NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The matchups for the Funny Car portion of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge will rematch the semifinalists from the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals — winner Matt Hagan vs. Alexis DeJoria and eventual runner-up J.R. Todd against Chad Green — during qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge brings competitive racing to the qualifying schedule at 12 regular-season events during the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series campaign, pitting semifinalists from the previous race against each other in a pair of rematches, with the two winners then matching up in the final qualifying session with an additional purse and bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship on the line.

In Gainesville, Hagan powered his Tony Stewart Racing/Dodge Power Brokers Charger into the final round in a 3.89 to 3.91 conquest of DeJoria’s Tequila Bandero Toyota, then he went on to win the event for the second straight year, besting Todd in the final.

“As good as we did, there’s always humility with these Funny Cars,” Hagan said. “As much as I want to do a great job, there’s still a lot to learn on this new car. This whole Mission #2Fast2Tasty deal changes the dynamic of the game in qualifying. It’s tough because you’re going against great drivers. You just have to keep working hard and make sure you’re doing your job as a driver. It’s such a competitive group, but it’s a great thing NHRA is doing. I’m really glad our crew gets to run for some bonus money.”

DeJoria, who was late off the line against Hagan, may have fallen short of the ultimate way to start a season, but she's pumped up that she has a strong race car beneath her and is ready to challenge Hagan again in Phoenix.

“It was a great start to the season, and being part of this Challenge is going to be incredible,” DeJoria said. “We’ve had some good, consistent runs in eliminations, and you definitely want to try to get some revenge, if you can. It was a close race, and I’ve got to step it up on my end. My team gives me a great car, and it’s up to me to get it off the starting line in a timely manner, and hopefully, we can make some good runs.”
 

In the other semifinal, Todd streaked to a 3.90 to 3.96 victory over Green, who was bidding to make his first national event final-round appearance in Funny Car. Todd went on to runner-up behind Hagan in the final round.

“The team has been working hard on all offseason to get this car back up to where it belongs,” Todd said. “It’s always a bummer when you go to the final round and don’t finish the deal, but it’s a good start to our season. It’s a totally different mindset [going to Phoenix] with a race within a race, so any bonus points you can grab, it all adds up at the end of the year. It seems like the Funny Car championship definitely comes down to those little points.”

Despite the setback, Green is eager for his rematch with Todd.

“I couldn’t be happier with how we started,” Green said. “We had a new team last year, and we brought everyone back, we made some changes in the offseason to help our performance. We’re very happy to start out in this position, and we just want to keep this momentum going. We feel like we’ve got a good, consistent car right now, and we’re excited about this weekend coming up. I’m definitely in this group that you would consider the underdog, [but] there’s hopefully a chance for payback. We’re all racers here, and that’s what we’re here to do is to race and try to beat each other."