Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis
Event 4 of 18
Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis
July 18-19, 2020
Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis Update:
Due to persistent rain showers, Sunday’s final elimination round at the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis has been postponed until the NHRA U.S. Nationals, September 4-6. A date has not yet been announced for the rescheduled final round.
Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan both advanced to the Funny Car final round, and will battle it out for the trophy during the to-be-announced rescheduled date and time.
DSR Elimination Highlights:
- By advancing to the final round, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan ensure DSR will win a Funny Car trophy when the final round is contested during the NHRA U.S. Nationals
- Sunday marked the eighth consecutive event where DSR campaigned a Funny Car in the final round, and had the finals run on schedule, would have ensured a seventh consecutive Funny Car Wally trophy and win No. 349 for DSR
- Beckman, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Hagan maintained their stronghold on the Funny Car category, and occupy the first three spots in the point standings
- Hagan ran low E.T. of every round on race day
- Leah Pruett advanced to the semifinals in Top Fuel and moved into the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard
(EXCERPT)
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 6 (4.059 E.T. at 299.66 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 4.032 E.T. at 310.77 MPH defeated Chad Green 4.323 E.T. at 293.86 MPH
E2: 3.991 E.T. at 317.72 MPH defeated Tim Wilkerson 4.009 E.T. at 316.82 MPH
E3: 3.969 E.T. at 321.65 MPH defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. 4.027 E.T. at 309.56 MPH
E4: Rescheduled for the U.S. Nationals
Race Recap:
In the first four races of 2020, ‘Fast’ Jack Beckman has been to the final round three times. He started the year with a win at the season-opener and went on to finish as the runner-up at the next event. On Sunday during the NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis, Beckman advanced to the final round for the third time and was prepared to go head-to-head with DSR Dodge Hellcat teammate and last week’s winner, Matt Hagan, in the final round before Mother Nature threw a wrench in the plans and canceled the remainder of racing for the day.
Beckman’s march to the final, his fifth at Lucas Oil Raceway, began by defeating newbie Chad Green in round one to set up a meeting with Tim Wilkerson in round two. Against Wilkerson, Beckman’s slight starting line advantage coupled with a 3.991-second pass enabled him to get the win over his opponent’s competitive 4.009-second effort. The semifinals featured a match-up between Doug Chandler’s ‘giving cars’ with Beckman’s 3.969 E.T. besting teammate Tommy Johnson Jr.’s 4.027 E.T. By winning the round, Beckman not only earned a berth to the finals but moved back into the Funny Car point lead, a position he had given up to Johnson on Saturday due to Johnson’s strong qualifying performance. Beckman will battle it out with Hagan for the Summernationals Funny Car trophy when racing resumes at the NHRA. U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend.
Quotable:
“In a lot of ways these races will have a little asterisk next to them, what’s not going to be different is the trophy. It’s the exact same size as every other Wally we’ve earned. It’s going to mean just as much. We’re going to work just as hard for it. Whether we run tonight, tomorrow, or in three weeks it really doesn’t matter to me. We have a car and a team that can adjust. We struggled in qualifying and the team worked hard and figured it out. The car came around and we’re in another final round and someone is getting a trophy. I don’t care when they run it, we’re gonna run our tails off.”
NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Standings:
Top Fuel
1. Doug Kalitta – 364
2. Leah Pruett – 269
3. Billy Torrence – 242
4. Steve Torrence – 232
5. Justin Ashley – 231/251*
6. Antron Brown – 230
7. Shawn Langdon – 183
7. Clay Millican – 183
9. Terry McMillen – 177
10. Brittany Force – 153
Funny Car
1. Jack Beckman – 372/392*
2. Tommy Johnson Jr. – 355
3. Matt Hagan – 329/349*
4. Tim Wilkerson – 239
5. Bob Tasca III – 230
6. Ron Capps – 196
6. J.R. Todd – 196
8. Alexis DeJoria – 186
9. John Force – 173
10. Cruz Pedregon – 149
*Denotes potential point total based on winning the to-be-contested Indy 2 final round.
About Don Schumacher Racing:
Established in 1998 as a single-car Top Fuel team, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) has grown to become the winningest organization in NHRA Drag Racing history. Including team owner Don Schumacher’s five NHRA Funny Car titles from the 1970s, DSR’s current win count stands at 347, and DSR is looking forward to reaching the ‘350 milestone’ early in the 2020 season. DSR owns 17 world championships in three different NHRA categories.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR currently fields eight professional teams competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. In Top Fuel, the Matco Tools/Global Electronic Technology/Toyota dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown, the Nordic Boats/Revchem Composites/Hawkeye Industries dragster driven by Cory McClenathan, the Mopar/Pennzoil/Okuma dragster driven by Leah Pruett, and the Global Electronic Technology machine driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher. In Funny Car, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driven by 2016 world champion Ron Capps, the Mopar Express Lane/Pennzoil/Sandvik Coromant Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat piloted by two-time series title-holder Matt Hagan, and in Doug Chandler’s ‘giving cars,’ 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, and Tommy Johnson Jr. behind the wheel of the MD Anderson Dodge.
DSR also campaigns two Factory Stock Showdown entries. The duo is piloted by Pruett, the 2018 Factory Stock Showdown Series champion, and former Pro Stock racer Mark Pawuk.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at Shoeracing.com, on Twitter and Instagram at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.
