{"id":32015,"date":"2016-10-28T12:50:06","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T19:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=32015"},"modified":"2018-08-16T12:35:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:35:44","slug":"matt-hagan-not-yet-ready-for-the-final-funny-car-curtain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/matt-hagan-not-yet-ready-for-the-final-funny-car-curtain\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Hagan Not Yet Ready for the Final Funny Car Curtain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matt<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The rest of Matt Hagan\u2019s 2016 NHRA Funny Car season can be summed up in the words of a famous Elvis Presley record – ‘It\u2019s now or never.’<\/p>\n

Just two NHRA races remain on Mello Yello Funny Car tour, and Hagan\u2019s promise of a third championship is 88 points away from his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps and 24 points out of second place from another DSR stablemate, Tommy Johnson, Jr.<\/p>\n

For Hagan, it\u2019s just business as usual as he enters this weekend\u2019s Toyota Nationals on the Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the penultimate event of the season. \u00a0It leaves only eight rounds of racing to get the job done, and the only way to secure rounds is to turn the win light on.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s almost like anything, you have to put it perspective,\u201d said the matter-of-fact Hagan.\u00a0 \u201cWe have to have two exceptional races and they have to mess up.\u00a0 You never want to wish anyone any bad luck or nothing like that.\u00a0 You have to be on your game.\u00a0 If the opportunity arises, you have to capitalize on it and put yourself in a situation where you can make something happen for yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Force was a guy I kind of grew up watching, and he gets into situations and makes things happen.\u00a0 Right now, we\u2019re in one of those situations.\u00a0 I think we just have to rise to the occasion and just be ready.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing that you can really do; a lot of it is out of your control, and you have to focus on what you have control over in your situation.\u00a0 We\u2019re 88 back.\u00a0 That\u2019s quite a bit with only two races to go.\u00a0 But hey, we\u2019re still in this thing and we still have a shot.\u00a0 We just have to be on point when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hagan\u2019s season has been nothing less than phenomenal; he collected four wins, including the prestigious U.S. Nationals at Indy, and is rolling into Vegas fresh off a stellar run in Dallas, where he took home the Wally and a Texas Motorplex cowboy hat.\u00a0 He owns both ends of the NHRA national record for elapsed time (3.822) and speed (335.57), but stumbled coming out of the gate with a couple of quarterfinal finishes in the early going.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we\u2019ve had a great race car all Countdown,\u201d replied Hagan.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve had a great race car all year.\u00a0 We won the U.S. Nationals and several other races, setting world records.\u00a0 We started the Countdown with a little bit of bad luck.\u00a0 The first two races we had, we got outrun by inches.\u00a0 We just happen to run the quickest guy of the round and we were the second quickest.\u00a0 If it had been anyone else, we would have gone on to the next round, and who knows what would have happened there.\u00a0 Sometimes it just plays in your favor and you have to deal with that and grow from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve had a little luck come our way; the car is running good and it\u2019s been a strong car the whole Countdown.\u00a0 It\u2019s not like we backed into anything.\u00a0 We got a break there or two in Dallas and things went our way.\u00a0 That\u2019s what you have to do in these Countdowns.\u00a0 The years I was able to win it, we won 19 rounds and lost three in the whole Countdown.\u00a0 You have to get hot at that time but if we have the opportunity to win two more races here, we have a legitimate shot at winning the championship.\u00a0 Is it a long shot? Absolutely. But is it doable? We\u2019ve done crazier things on the track.\u00a0 We\u2019re out here to put on a show for the fans and I think they are going to get their money\u2019s worth.\u00a0 It always comes down to the last race in the semi-finals, so to speak, in Pomona, California.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they pay to see this kind of excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"115-MattHagan-Atlanta-Sunday[1]\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The two major pluses in Hagan\u2019s Mopar\/Rocky Boots Dodge camp are having long time crew chief Dickie Venables, a veteran of many nitro years, and his assistant Mike Knudsen.\u00a0 The calming effect of these two on Hagan is priceless, and it all goes back to just getting the job done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way it worked out, he was able to come on board with us and I\u2019ve been super glad to have him as part of our team,\u201d said Hagan, who hails from Christiansburg, Va.