Mopar Dodge Driver Hagan Extends Funny Car Championship Lead Heading into NHRA Pomona Finale

November 15, 2014 , Pomona, California -  Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car driver Matt Hagan fulfilled his goal during the final two sessions of qualifying on Saturday at the 50th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals, increasing his lead to 23 points — equal to more than one round of racing — in the battle for the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car crown. Now the biggest and most difficult mission remains for Hagan heading into the final day of the season: securing his second career NHRA Funny Car crown during Sunday eliminations.
 
Hagan saw championship foe John Force gain two points and cut his lead to less than a round — 19 markers — during Friday qualifying, but the 2011 NHRA Funny Car champ quickly reclaimed those precious points. Hagan’s 4.016-second elapsed time at 319.60 mph in Q3 was the quickest of the session, earning him three bonus points. In Q4, a 4.034/316.01 mark helped the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver collect another crucial bonus point and build a 23-marker cushion over Force. Starting No. 6, Hagan goes head-to-head against No. 11 qualifier Chad Head to open Sunday eliminations. 
 
“It was great going up there that last round knowing that he (Force) didn’t get down the race track, because that meant we could go up there and do what we needed to do,” said Hagan, after Force hazed the tires on his last two qualifying passes. In four of the last five years, the Funny Car crown has come down to a fierce battle in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs between Hagan and Force.
 
“I think you really need to understand the team and the man that you are dealing with out there,” added Hagan. “He’s tough. He’s not a 16-time champion because he backed into anything. We have to treat him with the respect that he deserves and not brag or boast about having two out of four rounds on him. We have to definitely go out there tomorrow to work hard and match him round-for-round until we win the race or he goes out. Our guys are going to go that little extra mile because we are a family out here. This team digs a little deeper to give a little extra. Everyone wants to win and everyone out here is competitive, but I think we have the better team and better chance of winning tomorrow.
 
“The best thing about Dickie (Venables, Hagan’s crew chief) is that he’s a racer. It’s about running as hard as he can every lap. He’ll back it down, he’ll race the race track, he’ll do whatever it takes to turn the win light on. And that’s a big positive for us. It all comes down to this one day and this one race, but everyone forgets about all the little things that added up to get us to this point. The holeshot wins, the round wins, the people you beat, little victories here and there, and it ended up making a big difference, but it still comes down to this one day. We just want to be fresh tomorrow, work hard, be focused and give it our all.”
 
DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr., the provisional No. 1 qualifier thanks to his 4.003/317.34 Friday run, struck the tires early on both his Saturday attempts and will line up No. 2 in his HEMI-powered Dodge against No. 15 qualifier Tony Pedregon first on Sunday. No. 2 after Friday with a 4.005/317.79, Ron Capps earned two bonus points in both Saturday sessions with a 4.021/317.42 and a 4.010/318.02 and will start No. 3. The DSR Dodge racer has another Mopar, No. 14 qualifier Jeff Arend (4.126/287.05), to begin eliminations.
 
Not qualified after Friday, Jack Beckman muscled his Dodge Funny Car into the field on Saturday, posting a 4.029/313.29. The 2012 Funny Car champ will begin eliminations No. 7 and draw Del Worsham. Dodge Charger driver Gary Densham (No. 16, 4.136/305.84) will have a formidable first-round foe in top qualifier Alexis DeJoria.
 
In the third qualifying session Jeg Coughlin Jr. improved on his two Friday attempts with a 6.534/211.89, but was unable to move his JEGS.com/Dodge Dart up the charts, remaining fourth. The 2013 NHRA Pro Stock champ recorded a 6.555/211.23 in Q4 and will start No. 4 on Sunday, matching up first against fellow Mopar-powered Dodge Pro Stocker and No. 13 qualifier V. Gaines (6.577/211.43) as he seeks to score a fourth-career NHRA Finals victory.
 
Listed seventh after two rounds of Friday qualifying in his Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart, Allen Johnson jumped two spots in Q3 to the fifth position, recording a 6.539/211.33. The Team Mopar veteran was bumped down one position to sixth in the final session, where he recorded a 6.555/210.90, and the 2012 NHRA Pro Stock champion will start from there and battle Rodger Brogdon in round one. 
 
“We’re still in testing mode, but we have something to work with tomorrow and we’ll just put the best that we tested all together and go forth into eliminations,” said Johnson, who has one previous NHRA Finals victory, during his title-winning 2012 campaign. “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day, but I’ve never raced on a Sunday that wasn’t. There will be a lot of drama and a lot of tension, and we’re going to be right in the middle of it because if we win first round, we’ll be facing Erica (Enders-Stevens, the points leader). I’d feel bad taking her out, but I’ll sure be trying.”
 
ESPN2 will broadcast 90 minutes of qualifying highlights on Sunday, Nov. 16, at 3:00 pm (ET). Three hours of eliminations coverage from the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona will air Sunday evening starting at 7:30 p.m. (ET).
 
 
2014 NHRA Countdown to the Championship Standings
(Following final qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals)
 
PRO STOCK (season wins in parentheses)
1.        Erica Enders-Stevens – 2559 (5)
2.        Jason Line – 2540 (4)
3.        Dave Connolly – 2461 (3)
4.        Shane Gray – 2443 (1)
5.        Jeg Coughlin Jr. – Dodge Dart – 2405 (2)
6.        Allen Johnson – Dodge Dart – 2403 (4)
7.         Vincent Nobile – 2364 (1)
8         Jonathan Gray – 2345 (1)
9.        V. Gaines – Dodge Dart – 2269
10.      Chris McGaha – 2168
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Matt Hagan – Dodge Charger R/T– 2548 (3)
2.         John Force – 2525 (3)
3.         Courtney Force – 2421 (4)
4.         Tommy Johnson Jr. – Dodge Charger R/T – 2402 (1)
5.         Robert Hight – 2394 (5)
6.         Del Worsham – 2373 (1)
7.         Ron Capps – Dodge Charger R/T – 2355 (2)
8.         Alexis DeJoria – 2342 (3)
9.         Tim Wilkerson – 2290
10.        Cruz Pedregon – 2244 (1)

 
About Mopar Motorsports
Mopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2014, Mopar celebrates the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the GEN III 426 Race HEMI® and looks to defend back-to-back NHRA World Championship titles (2012-2013) in the Pro Stock class and battle for another Funny Car World Championship after wins in 2011-2012. While Mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honour its roots by being a proud supporter of amateur racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar Sportsman Cup.
 
Mopar Brand
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product but truly made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era. From Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, the brand soon expanded to include technical service and customer support.
 
Today, Mopar is FCA’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 130 markets, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for FCA brands.

Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for FCA vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com.
 
Mopar-first Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with customers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format. First to offer complete vehicle-information kits in Spanish
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• Wireless charging: first to introduce in-vehicle wireless charging for portable devices
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• wiAdvisor: first to provide factory-connected tablet technology in the service lane for instant vehicle diagnosis
• wiTech: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car