CONCORD, N.C. — Racing less than three hours from his home in Christiansburg, Va., four-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan heads to zMAX Dragway with hopes of earning another win at the Bellagio of Dragstrips during this weekend’s American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals.
Hagan will be flying the colors of American Rebel Beer this weekend in his 12,000-horsepower Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car, adding even bigger stakes to the event for the popular veteran.
With four wins from Charlotte to his credit, including last year’s American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals when he picked up his milestone 50th career victory, Hagan is looking for his first win of the year as the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season continues at the wildest spectacle in motorsports.
“It will be a huge week for American Rebel,” said Hagan, who has 52 career Funny Car wins. “There will be a lot going on and I’m really excited about it. We’ll make it a good one knowing they’ll be out there with us. I’m ready to get going.”
The Charlotte race marks the second consecutive four-wide race for the NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series. Teams competed in Las Vegas and will soon arrive in Charlotte for another action-packed weekend of 48,000-horsepower machines reaching speeds over 330 mph.
Last season at the spring race in Charlotte, Hagan was joined in the winner’s circle by Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Hagan advanced to the final quad of eliminations in Las Vegas, where reigning Funny Car world champion Austin Prock earned his first title of the season. His final appearance will slot him into this weekend’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, which brings competitive racing to the Saturday qualifying schedule.
Hagan will take on Phoenix winner Paul Lee, Daniel Wilkerson and former champ J.R. Todd. The other quad will be made up of Prock, former champion Cruz Pedregon, Dave Richards and Vegas Mission Challenge winner Spencer Hyde.
“Anytime you can go from one four-wide event to the next, it keeps you in a routine and gives you rhythm,” said Hagan. “Even though we advanced to the finals in Las Vegas, we had a parts breakage and ended up finishing last in the quad. I still feel really good about things. I felt like we had a good car all weekend in Vegas and had a good shot at winning the race. We were knocking on the door of where we needed to be, so we just have to keep the momentum moving forward.”
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