Matt Hagan did on Sunday what he has never done in his career, winning back-to-back races to start the season at Phoenix. Hagan did however, have much smoother runs in qualifying than he did last week, forcing him to change a body.
Hagan was the number one qualifier in an extremely upset lacking CARQUEST Nationals. Contradicting to last week, we only saw one finals matchup that did not feature the 1st and 2nd qualifiers. That race had the 1st and 3rd.
Top Fuel
The Top Fuel Series brought another great story as Tony Schumacher took home the win. Although, that is not the reason for the fantastic story. Schumacher had a soldier offer to give him his Purple Heart.
Schumacher replied to him, and asked if he could take it for a ride before he gave it back. The Army car rolled on to a victory.
| NHRA Top Fuel Points Standings | ||||
| As of Phoenix | ||||
| Pos. | Driver (Wins) | Pts. | Behind | |
| 1 | Shawn Langdon (1) | 200 | 0 | |
| 2 | Antron Brown | 167 | 33 | |
| 3 | Tony Schumacher (1) | 165 | 35 | |
| 4 | Doug Kalitta | 155 | 45 | |
| 5 | Spencer Massey | 130 | 70 | |
| 6 | Richie Crampton | 115 | 85 | |
| 6 | Larry Dixon | 106 | 94 | |
| 8 | JR Todd | 88 | 112 | |
| 8 | Steve Torrence | 88 | 112 | |
| 10 | Brittany Force | 85 | 115 | |
Funny Car
In the Funny Car Class of course, Matt Hagan grabbed his second win of the season at the CAFQUEST Nationals, winning back to back for the first time in his career. Already, after just two races, Hagan appears to be running away with the standings.
John Force also surprised some when he fell out in the first round of the event again, now excluded from the top 10 standings.
| NHRA Funny Car Points Standings | ||||
| As of Phoenix | ||||
| Pos. | Driver (Wins) | Pts. | Behind | |
| 1 | Matt Hagan | 231 | 0 | |
| 2 | Del Worsham | 173 | 58 | |
| 3 | Robert Hight | 145 | 86 | |
| 4 | Ron Capps | 129 | 102 | |
| 5 | Courtney Force | 123 | 108 | |
| 6 | Tommy Johnson Jr. | 118 | 113 | |
| 6 | Alexis DeJoria | 110 | 121 | |
| 8 | Cruz Pedragon | 93 | 138 | |
| 9 | John Hale | 82 | 149 | |
| 9 | Chad Head | 82 | 149 | |
Pro Stock
The Pro Stock class brought a plethora of excitement when rookie Drew Skillman made his way to the semifinals, knocking off both Matt Hartford and Jason Line. Skillman was bested by eventual winner Roger Brogdon, who took down Erica Enders-Stevens in the finals.
| NHRA Pro Stock Points Standings | ||||
| As of Phoenix | ||||
| Pos. | Driver (Wins) | Pts. | Behind | |
| 1 | Roger Brogdon (1) | 205 | 0 | |
| 2 | Erica Enders-S. | 184 | 21 | |
| 3 | Jason Line | 178 | 27 | |
| 4 | Drew Skillman | 177 | 29 | |
| 5 | Chris McGaha | 130 | 75 | |
| 6 | Shane Gra | 108 | 97 | |
| 6 | Allen Johnson | 107 | 98 | |
| 8 | Larry Morgan | 89 | 116 | |
| 8 | Greg Anderson | 86 | 119 | |
| 10 | Vincent Nobile | 66 | 139 | |
The Series will have four events in the next two months including the prestigious 4 Wide Nationals, check it out:
| Upcoming NHRA Events | ||||||
| Date | Event | Track | Bikes Y/N | |||
| Mar. 15 | Gator Nationals | Auto Plus Raceway | Yes | |||
| Mar. 29 | 4 Wide Nationals | zMAX Dragway | Yes | |||
| Apr. 12 | Summit Nationals | The Strip at Las Vegas MS | No | |||
| Apr. 26 | O Reilly Spring Nats | Royal Purple Raceway | No | |||
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