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POMONA, Calif. (AP) — Funny Car championship contender Matt Hagan topped qualifying Friday at the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Coming off consecutive event victories to get into the title chase, Hagan had a 3.872-second run at 333.58 mph in a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. He has won two season championships.
“That run felt really good and obviously our car is running strong,” Hagan said. “We’ve had a great racecar the last couple races and we’ve been able to capitalize on it. We were able to capitalize on it again today during qualifying and I don’t really feel any pressure. For me, I’m just having fun.”
Leah Pritchett led in Top Fuel, Jeg Coughlin Jr. in Pro Stock and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Pritchett had a 3.694 at 322.88, Coughlin ran a 6.533 at 210.70 in a Chevrolet Camaro, and Smith had a 6.815 at 197.33 on an EBR.
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