Hagan hangs on to No. 1 in Vegas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 5 of six in Countdown to 1 Playoffs
Round 23 of 24 for season
Ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

HAGAN HANGS ON TO NO. 1 IN VEGAS

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 31, 2009) - Matt Hagan held on to the No. 1 qualifying
position for the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway today through two more qualifying rounds and will face Grant
Downing in the opening round of Sunday's Funny Car eliminations. This is his
second No. 1 of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season.

After posting a track-record-setting 4.030-second elapsed time at 313.88 mph
on Friday to establish the fastest speed in NHRA history racing to 1000
feet, Hagan drove the Valvoline Engine Guarantee/shelor.com Dodge Funny Car
to another stout run in the heat of the day in today's third session to set
a round-quick pass of 4.153 seconds at 305.08 mph.

In the final qualifying session, under the lights, the contender for the
2009 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award as an
NHRA rookie-of-the-year frontrunner lost traction in the left lane and
coasted to a 10.508/72.36. He held on to the top spot and ended two days of
qualifying having earned six bonus qualifying points.

"We've had a great weekend so far and the only way we can top this off is
with a win tomorrow," said Hagan, who has two runner-up finishes this
season, including his first here at The Strip in April. "We have a good
team, a good car, and we showed that we could run down there in the heat
this morning. We have a good tune-up and I think that's what Tommy (DeLago,
crew chief) is going to do tomorrow. He's going to go right back to what we
had this morning and put that in there - it's pretty safe - and [hopefully]
go right down the track."

Hagan could set a national speed record if he backs up his 313.88-mph lap
(no bonus points are available for a speed record). "Whether we back it up
or not it's a record to me to be able to go that fast, and to hang on to
something like that is pretty awesome,˛ he said.

"But, hopefully wešll just go out there and get the win light to turn on.
That's my main goal. And I know the guys that are wrenching on the car, it's
their goal too. So, that's what our focus is this weekend: go some rounds,
and hopefully get to the final and win one of these things."

***