The Last Southern Nationals Recap

Qualified: No. 3 (4.001 E.T. at 314.02 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 3.991 E.T. at 307.65 MPH defeated Robert Hight 5.341 E.T. at 135.18 MPH
E2: 3.947 E.T. at 324.75 MPH defeated Tim Wilkerson 3.985 E.T. at 319.22 MPH
E3: 3.974 E.T. at 326.40 MPH defeated by Bob Tasca III 3.981 E.T. at 327.82 MPH

Race Recap:
Fresh off of a runner-up finish at the previous event, reigning world champion Matt Hagan was seeking his first win of 2021 on Sunday at the NHRA Southern Nationals and advanced to the semifinal round before his quest for one final Atlanta Dragway trophy came to an end.
 
Hagan and the Mopar Dodge Funny Car team battled through challenging track conditions during Saturday’s two qualifying sessions to earn the No. 3 spot on the strength of their 4.001-second Q2 run, which held up to be second-quickest of the round. Their solid performance allowed them to continue their streak of starting from the top half of the field for the 10th consecutive event. Despite the top-seeded qualifying effort, Hagan found himself in the unusual position of facing fellow three-time series champ Robert Hight in the first round, a showdown typically found in the later elimination rounds. In what can only be considered a monster match-up, Hagan rocketed the Mopar machine to the second-best run of the session (3.991 E.T.) to defeat Hight and extend his round-win record over the veteran driver to 19-16.
 
In the quarterfinals, Hagan gave up lane choice to Tim Wilkerson, the only driver to have made a quicker pass in E1. Once again, Hagan was quick and consistent, posting low E.T. of the round by speeding through the 1,000-foot timers in 3.947 seconds to set up a semifinal meeting with Bob Tasca III, who seems to be Hagan’s ‘kryptonite’ as of late, having beat Hagan in the final round at the previous event, and in the first round at the season-opener. Against Tasca, Hagan, who is considered one of the best leavers in the sport, powered to another stout sub-four second run (3.974 seconds) but suffered a rare holeshot loss to his opponent who clocked a 3.981 E.T.

Quotable:
“So, coming off of another tough race with Bob Tasca in the semifinals. He just seems to have our number right now but we’ve got a good car, we’re qualifying well and we have a lot of good racing ahead of us. I’m really proud of our team, everyone works well together. We’re running well, just losing really close races. It’s just one of those things where those close ones like that, yea they’re tough to swallow, but they make you dig deeper, make you work harder, and push yourself to get to the next level. Charlotte is our next event. I’m excited about that because it’s close to home. It’s another four-wide but we went to the final at the Vegas four-wide, so hopefully, we’ll take it one step further there. Looking forward to having some fun and keep pushing this Dodge Hellcat and put on a great show for everyone.”

Pre-race Southern Nationals

Atlanta Event Highlights: 

• 2016 event champion  
• Two-time event runner-up (2013, 2018)  
• 2013 No. 1 qualifier 

2020 Atlanta Recap:
N/A (canceled due to COVID-19)

2019 Atlanta Recap:
Qualified 10th; First round exit (defeated by Tommy Johnson Jr. in E1)

Last Event (Las Vegas 1):
Qualified seventh; Event runner-up (defeated Blake Alexander, Chris Morel in E1, John Force, Alexis DeJoria in E2; defeated by Bob Tasca III in E3)

Career Statistics:
277 races; 36 wins; 40 No. 1 qualifiers 

Noteworthy:

• Raced to a runner-up finish at the previous event (NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas)  
• Holds the Atlanta Dragway Funny Car speed record (329.02-mph), set during the 2016 event

Quotable:
“We’ve got two qualifying runs on Saturday, and race on Sunday. These kind of race weekends are pretty crazy because if you miss it on the first run, you’re in the back of the pack trying to get back in and you end up making a soft run just to make sure you’re in the field. It gets kind of hairy, so you want to make sure you get it down there with that first run out and make it count.
 
“Our Dodge Hellcat Redeye has been running well. We runnered-up in Vegas, we’ve just got to push it a little harder. (Crew chief) Dickie Venables does a great job, he puts a great race car underneath me. My lights have been really good lately, I’ve been leaving on everyone by a couple hundredths, and we’ve just got to keep it going. This will be our last time racing at Atlanta Dragway, and I’m ready to turn on four win lights. It’ll be a quick turn-and-burn this weekend with this two-day event. This is HEMI week (HEMI day was Monday, 4/26) so hopefully, we can put our HEMI-powered car in the Atlanta winner’s circle one last time, and have some fun doing it.”