Following the second race of the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship, Matt Hagan found himself ninth out of 10 drivers in the battle for the Funny Car world championship.

Four races later, Hagan finds himself third and right in the thick of the title hunt.

How?

One heck of a hot streak.

Hagan entered this weekend’s championship finale riding the wave of two-straight victories and carried that momentum into Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the quickest pass in both qualifying sessions Friday to top the field at the 55th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals.

And while two quick runs to open the weekend certainly don’t guarantee he will be able to make up the ground to the two cars in front of him, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

“The car is running really strong. We’ve had a great race car the last couple races and we’ve been able to capitalize on that and we were able to capitalize on the points today,” Hagan said. “I am just really proud of Dickie Venables and the guys. They are putting a real race car underneath me. It is exciting to crawl in there right now.”

Hagan was quickest in both qualifying sessions on Friday in his MOPAR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, ending the day with a 3.872-second pass at 333.58 mph to take the provisional top spot.

“The track was actually better than a lot of guys out there thought,” Hagan said. “We were actually placing the car toward the outside, finding some different rubber to be in early. My guys have done a good job on the package and where we are at with our clutch and our combo and getting it down the track. Up there tonight Dickie dialed it back because we saw Wilkerson run the 87 and he pulled it back just to be safe. We just have a lot of confidence in the car right now.”

Tim Wilkerson was second on Friday with a 3.876 at 327.43 mph, while Shawn Langdon was third with a 3.893. Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.945) and Jack Beckman (3.949) rounded out the top five.

Championship leader Robert Hight, who entered the weekend with a 46 point advantage over Beckman and a 56 point lead over Hagan, was 12th on Friday with a 4.354 at 306.05 mph.

“I don’t really feel any pressure. I have been in Robert’s seat before and I know how it is looking back while trying to move forward,” Hagan said. “Even when he pedaled the car today to get in (to the field) I thought that is a damn good pedal job and I went over and told him that. It is just one of those things where I know how this feels trying to make it happen.

“For me mentally where I am at right now, I’m just having fun. The car is running great, my lights are good and the driveability of the car is really good. So we are just digging.”

While a potential third win a row on Sunday doesn’t guarantee a championship, Hagan takes solace in knowing that his team has done all it can to put themselves in a position to fight for the title and end the year as the hottest car in the field considering how quickly that can all change.

“I think you would have a hard time not having confidence after coming off of two wins and going low both sessions today. But that can all change,” Hagan said. “It is great to toot your horn and it looks great on paper, but at the end of the day I know how humbling these cars can be and I think we have to be realistic and understand it is running good now, but that doesn’t mean it is going to run good tomorrow.

“We just have to keep working on our combo and work hard. I believe in my guys and it is cool to see that hunger that they have with the opportunity in front of us.”