In workmanlike fashion, four-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan grinded out the victory at his home track — winning Bristol Dragway’s 25th edition SuperGrip Thunder Valley Nationals.

In Sunday’s final round of Hagan denied Daniel Wilkerson his first career victory thanks to a run of 4.125 at 310.91 in the TSR/Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge Funny Car.

It is Hagan’s second win of the season and the 57th in his career. This one wasn’t the most spectacular when it came to performance, but Hagan was on point when he needed to be, defeating Jon Capps and reigning two-time world champion Austin Prock to reach the final round.

He didn’t go quicker than 4.079 on Sunday, but Hagan took advantage of the opportunity for Tony Stewart Racing, reaching his 100th career final round. Wilkerson went up in smoke almost immediately in the championship round, handing Hagan his first victory in Thunder Valley since 2015. After Bristol, Hagan is now second in points and feeling good about the rest of his summer.

“I always call myself an old plow horse. Hook me up to the plow and I’ll just go out there and get the job done,” Hagan said. “For Leah (Pruett) to finish off the New England win here on Friday and for us to come back and win on Sunday, it was a special weekend for TSR.
 
“Bristol is a special place for me. I’ve got a lot of home tracks, but this one has always felt like home. The last time I won here was Father’s Day weekend, and I was crying like a kid. That one was emotional, and this one means a lot, too. This weekend was challenging. Daniel Wilkerson was driving his butt off. His day is coming.”
 
Wilkerson defeated J.R. Todd, Jack Beckman and points leader Ron Capps en route to his third career final round. Capps remains the points leader, sitting 24 points ahead of Hagan.

The racing schedule at Bristol did include some phenomenal stuff for Jack Beckman — who won both the rain delayed Funny Car title (from the New England Nationals) and also the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge race. Jack drove his JFR/Peak sponsored Camaro to final round win lights over Jordan Vandergriff both times.

NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals – Funny Car Class Summary

WIN: Matt Hagan – 4.125 secs 310.91 mph (Career win #57)
R/UP: Daniel Wilkerson – 6.317 secs 128.89 mph
Low ET: Ron Capps – 3.980 secs
Top MPH: Ron Capps – 327.48 mph
Bump: N/A
Entries: 14

Posted with files by NHRA Communications & Bruce Biegler
Photos by David Ostaszewski

Link to more Funny Car photos from Thunder Valley Nationals event: HERE