{"id":38804,"date":"2022-05-14T21:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T02:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=38804"},"modified":"2022-05-15T23:30:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T04:30:08","slug":"more-track-records-fall-as-hagan-b-force-and-a-smith-qualify-no-1-at-virginia-nhra-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/14\/more-track-records-fall-as-hagan-b-force-and-a-smith-qualify-no-1-at-virginia-nhra-nationals\/","title":{"rendered":"More track records fall as Hagan, B. Force and A. Smith qualify No. 1 at Virginia NHRA Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA<\/em><\/p>\n

DINWIDDIE, Va.  \u2013 Matt Hagan was part of another record-setting day at Virginia Motorsports Park, making the quickest Funny Car run in track history on Saturday to qualify No. 1 at the Virginia NHRA Nationals.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Matt Hagan. Photo courtesy of the NHRA<\/p><\/div>\n

Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the seventh of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.<\/p>\n

Track records were set in all three categories, with Hagan\u2019s run of 3.853-seconds at 331.45 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Smithfield Brand Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat leading the way in Funny Car. It gives the points leader and standout driver for Tony Stewart Racing his second No. 1 spot this season and 44th in his career. This is also Hagan\u2019s 300th career start as he looks to win for the third time in 2022 with the first-year Tony Stewart Racing team.<\/p>\n

 \u201cWhat a good job by he guys at the track and Safety Safari to put a great race track underneath us so we were able to lay down a great number out there,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cI can\u2019t say enough about this race car. This has probably been the best start I\u2019ve had in my career in NHRA and (crew chief) Dickie Venables, (assistant crew chief) Mike Knudsen and (car chief) Alex Conaway and all the guys who are putting this thing together are doing a great job.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody asks, \u2018How\u2019s Tony? How\u2019s it working for Tony?\u2019 and I\u2019ve always wanted to win for myself but Tony\u2019s the type of guy you want to win for. You look at all the stuff he\u2019s done and it\u2019s just a respect thing. You want the dude to be proud of you. You\u2019re ready to make things happen. This Smithfield car is just running hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defending world champion Ron Capps moved up to the second spot with a strong run during the second qualifying session, going 3.864 at 332.75. Alexis DeJoria finished third with a 3.896 at 326.95.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Brittany Force. Photo courtesy of the NHRA<\/p><\/div>\n

In Top Fuel, Force topped Friday\u2019s track-record run twice on Saturday, finishing with a 3.654 at 333.33 in her 11,000-horsepower Flav-R-Pac dragster. It shattered her E.T. record from a day ago, giving the points leader her second No. 1 qualifier this season and 34th in her career. She\u2019ll head into eliminations looking for her third win this season and with plenty of momentum, setting the track E.T. record three times during qualifying and making the fastest run in track history with her 335.82 blast on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was outstanding for this Monster Energy\/Flav-R-Pac team, improving and improving and improving with each run,\u201d Force said. \u201cNow the hard part is doing that tomorrow (during eliminations). That\u2019s going to be the tough one, but as long as we can make some consistent runs all day tomorrow, I think we should be in good shape. I have confidence in this team and confidence in myself in getting down this track. This is one of the best tracks we\u2019ve been on. It\u2019s smooth and it felt fast, so we were really happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin Prock momentarily had the track record before Force\u2019s run, going 3.672 at 326.87 to qualify second to his John Force Racing teammate. Four-time defending world champ Steve Torrence took the third spot with a 3.683 at 327.51, while Clay Millican made the quickest run of the final session thanks to a 3.698 at 325.45.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Angie Smith. Photo courtesy of the NHRA<\/p><\/div>\n

After setting track records on Friday in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Smith followed up with an even quicker 6.756 at 201.37 on her Denso Auto Parts Buell during the second qualifying session, also setting the speed record that she initially set a day earlier. The third session in the class was cancelled due to weather.<\/p>\n

