“Leaving the Big Go, we enter the Countdown to the Championship in the second spot. You can win the championship from anywhere. You have to be in it to win it. We have six races left, so I really want to park this Dodge Direct Connection Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car back in the Winner’s Circle. We have to win two or three of these races to be a real title contender. We usually go rounds on race day, so we just have to keep that momentum going. It was a productive weekend as far as making good runs in the heat. Unfortunately, we didn’t have lane choice in the second round and the left lane was a bit tricky. We have to learn from our mistakes and go into the next race with guns blazing. Reading is always a fast race track, so we will go out there and see what we can do.”
- Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.928 ET at 316.60 mph)
- Maintained No. 5 provisional qualifying position based off of Friday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.040 ET at 312.57 mph.
- Earned No. 4 provisional qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.912 ET at 323.19 mph)
- Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session
- The Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout served as Round 4 of qualifying. Hagan ran a 3.967 ET at 320.05 mph, defeating Tim Wilkerson (4.920 ET at 162.63 mph).
- Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session
- In the Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout Semifinal, which did not serve as Round 5 of qualifying, Hagan ran 3.982 ET at 323.89 mph, defeating John Force (3.991 ET at 322.96 mph).
- The Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout Final served as Round 5 of qualifying. Hagan ran a 3.979 ET at 322.58 mph, losing to Robert Hight (3.955 ET at 321.58 mph).
- Secured No. 4 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q3 run
- Advanced to Round 2 on Monday:
- Round 1: 3.914 ET at 329.91 mph, defeated Alex Laughlin (6.157 ET at 108.84 mph)
- Round 2: 5.146 ET at 184.50 mph, lost to Ron Capps (4.582 ET at 235.19 mph)
- Currently second heading into the Countdown to the Championship, 24 points behind Ron Capps (Hagan added 10 Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge points to the reset, Ron Capps added 14 Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge points)
- Hagan drove his Dodge Direct Connection Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to a runner-up finish in the Pep Boys All-Star Callout. It marked his second final-round appearance in five Funny Car specialty races. His previous final-round appearance came in Indianapolis in 2022.
- Hagan has advanced to the Countdown to the Championship for the 11th consecutive year.
- TSR team owner Tony Stewart advanced to Round 2 in his Mobil 1 McPhillips Racing Top Alcohol Dragster. He’s currently second in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series championship standings.