NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway
CONCORD, N.C. — The 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway kicked off with an unexpected sequence of events for the Funny Cars, but ultimately, Matt Hagan emerged victorious.
Finals Round 1
Ron Capps, Alexis DeJoria, J.R. Todd and Buddy Hull were the first to go 330+ miles an hour down the strip. Capps immediately died off the start, kicking him out of contention. DeJoria was quickest off the line though, and advanced along with Todd to the semifinals by pedaling her way to the finish after she smoked her tires.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| Ron Capps | .081 | – | – |
| Alexis DeJoria | .050 | 5.444 | 265.43 |
| J.R. Todd | .061 | 3.918 | 323.50 |
| Buddy Hull | .537 | 5.414 | 162.39 |
After that, Cruz Pedregon, Chad Green, John Force and John Smith got lined up to race. Smith had the best reaction time, Pedregon had the best elapsed time and Force had the best final speed. The scores gave Pedregon the win and an advancement to the next round along with Force.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| Cruz Pedregon | .079 | 3.893 | 329.75 |
| Chad Green | .092 | 4.250 | 215.86 |
| John Force | .093 | 3.916 | 330.72 |
| John Smith | .061 | 5.109 | 155.63 |
Next up were Jim Campbell, Bob Tasca III, Daniel Wilkerson and Paul Lee. Wilkerson ended up winning on a holeshot, even though Lee was the quickest to start and Tasca III had the best elapsed time and final speed. Along with Wilkerson though, Tasca III advanced to the next round, proving once again that his different colored manifold provided no advantage to his Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| Jim Campbell | .101 | 4.289 | 276.35 |
| Bob Tasca III | .067 | 3.871 | 336.82 |
| Daniel Wilkerson | .050 | 3.885 | 329.58 |
| Paul Lee | .032 | 3.929 | 325.92 |
The last match-up of Round 1 was between Dave Richards, Austin Prock, Blake Alexander and Hagan. Alexander had problems during the race and went over the centerline line to the left of him, resulting in an automatic disqualification. Meanwhile, Prock launched off the line first and Hagan got to the finish line first, also being the speediest down the track. That gave him the win, but Richards advanced as well to the semifinals.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| Dave Richards | .128 | 4.014 | 319.60 |
| Austin Prock | .043 | 4.609 | 225.86 |
| Blake Alexander | .101 | – | – |
| Matt Hagan | .069 | 3.918 | 331.61 |
Matt Hagan competing in the 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway (Photo: NHRA Media)
Finals Round 2
It seemed DeJoria couldn’t get away from smoking tires because she smoked them off the line once again in this race against Pedregon, Todd and Force. Todd was the quickest to start this time and Force got to the end quicker, and faster, giving him the win. Todd, almost the victor, advanced along with Force to the final round.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| Alexis DeJoria | .093 | – | – |
| Cruz Pedregon | .111 | 3.931 | 330.39 |
| J.R. Todd | .044 | 3.933 | 324.20 |
| John Force | .047 | 3.914 | 330.00 |
The next round saw Richards, Tasca III, Wilkerson and Hagan go head-to-head. Both Tasca III and Richards lost traction early on, giving the win to either Hagan or Wilkerson, and it was the former who took the cake with having the highest times and final speed. Due to the traction loss of the other two drivers, Wilkerson advanced to the final round as well. This round ended Tasca’s enormous comeback though.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| Dave Richards | .124 | 6.568 | 99.14 |
| Bob Tasca III | .079 | 4.825 | 186.95 |
| Dan Wilkerson | .081 | 3.906 | 328.30 |
| Matt Hagan | .059 | 3.879 | 334.24 |
NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway
Final Round
Out of the 16 drivers, Todd, Hagan, Wilkerson and Force made it to the final round. Wilkerson got to the finish before anyone else, but because Hagan started first and was the fastest, he won on a holeshot. It gave Hagan his milestone 50th win.
| RT | ET | MPH | |
| J.R. Todd | .064 | 3.978 | 320.36 |
| Matt Hagan | .029 | 3.946 | 332.34 |
| Dan Wilkerson | .080 | 3.923 | 327.59 |
| John Force | .167 | 3.960 | 329.75 |
“It’s really special,” Hagan said on his 50th win. “Fifty wins is big for me. At the end of the day, it’s a Dodge deal; we won for Dodge. Proud of my guys.”
