Hagan’s closest competitor in qualifying, Ron Capps, secured the second spot with a time of 3.893 seconds at 326.71 mph, while Bobby Bode claimed third place with a run of 3.972 seconds at 292.96 mph.
However, the Top Fuel category saw a twist as Tony Stewart’s impressive run of 3.737 seconds at 328.30 mph was invalidated due to a timing system malfunction. Stewart, qualifying No. 13, will now face off against No. 4 Steve Torrance in the first round of eliminations.
NHRA officials announced a schedule change for Sunday’s eliminations, moving up the start time to 1:00 p.m. EDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT, ensuring an exciting day of racing action for fans and competitors alike.
Source: NHRA
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