Storm shortens U.S. Nationals but delay helps Hagan to No. 1; DSR teammates Massey, Brown advance in Top Fuel Shootout

BROWNSBURG, IN – A heavy storm late Saturday afternoon delayed completion of the second day of qualifying for professional categories in the NHRA U.S. Nationals, but a three-hour delay was worth the wait for hearty fans and Don Schumacher Racing at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis.

Racing resumed but was shortened after Saturday’s first qualifying session in Top Fuel was completed at around 4:40 p.m. A miraculous job by the NHRA Safety Safari put the track in optimum condition for the 8:15 p.m. Funny Car session. The Safety Safari, which was formed in the 1950s, is the first full-time team devoted to safety in North American motorsports.

And the beneficiary of Safety Safari’s hard work was current Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan, who took the Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T tuned by Dickie Venables to the No. 1 qualifying spot with a run of 4.001 seconds at 319.22 mph.

Hagan’s elapsed time and speed set track records.

“It was such an awesome run out here at Indy tonight,” said Hagan, who is on the verge of earning his fifth No. 1 qualifying position of the season and 15th of his career.

“It was so fast early. It made a hard move to the left. I made a correction, it made a hard move back and I had to make another small correction and another one and then I was like alright forget it. I’m just going to let it sit where it’s going to sit and it just kept digging.

“I was just trying not to knock the tires loose by driving it too much. Dickie Venables, what an awesome deal. This guy just keeps putting a great race car underneath me. This season has just been a dream season so far.”

The DSR team also was aided by temperatures in the mid 70s after the afternoon high was about 30 degrees hotter.

DSR’s Johnny Gray and Ron Capps also benefitted from the radically improved conditions. Johnny Gray is qualified second with a run of 4.012 seconds at 312.13 mph in the Pitch Energy Dodge tuned by Rob Wendland, while Ron Capps in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge with crew chief Rahn Tobler shot up to fifth with a time of 4.049 (315.27).

The first round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Top Fuel teams, which ran concurrently with the qualifying session, was completed before the storm hit with DSR’s Spencer Massey, the defending champion, and reigning Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown winning their match-ups to advance to the semifinals. DSR’s Tony Schumacher lost in the Shootout’s first round.

The Shootout will resume Sunday when Massey faces Steve Torrence and Brown races Shawn Langdon. The winners advance to race for a $100,000 bonus at 3:40 p.m.

The Funny Car edition of the Shootout will run as scheduled Sunday with the first round set for 12:30 p.m. Four of the eight drivers – Hagan, Gray, Capps and Jack Beckman – comprise half the field.

The following are Funny Car Shootout match-ups: No. 1 MATT HAGAN vs. No. 8 Tim Wilkerson; No. 2 RON CAPPS vs. No. 7 JACK BECKMAN; No. 3 JOHNNY GRAY vs. No. 6 Courtney Force; No. 4 Cruz Pedregon vs. No. 5 John Force.