Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Mopar Dodge Funny Car Pilot Hagan Rockets to No. 1 in NHRA Chicago Qualifying
luglio 11, 2016 - Mopar

Mopar Dodge Funny Car Pilot Hagan Rockets to No. 1 in NHRA Chicago Qualifying

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  • Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T carries Don Schumacher #racing driver Matt Hagan to pole, track record for elapsed time at Route 66 Raceway
  • No. 1 is 23rd of Hagan’s career, second of season
  • Chicago is quickest Funny Car field in #nhra history; all four Dodge Charger Funny Cars situated in top half
  • Hagan’s DSR teammate Jack Beckman No. 2 in HEMI®-powered Dodge Charger R/T with Route 66 Raceway track record for speed
  • Points leader Ron Capps No. 4 seed heading into Chicago eliminations; DSR #mopar teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. No. 8
  • Mopar Dodge Dart Pro Stock cars set to defend 2015 title, add another trophy to already plentiful collection of Chicago hardware
  • Strong history for #mopar at Route 66 Raceway
July 10, 2016 , Joliet, Illinois - Qualifying for the 19th annual Route 66 #nhra Nationals ended on an exceedingly powerful note for #mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T driver Matt Hagan. The Don Schumacher #racing (DSR) Funny Car pilot and two-time world champion landed the 23rd No. 1 of his career with a massive run down the racetrack in the final qualifying session in what played out to be the quickest field in the history of the class. Hagan, who was most recently the low qualifier in Topeka, will start from the pole for the second time this season when he pulls to the starting line for a first round meeting with Bob Bode on Sunday at lauded Route 66 Raceway.
 
“Everything out here is about momentum,” said Hagan regarding race day in Chicago, where he has already claimed three Funny Car wins for #mopar. “I have to have momentum. I have to have good lights, and I have to have confidence going into tomorrow. If being No. 1 qualifier doesn’t give you some confidence, then there is something wrong with you. That was a huge run for us, for me personally, and for my team. You build off of that tomorrow, and you sleep better tonight not scratching your brain. We feel like our #mopar Express Lane Dodge is a really strong racecar.”
 
Mopar led the class across the board on the first two days of the 13th #event of 24 in NHRA’s 2016 Mello Yello Drag #racing Series. All four of the DSR HEMI®-powered Funny Cars secured starting positions in the top half of the field in Chicago, and Hagan was neck-and-neck with No. 2 qualifier Jack Beckman, driver of the DSR Infinite Hero Dodge Charger. Hagan’s stellar 3.882-second pass at 331.12 mph claimed the Route 66 Raceway track record for elapsed time, and Beckman’s powerful 3.885/333.25 reset the track record for speed. The Chicago pole marks the ninth of the season for Team #mopar in 13 races.
 
Qualifying was a strange series of events, but it started out relatively tame for Hagan. He was out of the gate in the first session on Friday with a clean 3.961/326.74 that set him initially in the No. 9 spot. As the sun set and the track temp cooled, conditions were at their prime for the second round of qualifying, and every team out there was swinging for the fences.
 
Tommy Johnson Jr. made a strong pass early in the session in his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger, a 3.921/325.45, but trouble at the top end ensued as his parachutes did not deploy. He was on the brakes hard but unable to scrub off enough speed, ran out of racetrack, and ended up in the sand trap. Johnson was uninjured, the chassis was not damaged, and the carbon fiber body will be repaired back at the DSR fabrication shop in Indianapolis. Johnson will run their back-up #mopar Dodge Funny Car body for the remainder of the #event.
 
“It got to bouncing real bad, and they don’t stop very well when they’re in the air,” said Johnson. “I thought it was going to make it for a while, but it just covered so much ground. We made a nice run – but you still have to get it stopped.”
 
Two pairs later, Hagan’s very quick and fast 3.895/330.07 should have been the center of attention, but John Force grabbed the spotlight as he drifted out of the groove, crossed the centerline, smashed a pair of timing blocks, and then fell in line behind Hagan very closely in the shutdown area. Force got a face full of Hagan’s parachutes but swerved and missed clipping Hagan’s Funny Car.
 
“There is just a lot of stuff going on out there, and you have to really be on top of it,” said Hagan. “But it’s always exciting. That’s why I drive a Funny Car. To me, that’s an adrenaline rush. You get pumped up. You have to know what you’re doing, and you have to have a good team behind you. These Funny Cars are a handful – but that’s why I love driving them. You never have the same run back to back.”
 
Although Hagan’s DSR teammate Ron Capps scored the provisional pole on Friday with a cool 3.888/328.78, it all came down to Saturday. For Hagan, the day started with another strange occurrence as he had trouble on the burnout and had to motor slowly down the track rather than backing up to make a proper pass. He came back for the final session, though, to lay down the stunning 3.882 that edged Beckman’s 3.885 for the top spot.
 