For Smith, it\u2019s her second career No. 1 qualifier as she remains the only rider to have made a 200-mph run at Virginia Motorsports Park. She is after her first victory of the 2022 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew the bike had more in it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cMatt (Smith) didn\u2019t think it would go quite that fast, but the bike got off the line really well. I saw Angelle (Sampey) run that 6.78 and I knew this bike had it in it. I couldn\u2019t be prouder of my team and the job they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s all about momentum and continuing to make good runs right now. We\u2019re just going to keep trying to do what we\u2019ve been doing. It\u2019s a humbling sport, so we\u2019ve got to continue to stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angelle Sampey moved up to second in that same session with her run of 6.786 at 199.52, while points leader Steve Johnson, who has won back-to-back races, qualified third with his 6.826 at 198.12 from Friday.<\/p>\n

In the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon, Kris Thorne took the No. 1 spot with his run of in his ProCharger-powered Camaro. The weekend\u2019s race is powered by LAT Racing Oils. Thorne is the points leader on the strength of victories at the first two races of the season.<\/p>\n

Eliminations for the Virginia NHRA Nationals begin at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday at Virginia Motorsports Park.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Brittany Force \u2013<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt Hagan \u2013<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MattHagan.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Angie Smith \u2013<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/AngieSmith.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the Third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the seventh of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.<\/p>\n

Top Fuel — 1. Brittany Force, 3.654 seconds, 333.33 mph vs. Bye; 2. Austin Prock, 3.672, 326.87 vs. 15. Lex Joon, 4.161, 215.41; 3. Steve Torrence, 3.683, 327.51 vs. 14. Scott Palmer, 3.870, 302.08; 4. Clay Millican, 3.698, 325.45 vs. 13. Josh Hart, 3.842, 256.45; 5. Mike Salinas, 3.700, 330.39 vs. 12. Antron Brown, 3.828, 324.90; 6. Justin Ashley, 3.700, 325.85 vs. 11. Tony Schumacher, 3.758, 321.50; 7. Doug Kalitta, 3.703, 328.78 vs. 10. Leah Pruett, 3.754, 318.92; 8. Shawn Langdon, 3.724, 308.71 vs. 9. Doug Foley, 3.733, 318.69.<\/p>\n

Funny Car — 1. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.853, 331.45 vs. Bye; 2. Ron Capps, Toyota Supra, 3.864, 332.75 vs. 15. Mike McIntire, Toyota Camry, 8.573, 79.85; 3. Alexis DeJoria, Supra, 3.896, 326.95 vs. 14. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 8.165, 91.14; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.905, 323.27 vs. 13. Phil Burkart, Chevy Monte Carlo, 6.543, 103.13; 5. J.R. Todd, Supra, 3.906, 329.18 vs. 12. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.099, 323.58; 6. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.929, 323.35 vs. 11. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.019, 310.77; 7. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.938, 322.96 vs. 10. Robert Hight, Camaro, 4.017, 270.64; 8. Dale Creasy Jr., Charger, 3.974, 319.07 vs. 9. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.975, 305.22.<\/p>\n

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.756, 201.37 vs. Bye; 2. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 6.786, 199.52 vs. 15. Jianna Evaristo, Suzuki, 7.147, 178.52; 3. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.826, 198.12 vs. 14. Lance Bonham, Buell, 7.147, 187.44; 4. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.827, 199.32 vs. 13. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 7.068, 189.58; 5. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.828, 197.28 vs. 12. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.988, 192.91; 6. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.843, 198.00 vs. 11. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.932, 198.15; 7. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.858, 197.57 vs. 10. Ron Tornow, Victory, 6.925, 190.14; 8. Eddie Krawiec, Suzuki, 6.868, 196.79 vs. 9. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 6.875, 195.25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA DINWIDDIE, Va.  \u2013 Matt Hagan was part of another record-setting day at Virginia Motorsports Park, making the quickest Funny Car run in track history on Saturday to qualify No. 1 at the Virginia NHRA Nationals. Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":38831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[786,117,197,6,820,538,537],"class_list":["post-38804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-angie-smith","tag-brittany-force","tag-matt-hagan","tag-nhra","tag-nhra-camping-world-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra-virginia-nationals","tag-virginia-motorsports-park"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Hagan_AI.webp?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-a5S","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38804"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38834,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804\/revisions\/38834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}