There's that moment when know-how and Mother Nature connect, and sparks fly. Matt Hagan was the beneficiary of that love affair as his Johnson's Horsepowered Garage-sponsored Dodge Hellcat thundered to a zMAX Dragway track record of 3.825 seconds at 333.49 miles per hour. 

Hagan, credited with the first three-second Funny Car run during the 1000-foot era, put another feather in his cap with the quickest run of the season to this point. 

"Obviously [crewchief] Dickie Venables is always pushing, and I think it was such a big confidence booster for us after making that run, knowing that, okay, we can go .82," Hagan said. "In testing, we were trying to run .88 and then .85 and now a .82. So the capability, the know-how, the parts, the pieces, the knowledge, everything is there. It's just having the track conditions and the weather to do so. 

"That's just nice to be able to put that in the bank, and him look at that and say, 'Hey look, now we can go up there." 

"No crew chief, I don't think, is ever satisfied with the run. They're always like, 'Well, you might've clicked it off a little early here, or we can do this there." 

"But that's why crew chiefs are crew chiefs, and they make us go faster and quicker each run. So I know Dickie will pick it apart, and we'll go faster and faster."

As impressed as he is with his car running quickly, Hagan admits he's even more impressed no parts have fallen off the car along the way.

"I just want to say, my guys, man, they really have done a great job this year," Hagan said with a smile. "They make 30-minute turnarounds now. It's incredible to watch these guys work to where they break the car apart, put it back together, run up here, warm it up, drag it up to the start line, and still turn on a win light. And I just can't say enough about them because in life and everything that you do, you surround yourself with the best people you can find, and the best things happen to you. And that's been my dad's motto and the same with our sponsors and everything else. You want to find the best you can find."

Hagan, who earns his keep as a farmer, understands with Ron Capps and Robert Hight winning races and stealing headlines, he needs to make hay while the sun is out. 

"I think that these cars are probably the most humbling thing I've ever dealt with in my life," Hagan admitted. "And between sports and just dealing with day-to-day life and businesses and everything else, this stuff is just so humbling. You could be on top of the world and winning races, and the next thing you know, you're having a hard time qualifying at the next race. I think you take it race to race. 

"Don Schumacher always told me, 'One run at a time." 

"I was always like, 'No man, I'm thinking about winning." You know what I mean?"

Schumacher reminded Hagan that one can only win the race with a victory in the first round. 

"They always say that old saying is, you're only as good as your last run," Hagan admitted.

And for Hagan, that last run was a doozie.