(Tim Marshall photo)

Although the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Funny Car came up short in the final round on Sunday, Matt Hagan was pleased with the opening act for his team. Coming off the 2013 season where they won five event titles and finished second in Funny Car standings, the team picked up right where they left off.

They opened Sunday's eliminations with a 4.036-second pass, which was better than their qualifying time of 4.077 seconds. They improved their numbers in the next two rounds with a 4.035 and their best of the weekend, a 4.030, in the semifinal round.

But they knew they needed more for the final round against No. 1 qualifier John Force, who had been running in the 3-second range all weekend.

"We were just pushing hard," Hagan said after his Dodge Charger R/T went up in tire smoke in the final round.

"Force had been running 3.90s all weekend long. We knew we had to bring our A-game. He's got a great hot rod right now but we've got a pretty good one too. It's going to be a great season this year and I can't wait to battle it out and turn on some more win lights."

Hagan was also just happy to have his crew chief Dickie Venables back in the lounge and making the calls on the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T. Venables missed the final race of the 2013 season because of a surgery and was unable to celebrate the team's win at the finale.

"It's great to have Dickie back. He's a knowledgeable leader and he's so great for this team. We really missed him last time we were here and I'm just happy to have him back on this car."

Tommy Johnson Jr. returned to the seat of a Big Show Funny Car.  (Ron Lewis photo)

The Don Schumacher Racing Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T sponsored by Terry Chandler flew down the racetrack run after run in an impressive display, allowing Tommy Johnson Jr. to reset both ends of his career best records and the Make-A-Wish team to establish their presence in the competitive Funny Car category.

"After the struggle that we had in pre-season testing, to come this far this quickly is really big for us," said Johnson, whose team is currently led by the DSR brain trust of crew chiefs until a tuner is chosen. "We have made a really big turn around; every time we went down the track there was an improvement. I’m very happy with how the team has turned around. You can see the performance and that we have a good, competitive car."

Johnson qualified in the No. 9 spot with a then-career best 4.069 at 316.82 mph and drew DSR teammate Jack Beckman as his first-round opponent in the first of 24 races in the 2014 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. In their morning meeting, Johnson, of Avon, Ind., improved upon his qualifying time with a powerful 4.048 at 320.81 mph to upset his teammate's weekend early.

In the second act, Johnson and the team put together an unreal package and stunned the crowds at Auto Club Raceway with the second-quickest pass of the round, a 4.021 at 322.73 mph. Unfortunately, the only quicker run of the entire round belonged to John Force, the guy in the other lane. Force and Johnson raced side-by-side down the racetrack to put on a spectacular show for all in attendance, but Force came up on the winning side with a 4.020, 321.27.