In the pit area of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, there is perhaps no driver who speaks more highly of the relationship with his crew chief than Matt Hagan.

Through every high and every low, after every chart-topping pass and Wally trophy, Hagan is quick to give praise to Dickie Venables and the work he does to prepare the car on race day.

So it was only fitting that on Venables’ birthday, Hagan got him something extra special.

On Sunday, Hagan opened the season with four win lights and the 44th win of his career at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. And immediately after being handed the trophy, he knew exactly where it was going.

“I can’t say enough about Dickie Venables. It is his birthday today, and this is a super awesome birthday present. I plan on giving him the trophy,” Hagan said. “My guys work so hard. We had our entire team come back from last year and that is kind of unheard of on a fuel car. Tony (Stewart) creates a work environment where you want to be here, to be a part of this. That says a lot. And I think that had a lot to do with our success (today).”

After multiple tries to earn a Wally at one of NHRA’s oldest crown-jewel events, Hagan has now gone back-to-back at the Gatornationals after giving team owner Tony Stewart his first win in the sport at the same race a year ago.

And he earned Sunday's win against 2021 Gainesville winner J.R. Todd.

With both drivers looking to get their 2023 campaign off to a good start, Hagan and Todd put on a great show in the Funny Car final. After leaving the starting line with identical reaction times, Todd began to pull away in his DHL Toyota GR Supra before the engine expired near mid-track with a visible concussion, allowing Hagan to cruise past for the win.

Hagan drove his Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car from point A to point B with precision, recording a 3.926-second lap at 329.34 mph to collect his first season-opening win since 2018. Todd limped across the line at 4.141 to finish runner-up.

“I knew they were going to have a good car and he is a great driver. To face off in the finals, I knew it was going to be a good race,” Hagan said. “J.R. actually poked out in front of me, and when you can see someone (during a run), it ain’t good. Then something happened over there with him, and we drove around him and turned on the win light.

“To win back-to-back Gators, I tried pretty much my entire career to just win one. It was a different feel this weekend because you usually start in Pomona, but to be here in Florida and watch the fans pile in here yesterday was just amazing.”

To add to the drama of a final round at the Gatornationals, the two finalists were thrown an extra curveball in the form of the live television broadcast. With a tight turnaround window following their semifinal runs, both drivers had to scramble just to make the final, and that led to some chaos in preparation.

“We were pushed in the final there and almost didn’t get to warm up because of the TV slot,” Hagan explained. “At the end of the day, you do what you need to do to make the round and get the TV time. Being on Fox and being able to win as a TSR driver is huge.”

After the run, Hagan was again quick to give praise to his team for staying calm under pressure and for providing him with peace of mind in the final.

“Trust is earned, it is not given with most stuff you do in life,” Hagan said. “Each one of those guys on that car earned my trust. I crawl in that car knowing it is put together right. Knowing that, if there is a mistake or something happens, it won’t happen again. My guys very rarely make a mistake, and that is huge.

“Me and Dickie are the biggest variables out there. He is changing stuff and I am driving differently, and when those guys can put that car together and it is the same every time, it takes that variable out of it. It makes his tuning ability better. The confidence we have as a team is huge.”

While winning a race is certainly not surprising for Hagan, winning so early in the season was a bit of a shock. During the offseason, the team built a brand new car for and did very little testing coming into the race. That left Hagan working out some of the quirks of the car while at the same time trying to go rounds.

“Honestly, everything in my area got changed for this season,” Hagan said. “It fits me better, and I have the steering wheel where I want it and the fuel shutoff where I want it, but the clutch pedal is different. The steering box is different. Where we have the steering wheel is different. So it has been an adjustment. I am up there trying to hold the pedal in and my leg is shaking and I’m thinking, ‘We need to change this.’ But the car is running great. It is consistent, and it is driving really well.

“I just can’t say enough about Dodge and the support they give us here at TSR. We didn’t test very much. We spent four days out here a couple of weeks ago and just really dialed the car in and felt confident about it. So we loaded it in the box and came back here. There is a lot to be said about Dickie and his experience in this result today.”

Hagan dipped into the 3.8-second zone thrice Sunday in wins over Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca and Alexis DeJoria. His best lap came in round one, a 3.879 at 335.82 mph in a win over a tire-smoking Wilkerson.

In the other rounds, Hagan simply proved quicker. He drove around Tasca in the second round with a 3.882 to a 3.922, before an even closer 3.896 ousted DeJoria's 3.912 in the semifinals.

Todd had wins over Blake Alexander, Robert Hight and Chad Green.

In addition to his own success, Hagan’s Top Fuel teammate Leah Pruett reached the semifinals in the other nitro category, giving Tony Stewart Racing a great start to the year.

“To kick it off with TSR’s first win of the year one year after getting their first-ever win here, it was just a special weekend,” Hagan said. “I was really excited to see Leah go some rounds today, and the guys were pumped up and my guys were pumped up. The camaraderie between the two teams is great. There is great chemistry there.

“For us, you just can’t count Dickie Venables out. That guy has got so much experience. He has won me so many races and we have won championships together. We are just always in the thick of it and that is all you can really ask for.”