A really good weekend here in Houston with the Pennzoil colors again
Qualified: No. 2 (33.907 E.T. at 327.74 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 4.286 E.T. at 301.00 MPH defeated Dave Richards 4.421 E.T. at 212.86 MPH
E2: 3.914 E.T. at 328.78 MPH defeated Blake Alexander 13.014 E.T. at 54.58 MPH
E3: 3.981 E.T. at 321.12 MPH defeated by Tommy Johnson Jr. 3.941 E.T. at 321.96 MPH
Race Recap:
Matt Hagan entered his sponsor’s race armed with the Funny Car point lead. By blasting the Pennzoil Synthetics Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the quickest run of the opening qualifying session, Hagan captured three valuable bonus points and earned the No. 2 starting position.
Hagan began his race day with an ugly round win, pedaling to victory when his machine shook, rattled, and smoked the tires early into the run. His opponent, Dave Richards, also encountered issues but Hagan’s mastery behind the wheel enabled him to claim the win over his competitor.
Hagan and teammate Jack Beckman have been taking turns sitting atop the Funny Car championship leaderboard for the past two months, and after learning Beckman had bowed out early in round one, Hagan knew he had to capitalize on the opportunity to stack up as many points as possible. It was ‘mission accomplished’ in round two when Hagan navigated the Pennzoil Dodge to a smooth 3.914 E.T. to defeat Blake Alexander who smoked the tires right at the hit of the throttle. The semifinal round showdown between Hagan and teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. was a critical round for both championship-contending drivers. Both drivers made solid runs in their Dodge Hellcats with Johnson coming out on top.
A semifinal appearance coupled with a strong qualifying performance allowed Hagan to maintain the point lead heading into the final race of the season. He will carry a 42-point lead over Johnson, and a 43-point lead over Beckman.
Quotable:
“A really good weekend here in Houston with the Pennzoil colors again. We’d have liked to have been in the final round, but we picked up some points this weekend. It was a close race with TJ (Tommy Johnson, Jr.) in the semis, and I have all the confidence in the world in my crew and Dickie Venables rolling into Vegas. I’m confident we’re going to do what we need to do and win this thing. I’ve been on both sides of it. I’ve led, and I’ve chased, and I’d rather lead than be chasing going into Vegas. It’s a hard task trying to make up points. I’m proud of my guys to put ourselves in the position to make some ground this weekend and extend the lead.”
Matt Makes Another Final #FallNats
Qualified: No. 1 (3.860 E.T. at 328.54 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 3.885 E.T. at 330.63 MPH defeated Todd Simpson 6.845 E.T. at 100.28 MPH
E2: 3.928 E.T. at 326.63 MPH defeated J.R. Todd 3.987 E.T. at 326.00 MPH
E3: 3.907 E.T. at 326.08 MPH defeated Ron Capps 3.958 E.T. at 318.84 MPH
E4: 3.943 E.T. at 324.20 MPH defeated by Jack Beckman 3.908 E.T. at 328.46 MPH
Race Recap:
On race day, the 35-time NHRA Funny Car winner clocked the second-quickest pass of the opening round of eliminations to advance past Todd Simpson, setting up a monster match-up with former champion J.R. Todd. In a battle of the yellow rides, Hagan’s Pennzoil flopper moved along with a 3.928 to Todd’s 3.987 E.T., pitting Hagan against teammate Ron Capps for the third straight event. Hagan got the better of the 2016 NHRA champion as his 3.907 was enough to outdistance Capps’ 3.958 to advance to his 64th career final round. Squaring off against another DSR Dodge teammate in the money round, Hagan faced U.S. Nationals winner and second-place driver Jack Beckman to see who would win a category-best third win of the season as all four DSR flopper pilots had two 2020 wins each. The champion shoes used nearly identical reaction times, but Beckman’s machine was slightly quicker at 3.908 to better Hagan’s 3.943 E.T.