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been a huge asset to the number of wins that I have been able to have, along with the track records, world records and all that – it’s Dickie Venables.\u00a0 Having a guy like that in your corner is huge and gives me confidence as a driver.\u00a0 It puts pressure on you too!\u00a0 You have a good, fast hot rod and everyone is looking at you like \u2018Dude, don\u2019t screw it up.\u2019\u00a0 It drives you to be better, but Dickie is a methodical guy.\u00a0 He\u2019s not one of those guys to pound on his chest and say, ‘I\u2019m going to go out here and run as fast as I possibly can just because I can.’\u00a0 He really is a racer at heart, and he races the racetrack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Hagan\u2019s thoughts and words quickly turn back to the championship and the tough road he has to travel to get into the final mix.\u00a0 He\u2019s philosophical, but still a realist in what he has to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got some tough guys to beat,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cRon Capps, Tommy Johnson, Jr. and Jack Beckman are in front and right behind us.\u00a0 All the DSR Funny Cars are where it\u2019s at.\u00a0 Honestly, they are our closest competition.\u00a0 I\u2019m not knocking anybody else.\u00a0 The thing about Don Schumacher cars is every dime he gets from our sponsors goes right back into the racing.\u00a0 We have the best parts and pieces.\u00a0 It\u2019s a no-excuse attitude, and you have to learn to adapt to that attitude and produce results.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the kind of environment where you know you have to rise to the occasion all the time, because you\u2019re putting it all on the line.\u00a0 That\u2019s why our teammates are so good, our cars are so good, and our crew chiefs are so good, because the funding is there. \u00a0We\u2019re settling in our groove, this year is great, and next year ought to be even better.\u00a0 I still feel a lot of race wins ahead of us, especially the next two races.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hagan has to scrape up literally every point he can, and with a 130 total as a maximum this Dodge driver knows he can\u2019t let anything escape in the Toyota Nationals.\u00a0 It\u2019s a make it or break it race for him and his Mopar team in Las Vegas this weekend.\u00a0 The emotions are running high for all the teams, but more so for Hagan, as he’ll see his chances either grow or fade away in less than four seconds on Sunday – race day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so tough,\u201d said Hagan.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve seen these races turn into championships by just 1 or 2 points.\u00a0 When you put it into perspective, it\u2019s gut wrenching.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those feelings that if you\u2019re on the backside of it, it rips your heart out and feels like someone stepped on it.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing anyone can say or do to make you feel any better, but I\u2019ve been on both ends of that with the Countdown, of winning a couple of championships and losing a couple of championships.\u00a0 I understand that, and you have to get every point and keep doing what you\u2019ve been doing all year.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the pressure get to you.\u00a0 Honestly, I think it\u2019s the mental side of this game that separates you from being average to a champion – the positive things you have to do to rise to the occasion and be excited about it and not be scared of it, trying to anticipate.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been fortunate to talk with a few sport psychologists and pick their brains a little bit and share some insight.\u00a0 It\u2019s the mental side of it, and the pressure from the competition is just as important as the race car running fast and strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qualifying coverage of the Toyota Nationals starts on Friday evening with a 6 p.m. ET showing of the first of qualifying round on FOX Sports 1.\u00a0 Complete qualifying results will air on Saturday night at 11 p.m. on FS1, with the finals airing live starting at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 30 on FS1.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"086-MattHaganPennzoilDodgeHoustonPreview[1]\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rest of Matt Hagan\u2019s 2016 NHRA Funny Car season can be summed up in the words of a famous Elvis Presley record – ‘It\u2019s now or never.’<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,3399],"tags":[38,547,128,41,7],"class_list":["post-32015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-nhra","tag-funny-car","tag-jay-wells","tag-matt-hagan","tag-news","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/lead-28.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-8kn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32015"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32023,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32015\/revisions\/32023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}