Venables guides Hagan to first win at Las Vegas, fourth of Mello Yello season with Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil, stays fifth in NHRA points

LAS VEGAS – Matt Hagan owns two NHRA Funny Car world champions and came close other times.  When he arrived Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he thought earning his third championship was nearly impossible.

But when he drove Don Schumacher Racing’s Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T into the winner’s circle for the first time at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he remained fifth the NHRA points standings with a slim chance of a miracle finish in two weeks at the finale at Pomona, Calif., with his fourth win of the year.

But what mattered most to the 2011 and 2014 world champ was getting back to a winner’s circle. His last win this year with crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Michael Knudsen was in early June at Epping, N.H.

“There’s no replacement for the feeling of winning,” Hagan said. “That’s a fix you can’t get anywhere else, man. Sometimes it takes a little struggle to really put things back into perspective of how special it is. That way you don’t take it for granted.

“Obviously, these Funny Cars are kind of finicky. Sometimes they love you and sometimes they rip your heart out and step on it.”

Hagan broke a few hearts throughout the day when he defeated Gary Densham, Del Worsham and Jack Beckman. He then beat Courtney Force in the final round.

“I just can’t say enough about Dickie. The guy’s one of the smartest crew chiefs out here. I’m just so blessed to have him in our corner, and like I said before, I’d pick him every day, even in on bad days.”

Venables, known to lay down big times, tuned the Pennzoil Dodge to four solid runs throughout Sunday after qualifying No. 4.

“We just kind of got in a little bit of a rut and we just had to work hard and focus and make big, wholesale changes to dig ourselves back out. It’s a real testament to Dickie, Michael and our crew what they can do and how far they can come and how fast they can bounce back from that.”