NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Jeff Diehl earns wild round win over No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan at NHRA Arizona Nationals

Jeff Diehl will race in the second round for the first time in nearly a year after a wild victory against Matt Hagan at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
23 Feb 2020
Jacob Sundstrom, NHRA National Dragster Associate Editor
Race coverage
Jeff Diehl

Jeff Diehl earned his first round win in nearly a year in unconventional fashion at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. The Surfer took advantage of the misfortune of No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan in the first round in Phoenix despite not earning an official time in his Toyota Camry. 

Hagan was on his way to running low elapsed time of the event but clipped the last timing block of the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. That disqualified him from the event and sent Diehl to his first round win since the 2019 Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. That was all the back in April of last year.

The win booked Diehl a matchup against 2017 Funny Car world champion Ron Capp and his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. Diehl is looking for his first season with multiple round wins since 2016 when he picked up five round wins and reached a pair of semifinals. You can watch all the action live on NHRA.tv.