July 29, 2018
, Auburn Hills, Mich.
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Ron Capps took his Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to a runner-up finish on Sunday at the sold out 31st annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals, his second in a row. Along the way to his fourth final of the season, Capps clinched a Countdown to the Championship playoff berth and achieved a milestone 700th career round win.
In Top Fuel Tony Schumacher drove his Mopar-powered U.S. Army dragster to his 151st career final round, narrowly falling to Blake Alexander.
After defeating first round opponent Richard Townsend, Capps faced teammate Matt Hagan in round two. Against Hagan, Capps moved first and powered down the track in 3.969-seconds, earning the second-winningest driver in Funny Car history his 700th professional round win.
Capps then lined up against John Force in the semifinals for their 96th career matchup. Capps was able to avenge his final round loss to Force from one week prior by blasting down the track in 4.000-seconds, defeating Force’s 4.081-second run. The four-time Sonoma winner faced Robert Hight in the finals with the starting line advantage and led until the eighth mile when he dropped a cylinder and Hight was able to power to the win. Capps clinched a spot in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship and elevated himself to second in the standings.
Qualifying in the No. 4 spot, Schumacher faced Shawn Reed in the first round eliminations, making a 3.743-second, 330.88-mph pass for the victory. He lined up against Brittany Force in the second round and pedaled his way past her as she smoked tires.
In the semifinals he was opposite longtime rival Doug Kalitta for their 90th career face-off and took the win despite dropping a cylinder. Schumacher avenged last weekend’s first round loss to Kalitta in Denver, which came by a margin of one 10,000th of a second – or 1 inch at the finish line. Schumacher’s runner-up showing vaulted him to second in the Top Fuel standings and also clinched his spot in the NHRA Countdown.
Leah Pritchett, coming off her second Top Fuel victory of the season and 11th of her career last weekend at the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Powered by Mopar, wasn’t able to equal those results this weekend. The No. 2 qualifier, in her Jeb Allen-backed Palomar Builders/Mopar Top Fuel racer, double-stepped and red-lighted in first-round eliminations, giving the round win to No. 15 qualifier Bill Litton. Despite the early exit, Pritchett clinched her spot in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, the third of her career.
Matt Hagan had a session-best 3.958-second pass in his Southwind Builders/Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car in the first round against Jim Campbell. After running low E.T. of the round in just his second race in the new Hellcat, Hagan had to face his teammate, Ron Capps, in the quarterfinals. Capps and the NAPA team had been near-perfect throughout the entire race weekend, and round two was no exception. Capps ran a 3.969-second pass, defeating Hagan’s 4.512 effort. Hagan also clinched a spot in the NHRA Countdown, the fourth DSR driver to do so.
Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson, Jr., earned a position in the top-half of the Funny Car field at the site of his first career No. 1 qualifier position, Sonoma Raceway. He got past Cruz Pedregon after the eighth mile in the first round eliminations with a 4.102-second pass and win. He had lane choice for round two but had to face his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Jack Beckman. Johnson got off the line first and collected the round, although Beckman made a strong effort until a belt failed. In the semifinals Johnson faced Robert Hight, who had lane choice. The pair dueled in a great side-by-side race, but Hight had a small starting line advantage and took the win with a 3.956-second run over Johnson’s 3.990.
Jack Beckman, the 2015 Sonoma Nationals Funny Car winner, was the No. 2 qualifier this year in his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T and faced defending champ J.R. Todd in the first round matchup, taking the win with a strong pass at 3.973-seconds. He had to face DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. in round two with lane choice but lost a blower belt right before the lights to give the holeshot win to Johnson.
Mopar Dodge//SRT NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series: Notes Quotes
Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
(No. 5 Qualifier – 3.972 ET)
Rd.1: (.097-second reaction time, 3.995 seconds at 318.99 mph) beat No. 12 Richard Townsend (.118/10.192/85.25)
Rd.2: (.052/3.969/322.65) beat No. 4 Matt Hagan (.075/4.512/190.59)
Rd.3: (.087/4.000/321.04) beat No. 9 John Force (.056/4.081/321.42)
Rd.4: (.052/4.077/296.11) lost to No. 11 Robert Hight (.092/3.984/319.75)
“Great weekend. We’ve made huge strides lately. Coming out of Denver, we had a lot of confidence, that was one of the best Denver showings we’ve had in a long time. To come here and unload and have that consistency right off the bat, it just kept giving (crew chief Rahn) Tobler more and more confidence. The biggest thing was the two runs in the heat, and those three bonus points each run. Those are the biggest for us for a couple of reasons. Tobler was able to get a feel for the car for Sunday and try some things.
