NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series – Pomona 1 Driver-By-Driver, Funny Car (February 11, 2018)

Matt Hagan earned his 27th career NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series victory and third in the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals on Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California. Three of four Don Schumacher Racing cars made it to the semifinals.

Here’s a look at the statistics for each Funny Car driver that competed in the elimination rounds.

Driver-By-Driver, Funny Car

#1 Matt Hagan (Christiansburg, Virginia) – No. 5 Dodge Charger

- In 217th career race, won third career Winternationals finals and 27th final round in his 48th career final

- Now has elimination round record of 308-186 (only six rounds away from 500 career rounds)

- Improved to 4-1 all-time over Jim Campbell; 18-10 over Cruz Pedregon; 20-29 over Ron Capps; and 16-12 over Robert Hight and 3-3 in final rounds against Hight

- Hagan earned low ET in the fourth and final round of qualifying, at 3.822 seconds
- Hagan becomes the first Funny Car driver since Al Segrini in 1984-85 to win the NHRA Winternationals in Funny Car in consecutive years

#2 Robert Hight (Yorba Linda, California) – No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro

- In 305th career race, made it to Winternationals finals, his 65th career final, and ended up with 24th runner-up finish

- Now has elimination round record of 421-258 in career

- Improved to 9-1 all-time over Jeff Diehl; 4-0 over J.R. Todd; and 20-18 over Jack Beckman

- Fell to 12-16 all-time against Matt Hagan and 3-3 in final rounds

- Hight’s 336.99 mph speed in the final round was the fastest speed ever to lose in a final round; the speed was the event’s fastest

#5 Ron Capps (Carlsbad, California) – No. 28 Dodge Charger

- In 508th career race, improved to 680-431 all-time in elimination rounds (1,111th NHRA elimination rounds)

- Moved to 1-0 all-time over Shawn Langdon and 5-1 over Jonnie Lindberg

- Fell to 29-20 all-time against Matt Hagan

#3 Jack Beckman (Norco, California) – No. 4 Dodge Charger

- In 277th career race, improved to 372-243 all-time in elimination rounds

- Improved to 14-4 all-time against Bob Tasca III and 17-17 over Tim Wilkerson

- Fell to 18-20 all-time against Robert Hight

#8 Cruz Pedregon (Brownsburg, Indiana) – No. 71 Toyota Camry

- In 545th career race, improved to 546-470 all-time in elimination rounds

- Improved to 12-20 all-time against Tommy Johnson Jr.

- Fell to 10-18 all-time against Matt Hagan

#7 J.R. Todd (Indianapolis, Indiana) – No. 373 Toyota Camry

- In 177th career race (and 25th Funny Car race), improved to 168-162 all-time in elimination rounds

- Improved to 2-2 all-time against John Force

- Fell to 0-4 all-time against Robert Hight

#13 Jonnie Lindberg (Brownsburg, Indiana) – No. 801 Toyota Camry

- In 21st career race, improved to 15-20 all-time in elimination rounds

- Improved to 1-0 all-time against Courtney Force

- Fell to 1-5 all-time against Ron Capps

#6 Tim Wilkerson (Springfield, Illinois) – No. 8 Ford Mustang

- In 470th career race, improved to 374-412 all-time in elimination rounds (14 rounds away from 800 total rounds)

- Improved to 23-26 all-time against Del Worsham

- Fell to 17-17 all-time against Jack Beckman

#16 Jim Campbell (Huntington Beach, California) – No. 703 Dodge Charger

- In 37th career race, dropped to 9-35 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 1-4 all-time against Matt Hagan

#15 Jeff Diehl (Salinas, California) – No. 717 Toyota Camry

- In 99th career race, dropped to 5-58 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 1-9 all-time against Robert Hight

#12 Shawn Langdon (Indianapolis, Indiana) – No. 333 Toyota Camry

- In 209th career race (and first in Funny Car), dropped to 247-192 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 0-1 all-time against Ron Capps

#14 Bob Tasca III (Cranston, Rhode Island) – No. 77 Ford Mustang

- In 179th career race, dropped to 130-170 all-time in elimination rounds (was 300th career elimination round)

- Fell to 4-14 all-time against Jack Beckman

#9 Tommy Johnson Jr. (Avon, Indiana) – No. 6 Dodge Charger

- In 423rd race, dropped to 372-362 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 20-12 all-time against Cruz Pedregon

#10 John Force (Yorba Linda, California) – No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro

- In 736th career race, dropped to 1,286-567 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 2-2 all-time against J.R. Todd

#4 Courtney Force (Yorba Linda, California) – No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro

- In 144th career race, dropped to 161-135 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 0-1 all-time against Jonnie Lindberg

#11 Del Worsham (Villa Park, California) – No. 750 Toyota Camry

- In 575th career race, dropped to 565-490 all-time in elimination rounds

- Fell to 26-23 all-time against Tim Wilkerson

Sources

- NHRA Live Timing & Scoring