Rookie Hagan avoids mishap in Memphis second round

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 3 of six in Countdown to 1 Playoffs
Round 21 of 24 for season
NHRA MID-SOUTH NATIONALS
Memphis Motorsports Park
Oct. 2-4, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

ROOKIE HAGAN AVOIDS MISHAP IN MEMPHIS SECOND ROUND

MEMPHIS (Oct. 5, 2009) - NHRA rookie Matt Hagan had a close call in the
second round of Funny Car eliminations at the NHRA Mid-South Nationals at
Memphis Motorsports Park today, after defeating Cruz Pedregon in the opening
stanza.

Driving the Valvoline Engine Guarantee/shelor.com Dodge, the contender for
the 2009 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award as
an NHRA rookie-of-the-year frontrunner defeated one Pedregon brother in the
first round with a pedaling effort of 4.314 seconds at 305.15 mph, then met
up with brother Tony in the second round.

Soon after the pair launched from the starting lights, Pedregon had an
engine explosion which catapulted the body off his car into the air and
directly on to the center line. Despite that, Pedregon crossed the finish
stripe first with a 5.224/127.70. Hagan attempted to avoid the debris, and
followed with a 5.315/289.63.

Pedregon claimed the win, sans body, as neither the tire nor the chassis
crossed the centerline, according to NHRA rules.

"I could see that body come up." explained Hagan, who remained 12th in the
standings. "I was like, I need to get out of the way of this. I hate it for
Tony, but I hate it for us.

"We've been trying to get down the race track all weekend. It's a tight race
track out there. First lap we shook the tires and pedaled it, it came
around, and we got that win. The graph said to tune it up, so Tommy went out
there and tuned it up, and we might have been just a little over center and
smoked the tires a little bit.

"Tony blew up really bad and I thought I could catch him right there at the
end and it was close. I got back and asked, Who won, who won? I guess he got
me right there at the stripe.

"There was so much going on, I was kind of watching the body, trying to get
out of the way of all that carnage."

"We'll just move on to the next race and hopefully we can get a win before
the year's up."

Next up is the Fourth Annual NHRA Virginia Nationals in Richmond, Va., Oct.
9-11.

UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after 21 of 24 events:
1. Ashley Force Hood, 2308
2. Robert Hight, 2305
3. Tony Pedregon, 2282 (runner-up today)
4. Jack Beckman, 2235
5. Ron Capps, 2220
6. Bob Tasca III, 2206
7. John Force, 2184
8. Tim Wilkerson, 2181
9. Mike Neff, 2130
10. Del Worsham, 2116
11. Cruz Pedregon, 1003
12. Matt Hagan 961