There’s an old saying in the combat sports world: “Never leave it up to the judges.” Matt Hagan took that to heart with the NHRA Funny Car regular-season championship.
Heading into the U.S. Nationals, Hagan was the points leader ahead of Jordan Vandergriff, Ron Capps, and J.R. Todd. The simplest path to the title for Hagan was to win the event, and he nearly did that. The four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion might not have won the U.S. Nationals, but his runner-up finish to Jack Beckman was enough to get the job done.
The key moment for Hagan was the winner-take-all matchup with Capps in the semifinals at Indy. Capps struck the tires, and Hagan rocketed to the finish line, sealing the deal on the championship.
“This Funny Car field is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen. I mean, Ron Capps is my hero, man. And those guys over there, they kill it. They led the points all year long, but they made a few mistakes, and we came in here towards the end and scooped up some points and made it happen,” Hagan said. “I just can’t say enough about my guys, man. You know, obviously, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conway, and Phil Shuler, that group has been great, and Tony Stewart allowed that to happen, put them together, made sure we have what we need, parts and pieces. This Dodge Hellcat Funny Car is on a tear right now. It’s my group of guys, all this goes to them. This just isn’t possible without our group. I’m just very thankful, blessed, and all greatness comes from God through Jesus Christ.”
Winning the regular-season championship put a cool $150,000 in the Tony Stewart Racing-owned team’s pocket. What’s even more important is that Hagan will start the Countdown to the Championship as the Funny Car points leader.
The momentum that Hagan and his team have generated moving into the second half of the season has been impressive. Hagan is an aggressive driver, and Knudsen, Conway, and Shuler have matched that attitude with how they tune his Funny Car. That combat sports mentality put the team in a position to not only win the regular-season title, but also make it the frontrunner for the Funny Car Countdown to the Championship.
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