After checking on the cows, Matt Hagan sometimes putters around his 500-acre farm in Christiansburg on a 130-horsepower tractor. Top speed through the rolling hills: 6 to 10 mph. On the weekend, the 26-year-old Hagan does the extreme opposite. He pilots the 7,000-horsepower Shelor.com Motor Mile Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing.

His weeks are spent raising 600-pound Angus cattle and managing the business affairs of his 500-acre Christiansburg farm. On weekends, he wrestles his 8,000-horsepower Funny Car in the National Hot Rod Association. Welcome to the world of Matt Hagan. “It’s a lot of work, but [the farm work] really is my time to reflect on what I can do to be a better driver,“ he said yesterday by phone. “It’s pretty relaxing for me. The racing is so intense and adrenaline-driven. You’re focused on the weekends [driving], and do your thing on the farm. Polar opposites, but it’s a nice release.“