“Saturday afternoon is not usually the time to make a run like that,” admitted Hagan. “Usually that happens on Friday night when it’s cool and the track is great. But we had a great racetrack underneath us, and the weather seemed to be there. My crew chief, Dickie Venables, came on the radio and said, ‘Let’s push the primary and see what we can do.’ I didn’t really know we were going to be pushing that hard. We came up there a little behind the 8-ball, but Dickie is a guy you can’t count out. He does a great job, and he’s very methodical. He’s smart and driven, and that’s why we’re No. 1 today.”
 
First Round Pairings
No. 1 Matt Hagan, #mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T vs. Bob Bode
No. 2 Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger R/T vs. John Hale
No. 4 Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R/T vs. John Force
No. 8 Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R/T vs. Chad Head
 
Mopar Drivers Claim Route 66 Nationals Bonus Points
Throughout qualifying, the top three drivers in each session are awarded bonus points (commonly referred to as “Baby Points” or “Small Points,” though these additional marks may make a large impact as the championship chase revs up). The quickest driver in each session receives three extra points, the second quickest is awarded two, and the third quickest gets one. Below are total bonus points accumulated throughout qualifying by drivers piloting #mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars.
Ron Capps – 7
Matt Hagan – 3
Jack Beckman – 2
 
Mopar Muscle in Top Fuel
Tony Schumacher, in his Don Schumacher #racing U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster powered by #mopar, recorded a best time of 3.744-seconds at 326.63 mph in qualifying. The eight-time #nhra Top Fuel world champion is the No. 6 seed at his home race in Chicago, and he will square off with veteran driver Pat Dakin in the first round of eliminations. Schumacher, with five Chicago trophies, has more wins at Route 66 Raceway than any other nitro driver.
 
Fuel-Injected HEMI®-powered #mopar Dodge Dart Pro Stock Cars
Route 66 Raceway is very special for Elite Motorsports/Mopar Performance Dodge Dart driver Erica Enders as it is the facility where she scored her first win. That hard-fought victory in 2012 was the first of 21 overall wins that the now two-time Pro Stock world champion has accumulated. Enders qualified No. 9 at this season’s #event and will race Elite Motorsports teammate Vincent Nobile in round one.
 
Jeg Coughlin Jr., pilot of the Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Dart, is a five-time Chicago winner, scoring Pro Stock victories in 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009, and 2013. Coughlin qualified No. 11 and will go head-to-head with Drew Skillman in the first round.
 
Mopar-powered Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart campaigner Allen Johnson came into the Route 66 #nhra Nationals as the defending #event champ; last season, the 2012 Pro Stock world champion beat Larry Morgan in the Chicago final round. Johnson is the No. 5 qualifier and will race Kenny Delco.
 
Mopar in History at Route 66 Raceway
Three times in the history of #nhra competition at Route 66 Raceway, there has been a pair of #mopar entries in the winner’s circle at the conclusion of the #event. Last season was the most recent occurrence of a HEMI® double-up, as Don Schumacher #racing Dodge Charger R/T pilot Tommy Johnson scored the trophy in the Funny Car class and Allen Johnson commanded his #mopar HEMI Pro Stocker to victory. In 2013, Funny Car’s Matt Hagan and Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. earned the trophy in their respective #mopar racecars. In 2010, Hagan scored the second win of his just-blooming career on the same day that Sportsman racer James Caro brought home the Competition Eliminator trophy in his 2004 Stratus R/T. The first win for #mopar at Route 66 Raceway was in 1999, when Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Bob Newberry raced to victory in a ’99 Avenger. The facility had only just opened the year before, in 1998, and was the first stadium-style racetrack on the #nhra tour.
 
NHRA on FOX Sports 1
FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will air three hours of live finals coverage from the Route 66 #nhra Nationals, beginning at 2pm E.T. on Sunday, July 10, 2016.
 
Stay up to speed by following @OfficialMopar on twitter and join #mopar friends on facebook. 
Press releases and multimedia for press can be found at media.fcanorthamerica.com.

About #mopar Motorsports
The #mopar brand’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 2016, #mopar will look to once again vie for a #nhra World Championship title in both Pro Stock and Funny Car categories. While #mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honor its roots by being a proud supporter of Sportsman #racing within the #nhra with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar’s Tom Hoover Sportsman Challenge.
 
About #mopar Brand
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product, but it 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 the service, parts and customer-care brand of FCA US LLC and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in over 150 markets around the world. With more than 50 parts distribution centers and 25 customer contact centers globally, #mopar integrates 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 engineered together with the same teams that create factory-authorized specifications for FCA vehicles. This offers 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.