Dodge NHRA Finals Presented by Pennzoil
Event No. 11 of 11
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nev.
October 31 – November 1, 2020
DSR Qualifying Highlights:
- Ron Capps will begin the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil atop the Funny Car ladder after earning his first pole of the season and 25th in his career on Saturday
- The 2020 Funny Car crown is poised to come down to an intense three-way final showdown between No. 2 qualifier Matt Hagan, No. 4 qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr., and No. 10 qualifier Jack Beckman on the last day of the season.
- Updated point totals heading into race day:
- Hagan – 900
- Johnson – 855
- Beckman – 848
- If Beckman and Hagan win their first-round match-ups, they will square off in round two
DSR’s four Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat pilots will be battling it out to pick up one last 2020 Funny Car event trophy for drag racing’s winningest organization on Sunday as they aim to ‘sweep the season’ by going undefeated on the year and extend the record streak to 14 consecutive victories
- Updated point totals heading into race day:
- In Top Fuel, Antron Brown and Leah Pruett earned starting positions in the top half of the dragster field
- Brown is set to square off against last week’s race winner Tony Schumacher in round one
- Pruett ran a solid Factory Stock Q2 to run to nab the No. 3 FSS starting position
(EXCERPT)
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 10
The Competition: No. 7 Paul Lee
The Results:
Q1: 4.983 E.T. at 153.37 MPH
Q2: 3.996 E.T. at 309.70 MPH
Quotable:
“You can strategize and worry yourself into the ground trying to figure out where you should qualify to be the most advantageous. Sometimes it’s easier to put your blinders on and go up there and try to get data for the car. Low and behold, the ladder turned out exactly the way we needed it. If we go out and win the race we will be the champions. We will get to face Matt Hagan early in eliminations and if they beat us more power to them. And if we beat them, we’re going to keep marching on. This is going to be one of the most exciting Sundays of my entire career. This is the site where I got my first nitro win back in 2006 and if this is the end of my career this would be the perfect place to close it out.”
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 356, and DSR is one of a very small handful of teams in the motorsports industry to surpass the 350 milestone. DSR owns 17 world championships in three different NHRA categories.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR currently fields seven 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 Mopar/Pennzoil dragster driven by Leah Pruett, and the Okuma/Sandvik Coromant 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 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.
