If Matt Hagan has his druthers, his crew chief Tommy Delago will remain mute every time he prepares to send his driver down the strip. Delago didn’t need to say a thing. The car did the talking for him.

It spoke for 3.955 seconds, sending driver Hagan into drag racing history as the first Funny Car racer to run under four seconds since the NHRA adopted the 1,000 foot race course.

‘I sat there and watched as every driver was turning the wick up,” said Hagan. “You look at a crew chief like Tommy Delago and you know he’s no slouch. He’s got something for them. We usually chat it up but he said nothing to me. I looked at him and he looked at me and he gave me a look as if to say, ‘You had better get a hold of this thing.”

If Matt Hagan has his druthers, his crew chief Tommy Delago will remain mute every time he prepares to send his driver down the strip. Delago didn’t need to say a thing. The car did the talking for him.

It spoke for 3.955 seconds, sending driver Hagan into drag racing history as the first Funny Car racer to run under four seconds since the NHRA adopted the 1,000 foot race course.

‘I sat there and watched as every driver was turning the wick up,” said Hagan. “You look at a crew chief like Tommy Delago and you know he’s no slouch. He’s got something for them. We usually chat it up but he said nothing to me. I looked at him and he looked at me and he gave me a look as if to say, ‘You had better get a hold of this thing.”

Hagan described his run as one that left with a quicker speed sensation than he’s ever experienced and at one point his vision blurred.

“Nothing really needed to be said,” Hagan admitted. “We knew we had a fast race car. I don’t know what the thing 60-footed, but it got up on the tire really quick and the next thing I know, it gets out there and it is just digging. Then it tried to make a move and I was afraid it was going to get out of the groove. I was trying to finesse it back because it can be like it is on glass when you get out that far in a run. It was moving around and just digging.”

For the record, Hagan ran a class best .886 seconds in the first 60 feet and was 3.224 to the eighth-mile at 273.44 miles per hour.

“It was one of those runs where you really don’t know what is going to happen,” Hagan said. “The finish line got there in a hurry. I knew it was a good one. Things were vibrating and it was dark. My vision was blurred. One of the guys came over and told me I had run a 3.99. I didn’t believe him. But when I realized it was for real, I said some words on ESPN, some choice words, that I ought to apologize for.”

Hagan heads into Saturday qualifying as the provisional leader but with the three-second milestone out of the way, he’s not going to shed a tear if he gets bumped down.

“That’s a milestone that no one can ever take away from me,” Hagan said. “As long as I am that first one into the threes, I can get bumped down to No. 2. I’ve learned that No. 1 qualifier position can have some bad juju to it. I’d just as soon be No. 2 and run in the threes.”

A silent Delago is a good thing too.

“I hope he never says anything to me anymore,” Hagan said with a smile.

As for the race car, it can talk all it wants to.

If the run holds it will his third No. 1 of the season and ninth career.