Sold-Out Crowd Watches Hagan, Salinas And Enders Earn Epping Wins

Following a lengthy head-to-head drought again Robert Hight, Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan knocked off Hight for the first time this year a the final round, powering to his third win of the season on Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals at a sold-out New England Dragway.

Mike Salinas (Top Fuel) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) also collected wins at the eighth of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. For the second straight day, NHRA and New England Dragway officials announced a sellout crowd at the facility.

Hagan delivered a run of 3.922-seconds at 327.98 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat for Tony Stewart Racing in the championship round against Hight, as the two standouts met in the final for the third time in 2022. Hight won the first two, including at the most recent race, but Hagan earned his 42nd career win on Sunday. It’s also his fourth win at New England Dragway in the past five events, as Hagan knocked off Dale Creasy Jr. and J.R. Todd to reach the final round. It was his sixth championship round in eight races and followed with the impressive win against Hight.

“It was just a great weekend, and I can’t say enough about (crew chief) Dickie Venables,” Hagan said. “Nothing really needs to be said because the race car speaks for itself. All the boys wrenching on the car just do a great job, and when I crawl in that car, I don’t have to think about anything other than leaving the starting line. I’m nothing without those guys, and I’m so proud of them. They truly deserve all the credit, and I should be giving all my trophies to these guys.

“We’re in a great rhythm, and Dickie is in a great mind space. I think we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. There will be some lows, but that’s drag racing. You just try to ride this wave as long as you can. I give a lot of respect to Robert Hight and…