Veteran nitro Funny Car driver Matt Hagan acknowledged that NHRA’s lack of an offseason does wear on him.
 
However, Hagan, who won his fourth world championship in 2023, knows exactly what he has signed up for.
 
“The offseason has been nonstop, and I have just been trying to slow it down, and it will not slow down,” Hagan said. “I feel like I have had a hard time getting into a rhythm. With all the Christmas party stuff and all the PRI stuff and with this PRO race coming up, it just hasn’t stopped. We have a couple of weeks, and we go right back racing again.”
 
The inaugural Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) Superstar Shootout is scheduled for Feb. 8-10 at Bradenton (Fla.) Motorsports Park.
 
“I’m not 25 anymore, man,” said Hagan, who gave Tony Stewart Racing its first world championship. “When I was 25, I was like, ‘Let’s go!’ You sleep on the floor, and it didn’t matter. Now, at 41, I’m wrestling the Best Western bed all weekend. You can feel it. It is one of the things as you get older; you need to hit that reset button a little bit.”
 
Hagan has been part of Tony Stewart Racing since its inception in 2023, and he has been stellar, to say the least. He finished third and first in the points standings, respectively. Hagan won a combined ten races and collected a stout 83 round wins.
 
“I think (those results) were kind of expected of us because of what Don (Schumacher) put together all those years,” Hagan said. “Dickie (Venables) have been together this is 14 years now. We were the staple because they (TSR) were building a new Top Fuel team over there, and they had their hands full with that. We were supposed to be the workhorse. That’s the way I feel. I feel like I’m not pretty, but I’m a workhorse. We go out here and get it done. I feel like we fell right into place, and we were able to keep our team intact with our core guys.”

 
As good as Hagan has been, especially in the last two years, he’s still keeping things in perspective.
 
“I feel like we are going to carry a lot of momentum over, but I still feel like we still have a lot of work to do,” Hagan said. “We are not outrunning anybody by any means. We still need some R&D stuff; we still need some behind-the-scenes stuff. As nice as it is to pat yourself on the back and pound your chest a little bit and you feel you are somebody, I just feel like we have a lot more work to do to where we can get to where we are outrunning people out here.”
 
Hagan said the plan is for him to test for a couple of days in Bradenton prior to the PRO event.
 
“The goal is to be there and make some runs and start racing,” Hagan said.
 
The PRO Superstar Shootout is quite lucrative. It will pay out more than $1.3 million in total prize money, with $250,000 going to the Top Fuel and Funny Car winners and $125,000 to the Pro Stock winner.
 
Drivers will run four qualifying sessions to determine the eight-car fields in Top Fuel and Funny Car and the 16-car field in Pro Stock.
 
And Hagan is thrilled to be part of the big-money race.
 
“Unfortunately, we have been racing for the $50,000 for a long time, and to win the championship this year (2023), we won like $400,000 instead of $500,000,” Hagan said. “I think it is a wake-up call for NHRA like, ‘Hey, these racers put this together and are racing for $250,000 in each category.’ If they can do that with a group of individuals and have it (live) on FloRacing, that should be a wake-up call. Times are changing, and we should be racing for more money.

 
“It comes down to team owners. When we have these (NHRA) fields out here with 12 cars and 13 cars, that’s sad. Money draws people in, and money draws people to the races. Everybody wants to see a big-money race. I think it is a good thing. I’m super excited about it. You know me, I always call it how I see it. I think this is something we have to pay attention to. I would much rather race ten races like that than 22 races for little money.”
 
Hagan also addressed what it is going to be like having Tony Stewart racing in the Top Fuel ranks in 2024.
 
“I think it is awesome,” Hagan said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Leah (Pruett, Stewart’s wife), and she is a great teammate. But Tony is one of those dudes who you can cut up with all the time, and it is just going to be fun. Leah will be a part of everything, and we are just going to have a good time. I think that is what Tony has brought to the table with the atmosphere. The atmosphere Tony has created is kind of like family. It is like your big brother; you get to pick on him and give him sh*t. It is just fun. I will come into work, and I’m having fun and smiling.”
 
Hagan was also quick to admit that capturing world championships never gets old. He has NHRA Funny Car world titles in 2011, 2014, 2020, and 2023 on his resume.
 
Only legendary John Force 16 world championships – 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013 – Kenny Bernstein (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988), Don Prudhomme (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978) and Hagan have won at least four NHRA Funny Car world championships.
 
“That’s why we are so blessed to have this come together and win four championships,” Hagan said. “To be in that group with Force and Bernstein and the Snake, that puts in the category with some super elite people. I’m blessed to be there with them, and it has been because of the people I have had around me. It is not me. We have had such a great group. In business and everything else, you hope you surround yourself with people who are smarter and work harder, and I have been so lucky to have that. I have had such a great team.”

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