Matt Hagan’s second NHRA event since recovering from COVID-19 was a big success Sunday.
The Christiansburg driver won the Funny Car final at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Illinois, to regain the points lead.
It was the Auburn High School graduate’s third win of the year.
He had missed this month’s NHRA events in Indianapolis and Pennsylvania because of COVID-19. He returned to action last weekend at the Carolina Nationals.
“I’m just humbled and grateful to be out here,” Hagan said after Sunday’s win, according to NHRA.com. “I dealt with COVID for a couple of weeks and there were a couple of times where you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I’m going to pull through this.’ It’s one of those things where it humbled me and I’m glad to be back out here with you guys having fun and winning trophies.”
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Hagan is seeking his second straight Funny Car championship and his fourth overall.
He had never missed a race in his NHRA career until he got COVID-19.
“I could hardly breathe to walk to my bathroom,” Hagan, 39, said Sunday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It’s a real thing and kicked my butt.”
Hagan had to be hospitalized.
“It started like the flu and then just never got better,” Hagan told NHRA.com earlier this month. “I had several days of lying in bed with a fever, chills and aches and finally ended up having to check myself into the emergency room. I spent a night there receiving fluids and steroids, and they were doing everything they could do to bring my 104-degree temperature down. My breathing was really concerning to them, and that’s why they kept me overnight. Once they got my oxygen up and finally got my fever down to about 101, they released me from the hospital, but I still wasn’t out of the woods. It still took some time for my body to recover.”
Hagan’s fill-in driver, Tommy Johnson Jr., won the NHRA event in Pennsylvania, so Hagan got the points Johnson earned.
Hagan entered Sunday five points out of the lead. He now has a 59-point lead over second-place driver Ron Capps with four races to go.
“Big points day,” Hagan said after Sunday’s win, according to NHRA.com. “I’ve won three world championships and been runner-up twice and you know how to deal with the pressure.”
Hagan was tops in qualifying Saturday at 3.868 seconds.
After a first-round bye Sunday, he beat J.R. Todd and Cruz Pedregon to advance to the final. He beat Bob Tosca III in the final with a time of 3.933 seconds. It was Hagan’s first win at that racetrack.