Matt Hagan's smile is so bright that it can be seen as he flies down the drag strip in his DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car.
Hagan set the national elapsed-time record and became the first driver to record a 3-second run to 1,000 feet in a Funny Car two weeks ago in Charlotte. Oh, and he won the race, too.
Though he lost in the second round in Dallas last weekend, he did take out point leader Mike Neff in a key first-round matchup there, closing within four points of Neff.
Now, Hagan is fast again, grabbing the provisional No. 1 for the 27th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. He went 4.012 seconds at 316.67 mph Friday to record the fourth-quickest ET in Funny Car history and put his name in three of the top four spots on that list.
"I don't know if you can tell it or not, but underneath that helmet, I've got a big ol' smile going on, man," Hagan said. "I'm just having fun. We've surrounded ourselves with great people at Don Schumacher Racing."
Other provisional No. 1s on Friday were Antron Brown in Top Fuel, Mike Edwards in Pro Stock and Eddie Krawiec in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Hagan was headed to the Funny Car title in 2010 before John Force derailed that dream. With a fast start in this year's Countdown, Hagan appears to be the man to beat again – but don't tell him that.
"We've got a long way to go," Hagan said. "We're not out of the woods by no means. We're just now trying to catch up to the Superman (Neff). He's the guy. You can't count anyone out – Cruz (Pedregon) is stepping up and is right there, knocking on the door. There are a lot of guys to think about.
"But to be honest with you, my approach is, 'Don't worry about it.' I'm a prime example of why not to worry about it. Things change, and they change quickly around here. Until they hand the trophies out at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter."
For Hagan, it's all about having fun these days, and with crew chief Tommy DeLago continuing to deliver fast race cars, the smile isn't coming off Hagan's face.
"For me, it's really cool to be running that fast, knowing you're going to get bolted in that car and have an opportunity to go low," Hagan said.
Brown knows he has that opportunity in DSR's Matco Tools dragster. He lost the points lead to teammate Spencer Massey in Dallas, but that stopped a three-race winning streak. In Reading, Brown went 3.797 seconds at 324.44 mph to top Larry Dixon (3.798 at 320.43 mph) and Massey (3.817 at 322.27 mph) on Friday.
"Our car ran a heck of a number out the back door," Brown said. "If you put that with one of our quicker runs where we ran 3-flat to half-track, that's a 3.74 we could've run. We're looking at that, and we're like, 'Man, we just missed it early.' Our 60-foot was off, and we didn't do anything special to half-track.
"They're going to push if we can get a run tomorrow. They're looking pretty excited. We're in the show. We did two good runs. You might as well go for it. … That's an extra 20 points, and right now, as tight as these points are, 20 points goes a long way."
Edwards, Greg Anderson and Jason Line all made 6.541-second runs in Pro Stock, with Edwards' Pennhall Pontiac GXP going to the top of the chart with a faster mph. He ran 211.66 mph to Anderson's 211.43 and Line's 211.06.
"Hats off to my guys," Edwards said. "The first run was really, really good. I definitely went the wrong way on the last run there. We felt like we left a little bit out there. But the first run was really good."
Edwards could interrupt Summit Racing's five-race hold on the No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock, as either Line or Anderson has won the pole in the last five events.
"I'm not racing the Summit guys; I'm racing the whole field," Edwards said. "It feels good to come out here and make two good runs."
Krawiec went back to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle heap, going 6.826 seconds at 197.97 mph on his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson. Krawiec had opened the Countdown by qualifying No. 1 and winning the Charlotte race, but then he lost in the first round last week in Dallas.
"Reading has done well for me. It's always been a good place," Krawiec said. "I like coming here, just because you know your motorcycle's going to go fast. We have a great motorcycle crowd that always comes out for this race. So any time you have all that stuff, it gets you excited. We love to go fast and flex our muscles.
"I just wanted to make two consistent laps down the track. I think we have a good motorcycle. We made a change for that second lap, and it looked like it responded."
Hector Arana Sr. (6.863 at 194.74 mph) was second, with Krawiec's teammate, Andrew Hines, third at 6.871 at 193.88 mph.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Top Fuel -- 1. Antron Brown, 3.797 seconds, 324.44 mph; 2. Larry Dixon, 3.798, 320.74; 3. Spencer Massey, 3.817, 322.27; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 3.822, 320.74; 5. David Grubnic, 3.825, 316.60; 6. Del Worsham, 3.843, 317.72; 7. Tony Schumacher, 3.846, 319.37; 8. Bob Vandergriff, 3.847, 320.89; 9. Doug Kalitta, 3.853, 319.29; 10. Rod Fuller, 3.854, 319.14; 11. Shawn Langdon, 3.854, 318.99; 12. Dom Lagana, 3.876, 316.82. Not Qualified: 13. Clay Millican, 3.904, 308.43; 14. Morgan Lucas, 3.909, 294.63; 15. Terry McMillen, 3.952, 301.27; 16. Bruce Litton, 3.971, 310.41; 17. Fred Farndon, 4.121, 276.58; 18. Pat Dakin, 4.507, 174.75; 19. Rit Pustari, 5.794, 117.46.
Funny Car -- 1. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.012, 316.67; 2. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.023, 318.24; 3. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.059, 315.27; 4. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.061, 314.31; 5. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.085, 312.35; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.085, 307.16; 7. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.090, 312.21; 8. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.094, 311.63; 9. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.095, 305.42; 10. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.103, 313.22; 11. Jim Head, Solara, 4.104, 300.40; 12. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.142, 306.95. Not Qualified: 13. Blake Alexander, 4.182, 267.48; 14. Dale Creasy Jr., 4.393, 289.20; 15. Tony Pedregon, 4.546, 277.83; 16. Leah Pruett, 7.941, 80.91; 17. Mike Smith, 8.333, 73.78; 18. Terry Haddock, 9.438, 96.76; 19. Paul Lee, broke.
Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.541, 211.66; 2. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.541, 211.43; 3. Jason Line, GXP, 6.541, 211.06; 4. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.564, 209.95; 5. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.570, 210.05; 6. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.571, 210.97; 7. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.579, 210.93; 8. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 6.584, 209.69; 9. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.585, 209.82; 10. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.588, 209.52; 11. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.592, 209.88; 12. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.592, 208.81. Not Qualified: 13. Shane Gray, 6.598, 209.85; 14. Warren Johnson, 6.599, 209.04; 15. V. Gaines, 6.608, 209.20; 16. Buddy Perkinson, 6.619, 208.07; 17. Bob Benza, 6.628, 208.04; 18. Mark Martino, 6.674, 206.89; 19. Grace Howell, 6.682, 206.92; 20. Frank Gugliotta, 6.719, 204.85.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.826, 197.97; 2. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.863, 194.74; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.871, 193.88; 4. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.909, 195.05; 5. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.911, 194.58; 6. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.919, 194.07; 7. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.923, 193.82; 8. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.932, 193.35; 9. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.940, 193.07; 10. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.942, 193.54; 11. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.976, 189.02; 12. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.977, 190.86. Not Qualified: 13. LE Tonglet, 6.992, 191.78; 14. Jerry Savoie, 6.998, 190.83; 15. Matt Guidera, 7.001, 189.34; 16. Bailey Whitaker, 7.017, 189.92; 17. Justin Finley, 7.026, 191.97; 18. Joe DeSantis, 7.074, 186.41; 19. Stephen Terkowski, 7.236, 183.12; 20. Neil Jacobs, 7.484, 172.59; 21. Wesley Wells, 9.009, 99.71.
