By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Mopar Dodge sponsored Funny Car pilot Matt Hagan is the No. 1 qualifier at the 2020 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway on Saturday in Gainesville, Florida. “The Hulk” picked up his third No. 1 qualifier of the 2020 season.
The Christiansburg, Virginia native went 3.975 at 321.35 mph in the second qualifying session. This is Hagan’s 39th No. 1 qualifier in his career.
“Our race car is running great,” said Hagan. “This Dodge Hellcat Redeye Funny Car is running strong. It runs like a Hellcat, but drives like a (Chrysler) 300C. Dickie (Venables) is doing such a great job putting a tune-up in this car. What a great race car I have underneath me. It’s one of the more fun seasons I’ve had. The car is just so smooth. It shows the caliber of guys we have to take so much time off and all the adversity with Covid19 and to come back out here and put together a great race car.
“We’ve been No. 1 qualifier several times and won a few times also. We have a real car that can compete for the next five races and do big things. I’m extremely excited. I think this might be the first time I’ve ever had a bye run and I just can’t say enough about this team who makes it all happen.”
Levi, Ray, and Shoup Inc. Funny Car pilot Tim Wilkerson is the No. 2 qualifier. The Springfield, Illinois native went 4.003 at 318.47 mph.
Ford Motorcraft and Quick Lane pilot Bob Tasca III is the No. 3 qualifier. The Hope, Rhode Island native went 4.020 at 317.57 mph.
Points leader Jack Beckman will try to maintain the lead following this event. The U.S. Nationals winner has 517 points.
Hagan trails by 35 points, while Tommy Johnson Jr. is third with 57 points behind. J.R. Todd is fourth, as he is 130 points behind.
Funny Car Eliminations Ladder:
- Matt Hagan vs. BYE
- Tim Wilkerson vs. Terry Haddock
- Bob Tasca III vs. Dave Richards
- Ron Capps vs. John Smith
- Alexis DeJoria vs. Jim Campbell
- Blake Alexander vs. Cruz Pedregon
- J.R. Todd vs. Tommy Johnson Jr.
- Paul Lee vs. Jack Beckman
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