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Matt Hagan Racing News: Hagan Finds the Winner's Circle Once Again |
It certainly wasn't an easy path, but Matt Hagan found his way into the
winner's circle for the second time this year in last week's Rocky Mountain
Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. This was Hagan's second win of what
is shaping up to be a groundbreaking season for the rookie Nitro Funny Car
Driver.
It certainly wasn't an easy path, but Matt Hagan found his way into the
winner's circle for the second time this year in last week's Rocky Mountain
Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. This was Hagan's second win of what
is shaping up to be a groundbreaking season for the rookie Nitro Funny Car
Driver.
Hagan, along with the other Knoll Gas Motorsports Nitro Jam drivers, had to
endure a weekend of rain interruptions and were only able to get in one
round of qualifying. Hagan was positioned squarely in the middle of the pack
going into Sunday's elimination rounds where he faced off against Jeff
Diehl. Despite droping a cylinder Hagan was able to post the best ET of the
event so far at 5.208, and advanced to the semifinals.
Competition was again delayed due to rain, and Hagan's semifinal run against
Steven Macklyn took place on Monday. Hagan maneuvered by Macklyn and was
already looking ahead to his second final round in a NFC national event.
"We were fighting the rain, we were fighting track conditions, and not an
hour earlier my teammate [Dale Creasy, Jr.] was medevaced to the hospital
after his driveline exploded and put shrapnel into his leg, so we were in
one of those moods where we felt like anything could happen," said Hagan.
Sure enough more surpises were in store for Hagan. Just after leaving the
line in his final run against Grant Downing in the final round Hagan's
supercharger exploded at the 100 foot mark. The explosion was powerful
enough to strip the carbon fiber body completely off the chassis of the
SHELOR.COM/TORCO Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car and it looked like Hagan's
chance to win was over. However, Downing's car in the other lane was also
having mechanical trouble. Downing kept drifting left until he crossed the
center line resulting in an automatic disqualification. Despite Hagan's
explosion he was able to maneuver the car across the line and in to the
winner's circle.
Hagan had this to say about his win:
"It was a strange weekend for us, but we're very happy to come away with a
win and we're very happy that our teammate Dale is getting the medical
attention he needs and that his accident, although bad enough, wasn't any
worse than it was."
After 5 national events Hagan sits atop the points ladder as the only driver
to win 2 events. It will be a spot that he will have to work very hard to
keep over the remaining 5 events with such a tough field of Nitro Funny Car
Drivers.
Matt Hagan racing is sponsored by TORCO Mach Series Accelerator. For more
information on TORCO fuel products, Skull Shine, Skull Gear, and other Knoll
Gas enterprises, log on to www.TORCO.com.
Matt Hagan racing is sponsored by SHELOR.COM. For all your automotive needs
visit WWW.SHELOR.COM or call 1-866-SHELOR1. Over 3,000 new & used vehicles
from Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, Toyota, Scion, Subaru, and Kia.
SHELOR.COM, the official vehicle provider for the IHRA and ADRL.
Matt Hagan racing is also sponsored by Rupture Streetwear, Hedman Hedders,
and PolyDyn TX7 Oil Additive. |
