Momentum is when you can make it, and over the course of the last two races, two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan has been making the most of the moment.  

Hagan, for the second race in a row, captured the victory and did so by repelling an upset-minded Tim Wilkerson in the finals of the NHRA New England Nationals, who entered the weekend 13th in the point standings, and holding only six round wins to his credit headed into the Epping, New Hampshire event.

The victory marked the fourth 2018 victory for Hagan, who has been in the midst of a rollercoaster season with four first-round losses. Hagan's feast or famine run also featured just one round win in three of the four races, during the recently completed eastern swing from Chicago to Norwalk.

Hagan wholeheartedly credits the run of success to crew chief and tuning veteran Dickie Venables.

"I've just got a good race car," Hagan said. "It's just Dickie Venables; the guy is smart and when you give him enough runs at a track, he's smart and will figure it out. That's why he's been in the sport for over 50 years. He's someone I want to keep myself around for as long as possible. He works hard, and this is his life. It goes to show on the race car."

Hagan drew his line in the sand from Day One, driving his way to the No. 1 qualifying spot with a 3.932 elapsed time on Friday.

It didn't take long for Hagan and Venables to see on Sunday they were racing in a different world than the one they had on Friday. There was a 37-degrees difference in the track temperature between the Q-2 session on Friday evening, and Sunday's eliminations.

"It was like driving a dirt track car out there," said Hagan, who has been outwardly critical of the NHRA's decision to use track prep as a means to slow the nitro cars down. "The rear of the car was sideways and coming around when I could hear Timmy coming around me. You're looking around trying to see where he is at.

"That's what makes this exciting what we do. You never know what you are going to get, and I have yet to have the same lap back-to-back."

Hagan, on the heels of a four-round winning streak, opened the day with a 4.066 to take the measure of Terry Haddock, but then followed Venables' lead as he backed down the combination to work in conjunction with a steadily increasing track temperature. He needed only a 4.235 to beat teammate Tommy Johnson Jr., and later a 4.114, 311.05 to beat Ron Capps.

"This car has just been going down the race track, and we turned on four win lights in Norwalk," Hagan said. "We went down the track every lap in Norwalk, and we did it here too. We've essentially got a bracket car in this Funny Car."

Hagan believes this kind of consistency has a domino effect on his performance as a driver.

"The car is responding well to what they ask it to do," Hagan explained. "That makes me better as a driver and makes my lights come around. I am able to concentrate on the tree, and not have to worry about if I am going to slap the tires if they break loose. It allows me to focus on what I need to do, instead of wondering what everything else will do."

And for Hagan, momentum means everything, and equally important is when you grab ahold of it.

"We are just trying to catch Courtney [Force], she has so many No. 1 qualifiers, we are going to have to win a lot of races to catch her. I think coming into the second half of the season, I would rather be where we are now, getting stronger now than at the beginning of the season."