Sat, 5 Sep 2009, 11:24 PM Hagan Hangs in There in No. 11 at U.S. Nats

Courtesy of Judy Stropus

CLERMONT, Ind. -- Matt Hagan, a contender for the 2009 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award as an NHRA rookie-of-the-year frontrunner, qualified the Valvoline/shelor.com Dodge Funny Car in No. 11 for the U.S. Nationals after three of five qualifying passes. Two more rounds of qualifying on Sunday will determine the 16-car field for Sunday's eliminations.

Hagan posted his quickest pass of 4.171 seconds at 299.46 mph right out of the box on Friday, then followed that up with a 4.233/285.23 and a 6.067/109.62.

"Thank God we have five laps to qualify for the U.S. Nationals," he said. "We have a good race car. We had one good lap right off the bat to make sure we got in. It's good that it came out strong right off the trailer for us like that.

"I think tomorrow will be a totally different day. We have to go out there with the mindset that we're not in this thing, because it can change that fast for us.

"I know Tommy (DeLago, crew chief) is going to work on his tune-up tonight and hopefully he'll find something for tomorrow.

"I'm looking forward to trying to get a race-day setup on Sunday. I think we'll be able to have that and maybe go for it tomorrow evening."

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