Hagan top Funny Car qualifier in Pomona
Matt Hagan will be going for all the marbles today in the final rounds of the 47th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, the last event in the 2011 Full Throttle Drag Racing season. He has a 12-point lead over Jack Beckman in the Countdown to the Championship that will be determined by the end of the day.
Poor weather at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, delayed and then shortened Saturday’s qualifying runs, but Hagan had already secured the top spot with an ET of 4.033 seconds and a track record speed of 315.27 miles per hour.
“We’re all glad as a team to be back here and back in this hunt,” said Hagan. “We were looking to get another qualifying run in tonight; unfortunately the weather didn’t allow that. We have to go forward tomorrow and hopefully make some laps and have a long day. I believe in our team and the guys that got us here, and I believe that [crew chief] Tommy DeLago is going to carry us through this thing. I just have to stand on the pedal and have some fun.”
A total of six Chargers will be running in the final eliminations today. Only Todd Lesenko’s Jolly Rogers Dodge missed the cut.
| RESULTS: FINAL QUALIFYING – FUNNY CAR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Driver | Sponsor & Car | ET | Speed |
| 1 | Matt Hagan | DieHard Charger | 4.033 | 315.27 |
| 2 | Robert Hight | Auto Club Mustang | 4.084 | 313.88 |
| 3 | Mike Neff | Castrol GTX Mustang | 4.087 | 313.44 |
| 4 | Melanie Troxel | In-N-Out Solara | 4.087 | 309.70 |
| 5 | Cruz Pedregon | Snap-on Tools Solara | 4.087 | 307.79 |
| 6 | Johnny Gray | Service Central Charger | 4.107 | 308.28 |
| 7 | Jeff Arend | DHL Solara | 4.111 | 308.92 |
| 8 | Jack Beckman | Aaron’s/Valvoline Charger | 4.113 | 313.58 |
| 9 | Tim Wilkerson | Levi Ray & Shoup Mustang | 4.122 | 304.46 |
| 10 | Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Parts Charger | 4.124 | 301.94 |
| 11 | John Force | Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang | 4.131 | 308.21 |
| 12 | Bob Tasca III | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang | 4.138 | 306.33 |
| 13 | Tony Pedregon | Pedregon Racing Impala SS | 4.150 | 304.94 |
| 14 | Alexis DeJoria | Tequila Patron Solara | 4.158 | 306.88 |
| 15 | Gary Densham | Densham Motorsports Charger | 4.163 | 301.94 |
| 16 | Jon Capps | Chuck Worsham Charger | 4.165 | 299.20 |
| DID NOT QUALIFY | ||||
| 17 | Bob Bode | Alard Machine Solara | 4.199 | 295.79 |
| 18 | Paul Lee | Rislone/Bars Leaks Impala SS | 4.254 | 300.20 |
| 19 | Jim Head | Head Racing Solara | 4.551 | 262.59 |
| 20 | Jeff Diehl | Rimz One Monte Carlo | 7.762 | 288.95 |
| 21 | Terry Haddock | Acme Refining Solara | 8.580 | 117.16 |
| 22 | Cory Lee | Fuel Saver Group MPG3 Monte Carlo | 8.980 | 126.28 |
| 23 | Peter Russo | Russo Racing Monte Carlo | 12.632 | 76.80 |
| 24 | Todd Lesenko | Jolly Rogers Charger | 19.869 | 155.02 |
