Hagan rocks on Saturday in Concord, qualifies No. 5

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 19 of 23
Round 2 of six in Countdown to the Championship
Third annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals
zMAX Dragway
Concord, N.C.
Sept. 17-19, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

HAGAN ROCKS ON SATURDAY IN CONCORD, QUALIFIES NO. 5

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 18. 2010) - Matt Hagan pulled out two stout runs in the
heat of the day today at the third annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals to
qualify the FRAM/DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car in No. 5 and move into
second place behind John Force in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Countdown to the Championship playoffs standings.

Hagan's monster run of 4.115 seconds at 299.40 mph was the second-quickest
of the final session only to polesitter Cruz Pedregon's 4.114/302.35 in that
round, helping him earn a total of four qualifying bonus points for the
weekend. His previous runs produced a 4.202/290.19 (third quickest of the
round), a 5.491/128.01 on Friday night in which he experienced an engine
explosion, and a 4.156/298.34 today in round three (third quickest).
Pedregon grabbed the pole Friday night with a 4.078/303.57.

The 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va., had to
relinquish No. 4 spot to Jeff Arend, who set an identical pass of 4.115
seconds Friday night because of speed (306.95 to 299.40).

"We have a really great race car," said Hagan. "We're glad to be flying the
FRAM colors this weekend. (Crew chief) Tommy DeLago has done such a great
job this weekend. We didn't get a good run in on Saturday night and we were
extremely excited to be able to step up in the heat of the day both laps
today and run the numbers we did.

"These FRAM/DieHard guys are putting a good car under me and on race day we
have Robert Hight (fifth in points). We're going to treat him like anybody
else in this Countdown and not leave anything on the table and go after it
tomorrow."

As for any damage to the car in Friday night's explosion, "It ended up being
not as bad as it looked on TV,² said Hagan. "It only hurt a manifold, and
the blower (supercharger) was good, the motor was good. Not a big service
ordeal for the guys last night. Sometimes what looks bad on TV isn't so bad
in reality. 

"We picked up a bunch of points today and that was very crucial for us in
this Countdown. We are treating every run as very important and moving
forward."

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