Hagan Records Funny Car’s First 3-Second Pass In Charlotte

During qualifying on Friday evening at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Bruton Smith’s incredible zMax Dragway in Charlotte, Matt Hagan clocked the first official three-second pass by a Nitro Funny Car over a 1,000 foot course; putting a leg up on a new national record and ending three years of anticipation for the first sub-four second pass by a flopper in the process.

Of course, those who closely follow the Funny Car category will recall that Robert Hight was in fact the first driver to traverse 1,000 feet in under three seconds – clocking a 3.954 at the Checker Schucks and Kragen Nationals in Phoenix in 2007 on his way to the quickest quarter-mile pass in history: 4.636 seconds. But since the dawning of the 1,000 foot era in mid-2008, no driver had come close to those numbers.

Hagan and tuner Tommy Delago were able to produce an adequate 1-percent backup run in the opening round of eliminations alongside John Smith, blasting to a 4.018-second lap at the quickest speed ever recorded – 322.27 MPH – to make the 3.995 an official national record and collect and additional twenty points toward the Funny Car title.