“This was another great weekend in points for us. We really felt like we were going to be in the winner’s circle today. Anytime you race Robert Hight and (his crew chief) Jimmy Prock, it’s a big matchup. We got out there, it moved around a little bit and spun, and they got by us. This is the time of year where we know we need to get into race form for the Countdown and it starts with the Western Swing. I joked about a month ago that we were over 300 points behind the leader and I said, ‘you watch, we’re going to make a run for it,’ and it’ll be three years in a row if we can get the points lead going into the start of the Countdown. We made a big jump today, and we’re going to keep collecting those Mello Yello points.”
Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.747 ET)
Rd.1: (.097-second time, 3.743 seconds at 330.88 mph) beat No. 13 Shawn Reed (.091/4.776/157.04)
Rd.2: (.078/4.375/192.71) beat No. 5 Brittany Force (.122/4.985/144.77)
Rd.3: (.057/3.836/317.42) beat No. 9 Doug Kalitta (.070/3.837/274.44)
Rd.4: (.081/4.345/219.65) lost to No. 6 Blake Alexander (.157/4.004/287.41)
“It was a good points day. You know, I’ve had a pinched nerve in my shoulder. I can’t even move my right arm. To get to the final and cowboy through it all, I’m glad it’s done. I’m twitching everywhere. My right side’s in agony, I’ve had people working on it all day. Need to get that taken care of before next weekend at Seattle.
“We made up points on the leader and two positions. You know, I can say that nobody else has any business writing any speeches, yet, because this team has proven time and again that we know how to figure it out by the time it matters. That was an unfortunately 20 points that we didn’t get in that final. We ran so well yesterday that we felt like nobody was going to beat us today. We got a few lucky breaks, which we haven’t really had, and when you start running well and getting breaks, that’s how you win championships.”
Leah Pritchett, Palomar Builders/Mopar Dodge Top Fuel Dragster
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.727 ET)
Rd.1: (-0.184-second reaction time, 8.725 seconds at 82.65 mph) lost to No. 15 Bill Litton (.081/4.169/219.76)
“We had some really good momentum coming into race day, by far. Qualifying No. 2, three pretty great passes. The team worked extra hard Saturday night repairing from Q4. Like anything, you wish you could put your thumb on why something like that happened, but I feel like I was in a little different mental state today, knowing that we clinched our way into the Countdown. Trying to elevate my level of performance to practice for the Countdown, I just anticipated the tree and I thought the route I went was the route I needed to go.
“Ultimately, though, a testament to the attitude of this team is, the moment that it happened and the amount of support I have from them has made it pass over sooner than I could’ve ever even imagined. As Joe Barlam, one of our great crew chiefs, says, there are two ways to deal with it and one of them is to get over it. I’m disgusted, by all means, but to live and die by the sword, you have to know where the sword’s at and today I found it. So, hopefully, from now on, we can just keep cutting it up. I could be salty here as anything here by the ocean, but the way Jeb (Allen, weekend sponsor), our partners, the team and I have handled today’s early exit shows a lot of fortitude and we can only build on it.”
Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
(No. 7 Qualifier – 3.988 ET)
Rd.1: (.146-second reaction time, 4.012 seconds at 321.58 mph) beat No. 10 Cruz Pedregon (.110/4.103/306.40)
Rd.2: (.066/4.016/323.35) beat No. 2 Jack Beckman (.081/4.013/314.83)
Rd.3: (.068/3.990/323.81) lost to No.11 Robert Hight (.059/3.956/322.04)
“It’s been a tough season. We’ve struggled and have not been as consistent as we’d like, but we’re starting to gain some traction and we’re starting to get the car real consistent and become really competitive. We went to the semis and would have liked to have gone further, but really happy with how the car is starting to come around. I think that’s super important because there’s just three races left before the countdown and it’s the right time to start making some headway. So, I’m really happy and look forward to going to Seattle and continuing.”
Matt Hagan, Southwind Builders/Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.956 ET)
Rd.1: (.085-second reaction time, 3.958 seconds at 320.89 mph) beat No. 13 Jim Campbell (.091/4.115/310.13)
Rd.2: (.075/4.512/190.59) lost to No. 5 Ron Capps (.052/3.969/322.65)
“Had a really good opening lap but a little loose in the second round. We need to move into Seattle. We’ve done well there a time or so and always seem to qualify there pretty well. So let’s focus on that. This [race] is behind us now. [Ron] Capps might end up going around us now in points but it’s going to be battle down to the end no matter what.”
Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.929 ET)
Rd.1: (.083-second reaction time, 3.973 seconds at 320.58 mph) beat No. 15 J.R. Todd (.065/4.242/225.18)
Rd.2: (.081/4.013/314.83) lost to No. 7 Tommy Johnson Jr. (.066/4.016/323.35)
“Our car didn’t run what it should have run second round and that’s disappointing because I really think we have a car right now that can hang with anybody. That being said, even though it didn’t run as quick as we wanted it to, we actually still made a decent lap, which tells me that we’re at a point in our tune-up window that even if we miss it, we still have a very, very good race car. So onward and upward. We’ll pack up and five days later in Seattle we’ll unload and win that one.”
