Hagan Sets New Track Record and Earns Provisional Pole at U.S. Nationals

Temperatures on the second day of NHRA Mello Yello Series qualifying at the 59^th annual U.S. Nationals reached into the 90 degrees range before a late afternoon thundershower disrupted track action and cooled things off at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis, setting up the opportunity for Don Schumacher Racing’s Matt Hagan to drive his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” to the provisional pole position by setting a new track record.

 

With Funny Cars in the staging lanes, storm clouds threatened then finally interrupted their qualifying session after a few pairs had already made their runs. Following a three hour delay and under much cooler evening conditions that dropped into the low 70 degrees, elapsed times began to fall. Pacing the field and posting a new track record was Hagan’s Dodge Charger R/T which ran a 4.007-second elapsed time pass with a speed of 319.22 mph to earn the provisional No.1 qualifier honors.

 

"It was such an awesome run out here at Indy tonight,” said Hagan who currently leads the Funny Car championship standings. “It was so fast early. It made a hard move to the left. I made a correction, it made a hard move back and I had to make another small correction and another one and then I was like alright forget it. I'm just going to let it sit where it's going to sit and it just kept digging. [Crew Chief] Dickie Venables, what an awesome deal. This guy just keeps putting a great race car underneath me. This season has just been a dream season so far."

 

Mopar teammates Johnny Gray (4.012 sec / 312.13 mph) and Ron Capps (4.049 sec / 315.27 mph) both also improved their positions on the score sheets jumping up to second and fifth respectively. Fellow DSR teammate and defending world champ Jack Beckman sits in 12^th spot with two sessions remaining.

 

Prior to the rain delay, thanks to hot and muggy conditions, Saturday’s first qualifying session yielded no change to the order of the Pro Stock top twelve established on Friday, with Mopar Express Lane Dodge Avenger driver Allen Johnson still leading the pack, with his fellow Mopar-powered drivers V. Gaines in fifth spot, Jeg Coughlin Jr.in seventh and Vincent Nobile still in ninth place.

 

Like the rest of the field, Johnson was unable to better the 6.661-second elapsed time he had previously recorded to claim the provisional pole, posting a 6.705/206.86 in the first session today. The top session times were recorded by Jason Line, Mike Edwards and Shane Gray with Johnson leading the Mopar contingency in fourth spot to miss out of scoring any bonus points.

 

Due to the rain delay, the pro classes only ran one session on Saturday rather than the two previously scheduled. Qualifying for the U.S. Nationals will resume on Sunday with two sessions scheduled including the Funny Car edition of the Traxxas Shootout. All four Don Schumacher Racing Mopar drivers – Hagan, Gray, Capps and Beckman– are taking part in the ‘race within a race’ with a 100 thousand dollar prize for the victor.

 

Sunday’s shootout match-ups will see Hagan (1) versus Tim Wilkerson (8), Capps (2) vs. Beckman (7), Johnny Gray (3) vs. Courtney Force (6); and Cruz Pedregon (4) vs. John Force (5).

 

ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will provide five hours of televised qualifying coverage from the 59th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, commencing at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Sept. 1, while six hours of elimination rounds coverage will be televised starting at noon (ET) on Monday, Sept. 2.

  

About Mopar Motorsports
Mopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2013, Mopar looks to defend its two NHRA 2012 World Championship titles in Pro Stock and Funny Car categories, and celebrates 25 consecutive years as title sponsor of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Colorado. While Mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honor its roots by being a proud supporter of amateur racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar Sportsman Cup.

Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes 280,000 parts and accessories. With the creation of the industrial alliance between Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A., Mopar is extending its global reach, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar’s global portfolio includes more than 500,000 parts and accessories that are distributed in more than 130 markets. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for Chrysler Group brands as well as Fiat brands.

Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler Group and Fiat vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com.

 

Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

 

Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked for antifreeze product in 1937. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – the muscle-car era. The former Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use. The brand has expanded to include technical service and customer support.

Based in Italy (Corbetta, Milan), Magneti Marelli was established in 1919. The company is a subsidiary of Fiat Group and has a presence and reputation in racing, including Formula 1 and World Rally Championship (WRC) and now the NHRA. With 2012 revenues of $7,5 billion and approximately 36,900 employees, Magneti Marelli designs and produces advanced automotive systems and components. The company has 83 production facilities, 12 research and development centers and 26 application centers in 19 countries. The group supplies leading automakers in Europe, North America, South America and the Far East. Magneti Marelli USA coordinates the activities of all Magneti Marelli divisions in the NAFTA region from its North American headquarters, located in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

 

Magneti Marelli has established a significant presence in the world of aftermarket and service networks in the US, thanks to the partnership with MOPAR

 

Mopar Express Lane Service
Mopar Express Lane service, offered at participating Chrysler Group dealerships, provides a dedicated service lane for fast oil changes, and much more, in order to maximize customer convenience for all make and model vehicles. Available services include oil and filter changes, multi-point vehicle checkup, tire rotation with brake inspection, air and cabin filter replacement, wiper blade replacement, headlight and light bulb replacement and battery testing. Mopar Express Lane service is a consumer’s best choice for vehicle maintenance, with highly-skilled Chrysler Group dealership technicians ready to get to work and get you back on the road in no time. No appointments. No waiting. No worries.