![\"Drag](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DI_flat_red-e1711481551475.png\")
<\/p>\nFresh off his first win of the 2025 season, Matt Hagan is heading into wine country with something to prove \u2013 and someone to win for.<\/p>\n
The four-time Funny Car world champion powered his Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage Dodge to victory last weekend in Seattle, and now he\u2019s got his eye on Sonoma \u2013 one of only two tracks on the NHRA tour where he\u2019s yet to hoist a Wally. If there was ever a time to change that, it\u2019s this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cSonoma\u2019s always been a tricky track for us,\u201d Hagan admitted. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got some momentum now. Mike Knudsen\u2019s really hitting his stride as crew chief, and I just need to keep doing my job on the tree. If we stay locked in, I like our chances.\u201d<\/p>\n
That confidence is hard-earned. Hagan has three runner-up finishes at Sonoma (2012, 2019, 2021) and two No. 1 qualifiers (2009, 2013), but victory has always slipped just out of reach. This weekend could be different \u2013 especially with a little extra motivation.<\/p>\n
Sonoma is the home track for Jason Johnson and the JHG brand. Johnson, a Vacaville native, will be on hand with his fleet of hot rods and supercars. A win here would be personal \u2013 and symbolic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely want to get a win for JHG here,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cThey got their first win with us in Dallas, and now Jason\u2019s added a whole section at the dealership for trophies. We need to keep filling that case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hagan, currently third in the championship standings, will also compete in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday. He faces Alexis DeJoria in the first round after his semifinal appearance last weekend in Seattle.<\/p>\n
As the Countdown to the Championship approaches, Hagan knows the clock is ticking \u2013 but he\u2019s not counting himself out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of great competition out there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep digging. I\u2019d love to get the wine goblin at the end of this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on July 22, 2025. <\/p>\n
The post Matt Hagan Riding Momentum into Sonoma; Hopes to Deliver Win for JHG on Home Turf<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fresh off his first win of the 2025 season, Matt Hagan is heading into wine country with something to prove \u2013 and someone to win for. The four-time Funny Car world champion powered his Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage Dodge to victory last weekend in Seattle, and now he\u2019s got his eye on Sonoma \u2013 one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}