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A historic venue and a legendary owner/driver converged Thursday morning.

Don Schumacher sat in the cockpit and revved up the Mopar Dodge nitro Funny Car piloted by his driver Matt Hagan in the parking lot at Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison, Colo., right near Bandimere Speedway.

"He (Don) is the one who wanted to do it, so it was cool," Hagan said. "I even had my phone out taking pictures myself. He had a big smile on his face and had a great time, and he did a great job."

A historic venue and a legendary owner/driver converged Thursday morning.

Don Schumacher sat in the cockpit and revved up the Mopar Dodge nitro Funny Car piloted by his driver Matt Hagan in the parking lot at Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison, Colo., right near Bandimere Speedway.

"He (Don) is the one who wanted to do it, so it was cool," Hagan said. "I even had my phone out taking pictures myself. He had a big smile on his face and had a great time, and he did a great job."

Initially it was thought Schumacher might start the Funny Car inside the amphitheater but plans were changed.

"The theater had some roof issues and when they whopped the throttle the (Mopar) guy thought the roof may come down and we didn't want to do that so we just did it right there in the parking lot. It was pretty loud."

The event was broadcast live on 9News out of Denver.

"The news and media and fans were there and we just kind of went through the sequence of warming it up," Hagan said. "Don whacked the throttle and then they shut it down. It was really cool to watch your boss get back in one of those cars and see that smile come on his face. I mentioned to him (Don) about driving this weekend, but he said we will take it one day at a time."

The Mile-High Nationals take place Friday through Sunday at Bandimere Speedway.

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