Hagan holds No. 2 spot at Maple Grove in Rocky Dodge; DSR teammate Schumacher pads lead with U.S. Army

MOHNTON, PA – Matt Hagan nearly took the provisional pole Friday at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa., but settled for the No. 2 spot after completing his second qualifying run Friday in 4.008 seconds at 321.50 mph in the late afternoon session held under an overcast sky with the temperature around 70 degrees.

In Top Fuel, Hagan’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Tony Schumacher was quickest in the first session after his run of 3.766 (324.67) and holds the No. 3 spot heading to Saturday’s last two qualifying sessions.

Hagan and the Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T team was the quickest in the first session to earn three qualifying points and added two more in the second session for being second best to trim the gap to points leader John Force to 39 points.

“It was another great qualifying day for our Rocky Boots Dodge, and we could run even better before the weekend’s over,” said Hagan, whose team led by crew chief Dickie Venables won the first Countdown to the Championship event and was runner-up last weekend near St. Louis in the third round.

The other DSR Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars are positioned in the top-eight with two sessions scheduled for Saturday heading to championship eliminations the following day. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Make-A-Wish Foundation) is sixth, Jack Beckman (Matco Tools “Tools for the Cause”) is seventh and Ron Capps (NAPA AUTO PARTS) is eighth.

Schumacher, who has won seven Top Fuel world championships, was second quickest in the second session with a time of 3.772 (324.75) and totaled five qualifying points and extended his lead over the field to 60 points.

“I think they were great runs. The first run was outstanding,” he said. “I think the second run probably for everyone involved felt anti-climactic. We were hoping to have a possibility to go out there and run this outstanding low 3.70 and nobody did it.

“We just didn’t do exactly what we were hoping to do but we are in a good spot. We’ve been down the track both times, been down the track fast, down both lanes. We are actually running in conditions that we are going to see on Sunday which makes a big difference.”