Qualified: No. 3 (3.909 E.T. at 328.94 MPH)

 

The Results:
E1: 3.971 E.T. at 327.19 MPH defeated Jeff Diehl 6.085 E.T. at 116.47 MPH
E2: 3.960 E.T. at 322.42 MPH defeated Blake Alexander 4.103 E.T. at 256.80 MPH
E3: 3.967 E.T. at 324.36 MPH defeated Alexis DeJoria 4.001 E.T. at 309.70 MPH
E4: 3.991 E.T. at 324.44 MPH defeated by Robert Hight 3.971 E.T. at 322.50 MPH

 

Race Recap:
After a championship finish at the Dodge//SRT Mile-High Nationals presented by Pennzoil in Denver last week, Matt Hagan had the unique opportunity to ‘sweep the Swing’ for the first time in his decorated career. He started race day from the No. 3 seed and battled through a stacked Funny Car field to advance to his second consecutive (2019) Sonoma Nationals final round. Hagan’s day began with an opening-round match-up against Jeff Diehl. The defending series champion moved first and wheeled the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to a clean pass for the win. In round two, Hagan and Blake Alexander were nearly even off of the line but by the 660-foot timers, the Dodge Hellcat pulled ahead to a clear lead and Hagan was off to the semis for a rematch of the Denver final round versus Alexis DeJoria. History repeated itself on Sunday when once again, Hagan nabbed the early lead and powered to victory over his opponent, resulting in Hagan advancing to the final round for the second consecutive week and third time in 2021. 
 
The final round showcased a meeting between two three-time Funny Car world champions with Hagan going toe-to-toe with Robert Hight for the Sonoma trophy. Hagan moved first and led until halftrack when Hight pulled ahead for the win, spoiling Hagan’s attempted Western Swing sweep. While he may not have finished the Sonoma Nationals in the winner’s circle, Hagan continued to make up ground in the points, moving into second place and within two round wins of reaching the current point leader. 

 

Quotable:
“Our guys are doing just a phenomenal job. This is really the most confident I’ve felt with a group of guys in a long time. They’re killing it. They’re making super-quick turns in between rounds. We’ve got some really good juju going on. The group is clicking so well, Dickie (Venables) is making great calls out there. I see us ticking off a few more wins real soon. This Hellcat is running great. We’re qualifying well and going to the finals. It’s there. The confidence is there. The team is there. My lights are good. Everything we need to win races and a championship is right there with this package. I’m very excited and pumped up.”

Qualified: No. 3 (lane choice)

The Competition: No. 14 Jeff Diehl

The Results:
Q1: 3.909 E.T. at 328.94 MPH (One bonus point for third-quickest run of the session)
Q2: 4.070 E.T. at 251.63 MPH
Q3: 4.036 E.T. at 310.27 MPH

Quotable:
“I’m super happy here at Sonoma coming off the big win at Denver last weekend on Thunder Mountain with this beautiful red Dodge SRT Hellcat. We’ve carried that momentum to sea level. We have a great Hellcat Funny Car and team here at DSR and they’re killing it. We’re so happy to be here in front of packed grandstands at Sonoma and we’re going to put on a great show of NHRA racing tomorrow. I’m gonna have some fun and we want to turn on four win lights again.”