Not many nitro Funny Car teams could figure out the track surface at Royal Purple Raceway during the first two qualifying sessions Friday.

Matt Hagan’s Don Schumacher Racing team – led by crew chief Dickie Venables - did.

Hagan clocked a 3.913-second time at 308.78 mph in the second qualifying session to capture the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the SpringNationals near Houston.

“Obviously we were dealing with a tricky track due to the new asphalt,” said Hagan, whose Dodge is sponsored by Pennzoil. “Credit to Dickie (Venables crew chief) for being able to pull the car back. He’s done some crazy stuff to get it to go down the track. I clicked it a little early on both runs. As a driver, it’s your call as far as being able to say enough is enough.”

Hagan, who won world championships in 2011 and 2014, also made it down the track in the first qualifying session, clocking a 3.984-second ET at 298.40 mph.
Hagan has fond memories of Royal Purple Raceway. It was the site of his inaugural nitro Funny Car victory in 2010 when he defeated Jeff Arend in the final round.

“I got my first win at Houston; got a lot of good juju off of that deal,” Hagan said. (I) still feel good every time I roll back in knowing that I pulled down my first win there back in 2010. Our combo should be pretty good in Houston. It’s not supposed to be too crazy hot out.”

If Hagan does hold onto the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday it will be the 32nd of his career. Hagan made his nitro Funny Car debut in 2008 at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

“I’m really happy with my guys right now,” Hagan said. “They laid down some great runs and the car has been phenomenal. I’m very confident in what they’re doing. It helps me as a driver to allow me to do what I need to do.”

When Hagan arrived at Houston he had eight wins and was third in the points standings.

However, he did lose in the first round at the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, which he acknowledged started with a poor qualifying effort in the first two sessions.
“That’s our biggest thing that we missed last race (getting down the track on the first day of qualifying in Las Vegas),” Hagan said. “It just gets you out of whack. It’s important we get down the track on Friday and then we can work off of that; get a good baseline.”

Although Hagan’s team had the track figured out Friday, he wasn’t making any guarantees for Saturday.