Hagan lands in third in Denver qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 13 of 24
Mopar Mile-High Nationals
Bandimere Speedway
Morrison, Colo.
July 10-12, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

HAGAN LANDS IN THIRD IN DENVER QUALIFYING

MORRISON, Colo. (July 11, 2009) - NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year contender Matt
Hagan drove a brand-new red shelor.com Dodge Funny Car into No. 3 in
qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway today.

Hagan, a 26-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va., posted
his quickest lap of 4.152 seconds at 297.68 mph in the final round of
qualifying, placing him temporarily in the No. 2 spot until Tony Pedregon's
4.135/294.50 dropped him into third.

Driving a lighter front-halved chassis out of the Don Schumacher Racing shop
in Brownsburg, Ind., Hagan struggled in the earlier laps, producing a
8.268/83.85 (No. 12), a 8.205/84.10 (No. 12) and a 4.272/285.05 (No. 12).

"I'm really happy with that," said Hagan. "We finally got this shelor.com
car running well again. Having lane choice tomorrow is going to be huge for
us.

"I wish we could have stayed second, but Tony Pedregon always seems to slide
in there and take our gusto from us. That's drag racing. We're having fun
with it. Tommy' (DeLago, crew chief) is doing a really good job. I'm trying
to get used to this track and the altitude, and it's a little slick out
there, but it's coming right around for us.

"The car is 30 pounds lighter. Tommy and all the guys have been back at the
shop making huge improvements on trying to shed weight wherever they could,
and it looks we're finally going to be at (minimum) weight, and that's big
for us.

"We have the Gates decal on the side of the car this weekend to show our
appreciation for the Denver-based company that has supported DSR for so
long. This is their hometown, so we definitely want to to do well for them.

"We'll get a good night's race, wake up in the morning and see what
happens."

Hagan faces Grant Downing in the first round of Sunday's eliminations.

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