Hagan Finds the Winner's Circle Once Again
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<br><font color="Navy">This was Hagan's second win of what is shaping up to be a groundbreaking season for the rookie Nitro Funny Car Driver.</font>
<p> 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.
Matt Hagan racing is sponsored by SHELOR.COM. 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.
<p style="width:310px;float:right;font-weight:bold;padding-right:0px;">
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/mhr-canada-prev.jpg" alt="mhr-canada-prev"
<br><font color="Navy">This was Hagan's second win of what is shaping up to be a groundbreaking season for the rookie Nitro Funny Car Driver.</font>
<p> 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.
Matt Hagan racing is sponsored by SHELOR.COM. 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.
