Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway Review

Doug Kalitta sped his dragster to his second consecutive Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Funny Car dragster Matt Hagan and Pro Stock Series driver Jason Line were also victorious at the seventh event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

The Mac Tools dragster of Doug Kalitta ran to a 3.801 second pass at 323.19 miles per hour to defeat J.R. Todd’s 3.780 at 320.66 on a holeshot in the final round. The NHRA stand-out earned his 40th career victory and his third in the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. The margin of victory between Kalitta and Todd was .0000, making it the closest Top Fuel race in NHRA history. Kalitta over-powered competitors Terry Haddock, eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher, and defending world champion Antron Brown in the previous rounds.

“I really didn’t think I had won,” said Doug Kalitta, the Top Fuel points leader. “The last couple of rounds, I didn’t see the win light on the wall. J.R. went blowing by me at the end there, and I got around the corner and I was very relieved, to say the least.  Jim Oberhofer, crew chief, and my Mac Tools guys have been busting their butts all day long, and we were hungry to do well in front of the sellout crowd here in for the Southern Nationals in Atlanta.”

Matt Hagan sprinted his Funny Car to his first victory in the 2016 season with a 3.965 second pass at 314.90 miles per hour in his Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T. The victor beat Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the final in the Southern Nationals in Atlanta.

Matt Hagan concluded a 19 race losing streak and claimed his 19th NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series victory. He managed to outlast fellow speedsters Chad Head, reigning world champ Del Worsham, and NHRA Funny Car points leader Courtney Force in the previous heats, to win his first NHRA Southern Nationals title. Relief was evident in the dragsters post finals interview.

“We’ve been trying to dig our way out of a hole we dug for ourselves in the beginning of the season with a new chassis and some new parts and different things like that,” said Hagan, who currently sits ninth in the points standings. “We went back to what we know and pulled our old car back out. We won a championship with it. We all knew it was just a matter of time before we figured it out. We’re really happy to get that monkey off our back.”

Jason Line drove his Pro Stock Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro to a 6.611 second run at 209.75 miles per hour in the final race to defeat his teammate Greg Anderson on a holeshot. This is Line’s fourth victory of the 2016 season and 41st overall.

The amazing drag racer Jason Line, has advanced to the final round in all seven contests this season. The win is Line’s second straight win at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta and third total. The victory extends his series points lead. Line, the number two qualifier, beat John Gaydosh Jr., five-time world title holder Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Allen Johnson in the early rounds.

“We kind of whined and complained about the rules change, but I never would’ve thought that this would be the result of that,” said Line, who has only lost to Anderson this year. “It’s a great day anytime you can win in front of your sponsor. This is a very tricky racetrack. I haven’t been on an Atlanta track like this ever. We struggled hard with it, but again, I’m a little bit in awe that I’ve been able to race in all the final rounds this year.”

The NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series will move to the Kansas Nationals on May 22nd at the Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.

The 2016 NHRA Mello Yellow Funny Car and Pro Stock Point Standings: