RELATED STORY - HAGAN REMEMBERS VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE 

Matt Hagan captured his first nitro Funny Car title since stepping up from the Pro Modified ranks.

Matt Hagan learned a valuable lesson Sunday in Rockingham, North Carolina. The former award-winning Pro Modified driver turned Nitro Funny Car pilot realized a race is never over until it’s over.

Hagan struck the tires early in the Funny Car final round during the IHRA Spring Nationals and while his chances of winning appeared slim at the moment, something just wouldn’t allow him to give up. He quickly pedaled the throttle in an attempt to get the car to hook up.

Then Hagan glanced out of the windshield to see his opponent, Paul Lee, also a first time finalist, go up in smoke at mid-track.

RELATED STORY - HAGAN REMEMBERS VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE 

Matt Hagan captured his first nitro Funny Car title since stepping up from the Pro Modified ranks. (Roger Richards)

Matt Hagan learned a valuable lesson Sunday in Rockingham, North Carolina. The former award-winning Pro Modified driver turned Nitro Funny Car pilot realized a race is never over until it’s over.

Hagan struck the tires early in the Funny Car final round during the IHRA Spring Nationals and while his chances of winning appeared slim at the moment, something just wouldn’t allow him to give up. He quickly pedaled the throttle in an attempt to get the car to hook up.

Then Hagan glanced out of the windshield to see his opponent, Paul Lee, also a first time finalist, go up in smoke at mid-track.

Hagan’s ride caught traction and he started playing a game of catch-up, although his prospects looked slim considering he was two-tenths behind. The deficit was aided by his slower starting line reaction.

“I knew I had a bad light,” Hagan said of his starting line efforts. “I knew it was over then. Then his car went into shake and I pedaled and then I passed him. I knew I had to get it done from that point. He never caught back up to me. I was shaking inside of the car. The feeling came in and it was overwhelming.”

Hagan didn’t exactly know how to react to winning. He’s raced the Pro Modified program for two years without a national event victory and he’d already prepared himself for a lengthy learning curve in Funny Car. Then came the Rockingham triumph which negated every tire-shaking and smoking rubber effort he’d ever experienced.

“I was cheering,” Hagan admitted, when describing the final round experience. “Then I didn’t see the win light. I then I said to myself, ‘Oh no, why didn’t it come on?’

Hagan’s questions were answered when he exited the car.

“When I got out of the car and everyone was running over with the cameras, then I knew,” Hagan said. “All I could do was say, ‘Alright, we got it done.'”

While Hagan’s entire operation may resemble a first-class effort, a great misnomer is the team races with a huge budget. This is why Hagan’s crew chief Jay Lewis fits perfectly into the program. He fits in  not because he works cheaply , but because of his uncanny knack to do more with less.

Lewis, who was formerly crew chief for Bobby Lagana, works with a totally volunteer crew. In the end, Hagan said, everyone worked together to make this triumph happen.

“Jay told me that we weren’t going to beat ourselves,” Hagan said. “I can’t say enough about them, they thrashed hard to get us through each round. They are in it for the love of the sport.”

Hagan has surrounded himself with others who race primarily for the love of the sport. He credits a lot of advice from two-time Funny Car champion Dale Creasy. Case in point, Creasy counseled the rookie on driving his Funny Car to the right following Friday’s lone session.

“Dale came over and said, ‘You have to cock your hand a little to compensate for taking your hand off of the brake and putting it on the steering wheel,” Hagan said.

“I had no idea,” Hagan continued. “That made a lot of sense. Having a veteran driver like Dale to watch over you and your car going down the track and for them to make comments, you can’t replace the seat time this man has. Being a two-time world champion, he knows how to make a car run up and down the track.”

Hagan and Creasy have raced one another for the last two races, and have split the wins. He beat Creasy in the first round of eliminations.

When all was said and done and the trophies were awarded from the memorable day, Hagan made the point clear where the first trophy was headed when he gets home to Radford, Virginia. He’s presenting his trophy to his father David Hagan, the financier of his racing efforts.

“I’m gonna get home and put this trophy on his desk because he’s paying for all of this,” Hagan said. “That’s the least we can do.”

DIFFERENT WORLDS – Hagan was named the 2005 NHRA Pro Modified Rookie of the Year for his efforts behind the wheel of a supercharged 1968 Chevrolet Camaro. He’s experiencing rookie status all over again with a Chevrolet-bodied flopper.

“The Funny Car is really, really fast off of the line but the Pro Modified takes much more skill when you having to swap feet,” Hagan said. “There’s a lot going on with getting your rpms right and pounding those gears. The Funny car is so overwhelmingly fast and your mind is trying to play catch up all the way down the track.”

Hagan has 25 laps to his credit now in the Funny Car including testing which began last fall in Las Vegas.

“I’m getting more and more comfortable,” Hagan admitted. “I’m not worried as much any more about what the car is going to do. In these cars, anything can happen but I feel really comfortable any way. The Pro Modified took me about 10 laps before I started to feel that way.”
 
Still, Hagan can’t seem to shake the memory of the first Funny Car run from his mind.

“I said ‘Holy Cow that was fast,'” Hagan recalled. “All I could see was the wall and the cones. You start picking up on stuff the more runs you make.”