Mopar Dodge//SRT NHRA Sportsman Spotlight
In Super Stock, Bakersfield, California resident Mark Kirby piloted his 1971 SS/JA Plymouth Duster 340 to the runner-up finish and Dodge Top Finisher honors. Kirby had qualified his potent small block Plymouth to the number 12 spot out of 37 entries and was running strong and consistent through six-rounds of intense and grueling eliminations. In the final round, he had a great reaction time but ran too fast for his dial-in and broke out by only 0.008 of a second.
In Stock Eliminator, second generation Mopar Sportsman racer Jon Irving from Henderson, Nevada, drove his 1971 D/SA Dodge Demon 340 to the quarterfinals at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. During round four Irving had an identical reaction time to his opponent and lost by mere inches at the finish line. The performance earned Irving the Dodge Top Finisher Award in the Stock class.
The Dodge Top Finisher award, now in its second year, awards $500 to the Stock Eliminator and Super Stock drivers who advance the furthest behind the wheel of a Mopar-powered Dodge, Chrysler, or Plymouth race car. The honor is awarded in both Sportsman categories at all 24 NHRA national events.
Dodge Garage: New Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans now have a new one-stop destination for Mopar and Dodge drag racing news. Dodge Garage (http://www.dodgegarage.com) is a digital content hub and premier destination for drag racing and muscle car enthusiasts.
Fans can view daily updates and get access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. Dodge Garage features include exclusive content, such as a three-part video series “Chasing the Title,” that offers fans a unique, behind-the-scenes glimpse at Pritchett and her DSR team in action.
For information on Mopar on and off the track, check out the Mopar brand’s official blog, http://blog.mopar.com.
Up Next: CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals
Next on the schedule for the Mopar and Dodge//SRT squad is the CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals, scheduled for August 3-5 at Pacific Raceway in Kent, Wash.
2018 NHRA Championship — Point Standings After Round 15 of 24
(Season Wins in Parentheses)
NHRA Funny Car
1. Courtney Force — 1197
2. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R/T (1) — 1032
3. Robert Hight — 1024
4. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger R/T (3) — 1001
5. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger R/T (1) — 967
6. J.R. Todd — 863
7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R/T — 819
8. John Force — 807
9. Shawn Langdon — 680
10. Bob Tasca III — 656
NHRA Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence – 1168
2. Tony Schumacher, Mopar Dodge HEMI (1) — 1031
3. Clay Millican — 1025
4. Leah Pritchett, Mopar Dodge HEMI (2) — 989
5. Doug Kalitta — 951
6. Antron Brown — 809
7. Terry McMillen — 728
8. Brittany Force — 697
9. Scott Palmer — 617
10. Richie Crampton — 608
About Dodge//SRT
Dodge//SRT offers a complete lineup of performance vehicles that stand out in their own segments. Dodge is America’s mainstream performance brand, and SRT is positioned as the ultimate performance halo of the Dodge brand, together creating a complete and balanced performance brand with one vision and one voice.
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge, who founded the brand in 1914. Their influence continues today. New for 2019, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is possessed by the Demon. Its 797-horsepower supercharged HEMI® high-output engine makes it the most powerful, quickest and fastest muscle car reaching 0-60 miles per hour (mph) in 3.4 seconds and the fastest GT production car with a ¼ mile elapsed time (ET) of 10.8 seconds at 131 mph. It also reaches a new top speed of 203 mph. Joining the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with its more powerful 717-horsepower engine, as well as the Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody, which features fender flares from the SRT Hellcat Widebody and adds 3.5 inches of width to Scat Pack’s footprint. The 2019 Dodge Durango SRT, America’s fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV with a best-in-class tow rating of 8,700 lbs. fills out the brands’ performance lineup. These visceral performance models join a 2019 brand lineup that includes the Durango, Grand Caravan, Journey, Charger and Challenger — a showroom that offers performance at every price point.
About Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) is the service, parts and customer-care brand for FCA vehicles around the globe. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, the Mopar brand has evolved over more than 80 years to represent both complete care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.
Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era, with Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, and expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, the Mopar brand’s global reach distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in over 150 markets around the world. With more than 50 parts distribution centers and 25 customer contact centers globally, Mopar integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.
Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for all FCA US LLC vehicle brands. Mopar parts are engineered together with the same teams that create factory-authorized specifications for FCA vehicles, offering a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. Complete information on the Mopar brand is available at www.mopar.com.