Hagan runs strong in Pomona qualifying, takes No. 5

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 1 of 23
50th ANNUAL NHRA WINTERNATIONALS
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.)
Feb. 11-14, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

HAGAN RUNS STRONG IN POMONA QUALIFYING, TAKES NO. 5

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 13, 2010) - Matt Hagan, driving the DieHard Dodge
Charger Funny Car, rocked in qualifying for the 50th annual NHRA
Winternationals, clocking the quickest pass of the third qualifying session
of 4.091 seconds at 308.64 mph to claim fifth place at the end of four runs.

In his first try, he came up with a 4.109/305.01, good for No. 5, then
smoked the tires in the second round to record a 9.029/76.25 (No. 6). The
DieHard team, led by crew chief Tommy DeLago, then went for broke in the
final session, under nearly-perfect and cool conditions, but loss of
traction slowed Hagan to a 4.783/167.43.

"Qualifying went great," said Hagan, the 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer
from Christiansburg, Va. "We were low for the session today with a 4.09.
That's our race day tuneup. This last run tonight was just for everyone's
ego at night time, to see who can run the fastest.

"We knew we were in the field. I know Tommy was pretty aggressive with it
and it smoked the tires. But we have a good race-day baseline to go off of
for tomorrow and I'm really excited."

Hagan faces Gary Densham in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

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