From his earliest memories as a young boy, Matt Hagan still vividly recalls the awe-inspiring experience of attending his very first drag race in Bristol, Tennessee. The sights, sounds, and smells of the sport left an undeniable impression on him.

In that moment, Hagan could scarcely have imagined that he would one day ascend to the pinnacle of NHRA competition, piloting an 11,000-horsepower, nitro-burning Funny Car, let alone etching his name into the history books as one of the sport’s true legends.

Sunday, at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals held at zMAX Dragway, Hagan cemented his status as a member of an exclusive club, capturing his 50th tour victory. In doing so, he joined the ranks of 16 other pro drivers in NHRA history to reach that level.    

“That is a huge milestone for me,” an elated Hagan said. “I’ve seen a lot of people come and a lot of people go in this sport, but at the end of the day, I am just honored to be a part of a group that is that successful, that driven, that motivated. To even be in the ranks of those great drivers is incredible.”

Hagan joined the likes of John Force, Ron Capps and Robert Hight as the only Funny Car competitors to reach 50 wins. Additionally, Hagan is on his way to extending his NHRA-leading streak of at least three tour victories in 11 consecutive seasons.

Hagan achieved that historic feat with his fourth career win at zMAX Dragway - his second in the four-wide format - and his first since 2014. He defeated Daniel Wilkerson, J.R. Todd and John Force in the final quad, getting away first at the starting line and powering his Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to a holeshot victory with a 3.946-second pass at 332.34 mph.

Wilkerson crossed the line second in his SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang with a quicker 3.923 at 327.59 mph, while Todd (3.978) and Force (3.960) finished third and fourth, respectively. 

It was a tremendous drag race as the four cars were welded together at the finish line, and Hagan used every advantage he could muster to eke out the win.   

“I didn’t see anybody, which is always a good sign,” Hagan said of his final round matchup. “This racing is so crazy because you don’t know if the other two cars left the starting line, so you have to make it go to the end. That mentality of going up there and maybe clicking it off early if it isn’t happy doesn’t matter. You are going to eat through some parts to get it to the end, and that is the mentality that I came in here with this morning.  

“The racing is so fierce. You don’t have anything to lose in the final, so I was in super deep to shorten up the racetrack. We might not be the fastest up there right now, but we have to keep doing what we are doing, which is racing good on Sunday. We have been to a couple of finals already, and we are right where we need to be in points, so we just need to keep clicking away.”   

While 50 wins will go down in the history books as a singular achievement, Hagan was quick to point to the camaraderie of his Tony Stewart Racing team as one of the primary reasons behind his recent successes. With the same group surrounding him for the past three seasons, Hagan said that the atmosphere created by his team boss, NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, and the familiarity of those working on the car has played a major role in earning a fourth championship one year ago and adding wins to his career totals.  

“You have to have great people,” Hagan said. “Great people make the difference between winning and losing. Tony has provided a work environment that we can really excel in. I’ve got 10 guys that show up with a smile on their faces and torque wrenches in their hands, and when you do that, you are going to win races.”

At the nucleus of that is crew chief Dickie Venables, which has been a match made in heaven for Hagan and his TSR team.

“One thing I’ve known about Dickie Venables for a long time is that we are always going to be in the fight,” Hagan said. “We just have to fight well and fight smart. We aren’t always the fastest, we just have to do well on Sundays.”

And Venables was once again in peak form Sunday. 

From the sixth position on the ladder, Hagan won his opening quad as the only driver in his grouping to eclipse the three-second mark, recording a 3.918 to advance alongside Dave Richards over Austin Prock and Blake Alexander. He then paced his second grouping as the only driver in the round to dip into the 3.80s with a 3.879 at a round-best 334.24 mph to advance alongside Wilkerson and eliminate Bob Tasca and Richards.

In the other semifinal quartet, Force and Todd advanced over Cruz Pedregon and Alexis DeJoria.

In notching his first victory of the season, Hagan was thankful for the hard work put in by his team over the early months to improve a car that began the year a step behind the rest of the field.

“I felt like we were behind the eight ball because this time last year we had already won three races,” Hagan said of his start. “We came in pretty much over-clutched at the beginning of the season, and we made some changes – did some R&D with the motor – and it is paying off. But when you change one thing, it changes six things. It takes some time and takes some races to get going.   

“It always feels good to get that first win off your back. I just can’t say enough about my guys Dickie Venables, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conaway, and the boys wrenching on the car. Hopefully we have a lot more coming in the future.”

Following the race, Hagan was overcome with emotion as he reflected on the journey from that young boy sitting in the stands at Bristol Dragway to the triumphant moment he experienced Sunday. He also took a moment to talk about other milestones that may be just around the corner. 

“It is a massive achievement,” Hagan said. “To see so many people come and go out here, you don’t realize that you have been out here doing this for more than 15 years. It is a huge accomplishment in my book to be around a group of guys that have been nothing but the best out here. I think that is why we have won four championships and it has put us in an elite group of drivers. If we can knock one more championship off it will just be me and (John) Force.”