Matt Hagan powered the Pennzoil Dodge Charger to the provisional No. 1 spot on Friday night at the NHRA SpringNationals. After making the third quickest run of Q1, Hagan and the Pennzoil team led by crew chief Dickie Venables, blistered down the Baytown track in 3.913-seconds, rocketing to the top of the Funny Car pack. “My Pennzoil Dodge Charger has been phenomenal,” said Hagan, who after earning the No. 1 qualifying spot at the 2018 season-opener in Pomona, went on to win the race. “Super glad to have Dickie in my corner. Really happy with my guys, they put a great race car underneath me. I’m very confident in what they’re doing, and it helps me as a driver to be able to focus on what I need to be doing.” Hagan’s two stout runs allowed him to bank four bonus points, and with the threat of rain looming, gives him peace of mind heading into the second day of qualifying. “The biggest thing was just getting in. 18 cars out there. Looking at the weather forecast tomorrow, getting down on the first lap and getting in the show took a lot of pressure off of us going into Q2. “It’s good that we were able to go down both lanes and get some data off of that.”
Q1: 3.984 E.T. at 298.40 MPH (One bonus point for third quickest run of the session)
Q2: 3.913 E.T. at 308.78 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session) Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 1 Bonus Points: Four |