Matt Hagan knows time is of the essence if he wants to win his fifth NHRA nitro Funny Car world championship.

Hagan, driving for Tony Stewart Racing, clocked a 3.832-second elapsed time at 333.25 mph in Q2 Friday to take the provisional No. 1 spot at the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway north of Charlotte.

“Well, it's kind of one of those things that the first run, you're like, ‘Man, that's a good run. We're sitting [No. 1] there, and then come back and when you can repeat and go once again,” Hagan said. “It's like maybe these boys found something. It's definitely a good shot in the arm after our qualifying positions all year long have been a struggle. Obviously, we've been working hard behind the scenes just to try to figure it out. It's always tough when you see a guy like Dickie Venables scratch his head, you know what I mean? And that's when you're going like, ‘Ooh, it must be pretty bad if the guy’s not got it figured out,’ but that's what hard work does, and those guys never give up.”

Hagan set the early pace Friday with a 3.865-second ET at 331.94 mph, then upped the ante in Q2.

“I think it says a lot for us to come out here and been qualifying in the bottom half of the field pretty much all year and then try to figure it out when it counts. … Honestly, this sport is so humbling that you take it where you can get it,” Hagan said. “And I think it was just great for our guys, great for our sponsors. Johnson's Horsepowered Garage is here. We are running their logo this weekend, and I've been wanting so bad just to turn on win lights for those guys and put that car in the winners circle for them.

“They've been with me for so many years, but we've only had a few one-offs here and there. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. So, I'm hoping this is the weekend for that, but it's drag racing. You put nitro in the tank, and you never know what's going to happen. But great racetrack, great facility. They put us out here, the pyro is going off, under the lights and flames up, and it's just cool. I wish we raced more under the lights, honestly.”

Hagan, who drives the Direct Connection Dodge/SRT Hellcat Funny Car, entered Charlotte fifth place in the points 137 points behind leader Austin Prock of John Force Racing. Prock is No. 2 on the qualifying ladder with a 3.833, 332.84.

“Well, it stuck the tire early. We've changed a lot of stuff in the bellhousing, and maybe it just punts a little bit more, it can take a little bit more. But like I said, it's above my pay grade,” Hagan said. “I just tell them how the car feels, and you relay the information the best you can. They look at the graph, and they make the decisions from there. But all in all, man, it's just good to come back and see our guys smiling in the pit and everybody high fiving. Your guys are like, ‘It's cool.’ That's why you do it. Because a lot of times that these race cars, they just kick you in the balls, you know what I mean? They just do. And it just kind of, you're like, ‘Man, it is just an awful feeling’ sometimes because it's just so humbling because you work so hard at it. So, every now and then when you get a little shot in the arm like that, it's good.”

If Hagan’s time holds through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions it would be his second No. 1 starting spot of the season, and would be the 52nd of his career. His other No. 1 qualifying performance of the year came at Pomona, Calif.

Hagan has won Wallys in Charlotte in 2011, 2013 and ’14. He noted that seeing his star crew chief Venables struggle is not something he’s used to.

“I've been with Dickie going on 14 years now. And I think you see a guy that's as talented as he is and you kind of scratch your head and say, ‘Man, I'm not real sure right now,’ but you got to understand, for me, that's when I got to put my pom-poms on and be a good cheerleader and keep the guys' morale up,” Hagan said.

“I get to sit up there and listen to all the chatter in the lounge, where a lot of our guys don't. They just see the result on the racetrack. And so, I think Newton, Alex, and Dickie have been doing a good job of letting our guys know what's going on and what they're dealing with. And honestly, the last couple of races, it's fallen on me, man. At the end of the day, I got beat on a holeshot against J.R. [Todd] first round. It was kind of bad. I set myself up, I bet him 20 bucks, and I bet him $100 in qualifying, and I had a .035 light on him. And then when he's racing first round, and he had a 45 light on me. And so, it's just like probably shouldn't have done that, you know what I mean?” 

Hagan admittedly enjoys a little friendly competition with his competitors.

“Tasca had a bet [Friday night]. He's come over – I bet him 20 last week on reaction, I got up to 20 – and he's like, ‘I'm getting my 20 back, but we're going to do it on a win light.’ So, I like that kind of stuff, that back and forth, but that's what pumps me up,” Hagan said. “And I want it to count for something every time we get in the car, even if it's just 20 bucks? But that drives me? I hate losing? So yeah, it is tough sometimes to see your guy struggle, but you're going to have that. I think that's just the ins and out of drag racing.

“It's like being a manic depressive, and it's the highs of highs and the lows of lows. There's not a whole lot of in-between. You're either up on top of the car beating your chest and thanking the good Lord above, or you're over there on the side, crying when nobody else sees you. I cry a lot in the shower, man. So, there's those moments, but I think that's what makes you really appreciate it when they go well. Two of my championships out of the four, I runnered-up the year before. And those are awful feelings to be so close and get pulled away from you, and it just wasn't meant to be. But it made me dig deeper the next year and work harder for my guys as well and come back and win it.

“We've had a rough season, there's no way around it. There's plenty of guys out here that haven't won a race, and we've won two races. But for us, that's a rough season. We  usually average four to six races every year, and we still got five races to go. And I think in this Countdown, you're going to have to win three races out there, especially to catch [Austin] Prock, and he's going to have to stub his toe. It is a lot of work ahead of us — a lot of things that have to happen — but I feel good that our car is moving in the right direction this weekend so far.”