Hagan, who sits six round wins shy of 400, will look to extend his narrow four-point lead over Beckman and his DSR teammates next weekend when qualifying for the 33rd annual Mopar Express Lane Nationals presented by Pennzoil kicks off Saturday afternoon.
Quotable:
“All-and-all another really good day here at Dallas for this Pennzoil/Mopar team. Jack Beckman just had a little better day. They have a great race car, but we have a great race car too. We’ve been keeping pace and we’re going to keep doing our thing for the next two races and see how this thing plays out. I’m super excited we get to do it again in a few days at Houston next weekend. We have a lot of momentum. The team is working great. The guys are doing a great job. We just have a little more work to do.”
Hagan Will Start from No. 1 as he attempts to go Back-to-Back in Dallas and Maintain the Funny Car point lead
ENNIS, Texas (October 17, 2020) – Starting from the pole position for the 40th time in his career, Funny Car point leader Matt Hagan has his sights set on securing his second consecutive Texas Motorplex victory on Sunday at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals.
At the 2019 Dallas event, Hagan raced his 11,000-horsepower machine to the winner’s circle, kicking off what would become an 11-event undefeated streak for the Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car program, and he is hoping history repeats itself on Sunday. Hagan entered the 35th running of the Dallas event with a 16-point lead over his No. 2 ranked teammate Jack Beckman and a 34-point lead over No. 3 ranked DSR Dodge pilot Tommy Johnson Jr. With only three race days remaining in the 2020 season and the points battle heating up, Hagan knows a win at the Motorplex will be critical in helping to achieve his goal of locking-up a third Funny Car world championship.
Hagan’s No. 1 qualifier, his fourth of the season, was achieved when he rocketed the Pennzoil Synthetics Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a blistering 3.860-second pass during Saturday’s second and final qualifying session. Earlier in the afternoon, Hagan and the Dickie Venables-led team unloaded with an impressive 3.890-second run in Q1, the second-quickest of the session. The Pennzoil team’s strong qualifying performance allowed them to bank five bonus points for their efforts.
“We made two great runs with this Pennzoil Dodge,” said Hagan, a three-time Texas Motorplex champion. “It was a bit of a cluster up there for the second run. We were trying to make a clutch call and Dickie was trying to put a timing map in, and I was like ‘take a deep breath, it’s going to be alright.’ And it was. I have a great race car under me and I’m trying to drive the wheels off of it and it’s amazing to see all these fans here at the Texas Motorplex and it sort of feels normal and I love it. We’ll try to make four good laps tomorrow and stay in the championship hunt for Pennzoil and Dodge and Mopar and all those who support us.”
Hagan’s quest to pick up the 12th consecutive Funny Car triumph for DSR will begin with a round one match-up versus No. 16 qualifier Todd Simpson. Hagan will have lane choice over his opponent as he kicks off his campaign for a 36th Funny Car trophy, and the chance to keep DSR’s undefeated streak alive. Hagan is a two-time winner in 2020 and finished as the event runner-up at the previous race in St. Louis. Eliminations for the 35th annual NHRA FallNationals start at 10:00 a.m. CT on Sunday.
Qualified:
No. 1 (lane choice)The Competition: No. 16 Todd Simpson
The Results:
Q1: 3.890 E.T. at 323.97 MPH (Two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session)
Q2: 3.860 E.T. at 328.54 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session)
Next NHRA Event
FC Points
Unofficial NHRA Championship Standings
Funny Car
| 1 | Matt Hagan | 842 |
| 2 | Tommy Johnson Jr | 800 |
| 3 | Jack Beckman | 799 |
| 4 | Ron Capps | 679 |
| 5 | Bob Tasca III | 595 |
| 6 | J.R. Todd | 584 |
| 7 | Tim Wilkerson | 570 |
| 8 | Alexis DeJoria | 489 |
| 9 | Cruz Pedregon | 388 |
| 10 | Paul Lee | 382 |
