A 19-race winless streak came to an end during NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway for Matt Hagan and the Rocky Boots Venator Camo/Mopar Funny Car team.

The 19th event title of Hagan’s Funny Car career that includes two world championships came in dominant fashion under the guidance of veteran crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Michael Knudsen who produced low elapsed time of each round in eliminations on Sunday en route to their first Mello Yello title of the season.

(Matt Hagan’s dominating weekend included both low ET and top speed for the FC category)

The 2016 season didn’t start out as the team had planned when the Rocky Boots team suffered opening-round losses in three of the first four events.

“Honestly, these cars are so humbling and we’ve been trying to dig out of a hole that we’ve dug ourselves in from the first of the year when we were trying a new chassis and some parts,” Hagan said.

“We went back to what we know. Setting low ET of every round today, I would say that Dickie (Venables) has a pretty good handle on it. We all knew it was just a matter of time before we figured it all out.

“It really puts it in perspective how hard these things are to win, how hard it is to get round wins sometimes. We’ve been working hard and it’s not for a lack of effort and now we’re starting to turn the corner. We’ve just felt good about everything recently.”

The Rocky Boots/Mopar team had a strong start to the 2015 season and became an early favorite for the Countdown to the Championship but were unable to carry their early season success to the finish. Hagan feels how the team has handled the past few months in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing is what sets them apart from their competitors.

“We are all competitors,” he said. “Nobody likes to lose. It’s really hard to learn to lose well. How you deal with it is what separates you from other folks, other teams. You just learn to get your pom-poms out and cheer for your team. You gotta keep your team morale up. These guys, they are family to me. In 2012, we didn’t win a race. You just have to keep the guys up and working hard. In drag racing, you’re going to lose more than you’re going to win.”

The on-track debut of the Rocky Boots special Venator camouflage scheme included a No. 2 qualifying effort and setting the Atlanta Dragway elapsed time and speed records on Sunday.

“To have Rocky Boots in the winner’s circle is huge,” Hagan said. “That new Venator camouflage is really cool and this racecar looks incredible. We are thrilled we were able to get it done for them today. The fans here in Atlanta were awesome and we really appreciate their support.”

(After qualifying #1 at 3.939 secs – Jack Beckman advanced to the final round)

With their win, the DSR Rocky Boots team moved to ninth in Funny Car points standings.

Posted by Jeff Wolf

All photos by Bruce Biegler & Steve Embling

(Points leader entering the event – Tim Wilkerson – lost out in round #1)

(Courtney Force finished in the “final four” and with that sits on top of the 2016 points chase)

Event Essentials:   NHRA Summit Southern Nationals  (May 13-15th, 2016)