“I think if you give us a few more laps on this new clutch pack we’ll be right back at the front. I’ll take the four tomorrow, four more dial-in runs. We have a good hot rod again. It’s starting to do what we tell it again. I like our chances for tomorrow.”
Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals
Event No. 6
Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis
September 4-6, 2020
DSR Qualifying Highlights:
- During Q3, Matt Hagan defeated Jack Beckman in the rain-delayed NHRA Summernationals (Indy 2) final round to win DSR’s 350th national event victory. The triumph marked career win No. 35 for Hagan
- Tommy Johnson Jr. rocketed the Riley Kids Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the top of the Funny Car field during the third and final round of qualifying, earning his 21st No. 1 qualifier
- Johnson ran low E.T. of both rounds on Saturday
- Johnson’s No. 1 qualifier was his third over the last four events
- All four DSR Dodge Funny Cars earned qualifying spots in the top half of the field
- Antron Brown and Leah Pruett will start race day from the quick-half of the Top Fuel ladder
- The Dodge Drag Pak duo of Mark Pawuk and Leah Pruett both qualified in the top-half of a stacked 24-car Factory Stock Showdown field. Both drivers won their first-round matchups to advance to the quarterfinal round, scheduled for Sunday
(EXCERPT)
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 7 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 10 Cruz Pedregon
The Results:
Q1: 4.858 E.T. at 159.32 MPH
Q2: 3.991 E.T. at 318.92 MPH (One bonus point for third quickest run of the session)
Q3: 3.940 E.T. at 325.53 MPH
Bonus Points: One
Quotable:
“We obviously struggled for the last race and first lap here. We had our backs to the wall on the second qualifying run. We had to make a good run to get into the U.S. Nationals field and we desperately need tune-up data with this new clutch package. I thought our second run was fantastic. We made a great lap. We got a bonus point and we got good data. That helped us drag it up there for the final. I think if you give us a few more laps on this new clutch pack we’ll be right back at the front. I’ll take the four tomorrow, four more dial-in runs. We have a good hot rod again. It’s starting to do what we tell it again. I like our chances for tomorrow.”
DSR U.S. Nationals Friday Qualifying Recap – Highlights
- Ron Capps, the most recent winner on the NHRA tour, powered his NAPA Dodge to a 3.895 at a top speed of 330.63 mph to pace the provisional Funny Car field during the first ‘Friday Night Lights’ event of the 2020 season
- Matt Hagan drove his Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to a ‘top half’ provisional qualifying position
- Cory McClenathan clocked a career-best run of 3.762 seconds behind the wheel of the Nordic Boats/Revchem Composites Top Fueler to earn a provisional ‘top half’ qualifying spot
- Matco Tools/Global Electronic Technology/Toyota driver Antron Brown joins McClenathan in the quick-half of the Top Fuel field
(EXCERPT)
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Q1: 4.858 E.T. at 159.32 MPH
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 9
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 349, and DSR is looking forward to reaching the ‘350 milestone’ during the 2020 U.S. Nationals. 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 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/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.
LINK to original DSR Friday release
LINK to original DSR Saturday release
