DINWIDDIE, VA – May 15, 2022 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Matt Hagan was part of another record-setting day at Virginia Motorsports Park, making the quickest Funny Car run in track history on Saturday to qualify No. 1 at the Virginia NHRA Nationals.
Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the seventh of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Track records were set in all three categories, with Hagan’s run of 3.853-seconds at 331.45 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Smithfield Brand Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat leading the way in Funny Car. It gives the points leader and standout driver for Tony Stewart Racing his second No. 1 spot this season and 44th in his career. This is also Hagan’s 300th career start as he looks to win for the third time in 2022 with the first-year Tony Stewart Racing team.
“What a good job by the guys at the track and Safety Safari to put a great race track underneath us so we were able to lay down a great number out there,” Hagan said. “I can’t say enough about this race car. This has probably been the best start I’ve had in my career in NHRA and (crew chief) Dickie Venables, (assistant crew chief) Mike Knudsen and (car chief) Alex Conaway and all the guys who are putting this thing together are doing a great job.
“Everybody asks, ‘How’s Tony? How’s it working for Tony?’ and I’ve always wanted to win for myself but Tony’s the type of guy you want to win for. You look at all the stuff he’s done and it’s just a respect thing. You want the dude to be proud of you. You’re ready to make things happen. This Smithfield car is just running hard.”
Defending world champion Ron Capps moved up to the second spot with a strong run during the second qualifying session, going 3.864 at 332.75. Alexis DeJoria finished third with a 3.896 at 326.95.
In Top Fuel, Force topped Friday’s track-record run twice on Saturday, finishing with a…
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