Hagan, Magneti Marelli Funny Car saves the day with fourth win of season while other teams struggle

KENT, WA – Matt Hagan and the Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar Funny Car team saved the weekend for Don Schumacher Racing when they won the fourth title of the season in Sunday’s championship round of the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways near Seattle.

When Hagan won his second-round race, he became the first and only Funny Car driver to clinch a spot in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff that begins Sept. 13-15 near Seattle.

It is the fourth title of the season for Hagan and 214th for DSR.

When he won his first-round race Sunday, it matched his 2012 season total of 24 round wins and after 16 of 24 Mello Yello events his eliminations record is 27-12.

Hagan with crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Mike Knudsen arrived in Seattle with a 27-point lead over Capps in second place, and left with a 117-point over second-ranked Cruz Pedregon and 134 over Capps, who fell to third.

Upsets were steady for Don Schumacher Racing at the Northwest Nationals and most were not enjoyable.

It started when DSR’s Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team started the event ranked second in the Funny Car points standings but was unable to get down the track on either of his two qualifying attempts on Saturday and did not qualify for championship eliminations.

On Sunday, DSR’s Tony Schumacher and Spencer Massey, ranked second and third in points, respectively, were upset in the first round. Reigning world champion Antron Brown lost in the second round to a part-time racer.

Any chance DSR dragster drivers had of cutting into Shawn Langdon’s points lead were dashed when Langdon, the No. 1 qualifier, advanced to the semifinals.