Matt Hagan Crowned NHRA Funny Car World Champion at Dodge NHRA Finals and Drives Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to Undefeated NHRA Season

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

• Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Matt Hagan earns 2020 Funny Car World Championship aboard his "demon-possessed" Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye and wraps up the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Series season with a win at the Dodge NHRA Finals
• Hagan won his third career Funny Car world championship and took home his third Wally trophy of the season
• DSR drivers Hagan, Tommy Johnson Jr., Jack Beckman and Ron Capps dominated the Funny Car class to finish 1-2-3-4 in the standings and combined for a NHRA season sweep winning all 11 national events
• A DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car won every race of the 2020 NHRA season and extended the team's undefeated streak to a record 14 consecutive victories since October 2019
• Hagan earned his 35th career win against No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps in the seventh head-to-head Dodge final round battle of the year

Matt Hagan and his "demon-possessed" Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye have earned the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Series Funny Car World Championship title and the national event win at the season-ending Dodge NHRA Finals Presented by Pennzoil in Las Vegas. It is Hagan's third championship crown after title wins in 2011 and 2014 and the sixth Funny Car class victory for the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) team in 18 years.

From the No. 2 position on the eliminations ladder, Hagan earned his third Wally trophy of the year in a season dominated by the DSR stable of HEMI®-powered Funny Cars. The DSR foursome of Hagan, Tommy Johnson Jr., Jack Beckman and Ron Capps finished 1-2-3-4 atop the Funny Car standings and combined for a NHRA season "sweep" in which a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat won every national event to extend the team's undefeated streak to a record 14 consecutive victories since October 2019.

"It's been just an unbelievable season," said Hagan. "My guys have put an unbelievable car behind me with Pennzoil, Dodge SRT and Mopar. Everybody who supports us. It's great to win for Camping World and their first championship. My guys have worked so hard all season long. I can't say enough about them and thank them. Three wins, a championship, it's just special. I can't wait for next season."

"To have Matt Hagan win the championship at the Dodge NHRA Finals and cap off it off with an undefeated season and record 14th straight victory is a testament to the team's hard work and the pure performance of the Charger SRT Hellcat," said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Global Head of Alfa Romeo and Head of Passenger Cars – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. "It is really satisfying to watch our quickest, fastest and most powerful production vehicles represented so well on the race track."

"On behalf of all of us at Mopar, congratulations to Matt Hagan on a well-deserved third NHRA World Championship and a dominating performance in Funny Car competition this season," said Mark Bosanac, Head of Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care for FCA – North America. "Reflecting on Mopar's long-standing involvement in the NHRA, including 18 successful years in partnership with Don Schumacher, we take great pride in this title win."  

With a two-round lead over his closest championship challengers, teammates Johnson and Beckman, Hagan clinched the crown after wins over Cruz Pedregon and Paul Lee in the first two rounds and just prior to staging his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye for his semifinal match-up against Alexis DeJoria. The deal was sealed after Beckman was upset in the opening round against Paul Lee and No. 1 qualifier Capps defeated Johnson as the first semifinal pair to take the track.

With the 2020 Funny Car championship secured, all that was left to determine was who would take home the Dodge NHRA Finals Wally trophy as Hagan and Capps lined up for the seventh head-to-head Hellcat final round battle of the year. 

While Capps had the early lead his efforts went up in smoke at half-track as Hagan took his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for a solid 3.914-second final lap to earn his 36th career victory and defend his 2019 win at The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway and tie the NHRA reco

"Dodge and the DSR fab shop, they've put a great race car underneath us," said Hagan. "My crew chief Dickie Venables, I can't say enough about the guy. He's won me two world championships (2014, 2020) and we've runnered-up a few times. There's a handful of guys on this team who haven't won a championship before. I'm just so proud to give them that opportunity and I know how bad everybody wanted it. 

"For us to have won three world championships now in this sport, it's incredible," added Hagan. "It all comes back down to my guys and the car they put under me. It's not just me. I try not to mess it up. This is one of the most humbling sports I've been involved in and it always seems to come down to the last race and that certainly doesn't make me look any younger. Thank you to everyone who supports what we do and we hope we made you proud to be a part of this."

The 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a 22-race scheduled to begin at the 52nd annual Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway on March 12-14.

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA's action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads, and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com. 

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and  NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Official Driving School of Dodge//SRT
Dodge is the official sponsor of the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Arizona, where guests get behind the wheels of the fastest street-legal cars in the world with professional instruction and time on the track. Customers who buy a new SRT model receive one full-day session as part of the Dodge//SRT Package and have the opportunity to learn how to get the optimum performance from their new vehicles in a controlled environment.  For more information, visit dodgegarage.com/track-experience. 

Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) is the service, parts and customer-care brand for FCA vehicles around the globe. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, the Mopar brand has evolved over more than 80 years to represent both complete care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era, with Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, and expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, the Mopar brand's global reach distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 150 markets. With more than 50 parts distribution centers and 25 customer-contact centers globally, Mopar integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Complete information on the Mopar brand is available at www.mopar.com. Mopar is part of the portfolio of brands offered by global automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more information regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please visit www.fcagroup.com.

Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

2021 marks the year that Dodge is distilled into a pure performance brand, offering Hellcat-powered, 700+ horsepower SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2021 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the new 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry's most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.    

In June 2020, Dodge was named the "#1 Brand in Initial Quality," making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by global automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more information regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please visit www.fcagroup.com.

Follow Dodge, SRT and FCA news and video on:  
Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com
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SOURCE FCA

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