Hagan edged out by John Force in Reading first round

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 17 of 24
25th annual NHRA NATIONALS
Maple Grove Raceway
Mohnton, Pa.
Aug. 21-23, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

HAGAN EDGED OUT BY JOHN FORCE IN READING FIRST ROUND

MOHNTON, Pa. (Aug. 23, 2009) - Matt Hagan, a contender for the 2009
Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award as an NHRA
rookie-of-the-year frontrunner, lost the first "match-up of a lifetime" of
his career today when he faced 14-time Funny Car champion John Force for the
first time in eliminations at the 25th annual NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove
Raceway, outside of Reading, Pa.

Hagan drove the shelor.com Dodge Funny Car hard, clean and straight down the
1000-foot race track, posting the fourth quickest pass of that round of
4.260 seconds at 279.27 mph, but he didn't beat Force to the finish line, as
Force recorded a slower but winning 4.273/274.72. Hagan's .071 reaction time
was on par with the majority of the other competitors, but Force's .049 was
the second best of that round (.000 is perfect). Only Del Worsham surpassed
him with a .038.

"We were both in a little bit at the starting lights," said a disappointed
Hagan. "I think he was in a little bit more. But the end result is his win
light came on first. If we had drawn anybody else this weekend for the first
round, I think we would have won." Hagan, 11th in the standings, is trying
to get himself into the top 10 in order to vie for the championship in the
Countdown to 1 playoffs, which begin after the next event, the U.S.
Nationals in Indianapolis. With 10th place Cruz Pedregon also being
dismissed in the first round, Hagan is 31 points shy of that spot.

"I am 110 percent over having bad luck," said the 26-year-old Angus Cattle
farmer from Christiansburg, Va. "I don't know what I have to do to change my
luck. I definitely am going to stay away from the casinos when we get to Las
Vegas later this year.

"We're all frustrated. It's so tough to keep your head up right now. It's
especially hard for me because when we lost the major sponsor we had earlier
in the year because of the economy, my family and Don Schumacher stepped in
to help, and it's been tough for all of us. It's not for lack of effort out
here, but it's so competitive in this class.

"I don't feel like we left anything on the table. I had an .071 light and
that's one of my better lights. And I know Tommy (DeLago, crew chief) really
did a good job out there today. Because we didn't have lane choice he pulled
out some timing out of it up top and, even though it spun the tire a little
bit out there, we thought it might spin a lot earlier. I am so proud of
Tommy.

"Lane choice and the water seepage on the track may have had something to do
with it, but a lot of stuff had a lot to do with it. It's hard to express
how frustrated we are right now.

"I can't say I could have done any better. I think we were just lined up
against a guy who might have had a little faster race car and cut a better
light. It's hard to describe how every driver stages for what purpose and
what's deep and what's not deep. It's hard to be upset with yourself when
you have an .070 light.

"We're going to go to Indy to test on Wednesday and hopefully we¹ll have
some good results out of that. I'm looking forward to it.

"I'm kind of ready to get back to the farm right now. We have some millet
down so I'm going to start baling it up tomorrow. That will give me some
relaxation time."

Next up is the 55th annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Sept. 4-7, 2009.

Today's racing action experienced a four-hour-plus delay while the NHRA
Safety Safari cleaned up the water that was seeping through the track
surface. Full point standings will be distributed following the completion
of the event.

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