After long delays during the final Top Fuel qualifying session, track temperatures dipped to 90 degrees as Hagan prepped for his final pass. With near ideal conditions for a track a mile high in the atmosphere, Hagan made an outstanding 4.161-second run at 301.33 mph to eclipse Force's 4.191, 296.76, set on Friday night under the lights.

Blessed with conditions almost as ideal as Friday night, Matt Hagan pulled out a pole winning run in the final round of qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, knocking 14-time champion John Force from the top spot.

After long delays during the final Top Fuel qualifying session, track temperatures dipped to 90 degrees as Hagan prepped for his final pass. With near ideal conditions for a track a mile high in the atmosphere, Hagan made an outstanding 4.161-second run at 301.33 mph to eclipse Force's 4.191, 296.76, set on Friday night under the lights.

Racing the special Mopar-bodied Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car Hagan collected his second No. 1 of the season, the fourth of his career, and his first at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

“We just have a really great race car,” said Hagan, who is currently fourth in the point standings. “(Crew chief) Tommy DeLago is doing such a good job. And we're reaping the benefits from these crew guys. I can't talk enough about them. They've had a flawless year this year. (The car) goes up there every time and starts and, knock on wood, we haven't had any problems. Our guys have really come full circle this year for us compared to where they were last year.”

Hagan didn't know until the last minute his crew was swinging for the fences.

“Tommy basically said, 'Look, kid. Hang on to it; you never know what's going to happen up there.' He said he was going to get after it and he did.

“It went out there and [the clutch] tried to get one-to-one and when it did that it just took off. All I could do is keep it in the groove and hang on to it until the win light came on.”

Amazingly, Hagan almost wished he wasn't on the pole. Its great for one of his sponsors, Mopar, and for the team, but, “sometimes that seems to bite you on race day.”

Hagan will face Jack Wyatt in the first round on Sunday. Wyatt pushed to the line during the final round of qualifying, but even though he didn't make a run down the track, qualified in the 16th spot.