AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals
Event No. 9
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
October 16-18, 2020
Highlights:
- Austin, Texas resident Tony Schumacher was recently named a Texas Motorplex Legend, and will be recognized for his accomplishments during the opening ceremonies of the 35th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals on Sunday morning
- With six Texas Motorplex triumphs, Schumacher is the winningest Top Fuel driver in the history of the facility. Schumacher claimed his first NHRA national event win in 1999 at Dallas and went on to win his first of eight championships that year
- Schumacher is the second recipient of the award. Schumacher’s teammate Cory McClenathan, who recently returned to race with DSR for a four-event summer stint, was the first to receive the Texas Motorplex honors in 2019
- DSR will be looking to secure its 12th consecutive Funny Car victory this weekend. The undefeated streak first began an entire year ago, dating back to the 2019 Dallas event when Matt Hagan raced to the FallNationals winner’s circle
- Each of DSR’s four Funny Car pilots have contributed at least two Wally trophies to the string of 11 wins. DSR previously set the consecutive win record in a single class at 10 races during the 2017 season with the same driver lineup
- In addition to keeping the win streak alive, the DSR Funny Car contingent will also be battling it out for the point lead. Currently, Hagan occupies the No. 1 spot, with Jack Beckman, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Ron Capps rounding out the top four, respectively
- 34 points (less than two elimination rounds) separate Hagan, Beckman and Johnson
- In the first eight races of the season, DSR drivers have gone head-to-head four times in the final round
- Johnson enters the weekend as the most recent Funny Car winner on tour, and will be looking to pick up his third win of 2020 and first at Texas Motorplex
- In Top Fuel, Leah Pruett leads the DSR dragster trio. Pruett currently sits third in the championship standings
- For the fifth time this season, Pruett will have the opportunity to bring home two trophies as she will pull double-duty by competing in both Top Fuel and the Factory Stock Showdown Series alongside her teammate and St. Louis No. 1 qualifier, Mark Pawuk
- Pawuk occupies the No. 2 spot in the FSS championship rankings
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Dallas Event Highlights:
- Two-time runner-up (2009, 2015)
2019 Dallas Recap:
Qualified 12th; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Ron Capps in E1; defeated by Bob Tasca III in E2)
Last Event (St. Louis):
Qualified fifth; Semifinal finish (defeated Blake Alexander in E1, Daniel Wilkerson in E2; defeated by Tommy Johnson Jr. in E3)
2020 Season Statistics:
Two event wins; 18 round wins; ranked second in points
Career Statistics:
332 races; 32 wins; 27 No. 1 qualifiers
Noteworthy:
No. 2 ranked-Beckman has two wins in four final rounds in 2020. He sits 16 points out of first. Beckman previously maintained the No. 1 ranking during six of the first eight races, and has never dropped below second
Quotable:
“This year marks the 35th year of the Texas Motorplex, and let me tell you, I was there for ‘year one.’ I drove a thousand-mile round trip with a buddy of mine from the Air Force to be at the 1986 Nationals, and it was breathtaking. Texas Motorplex is a state-of-the-art facility and there was nothing like it at the time. It still makes the hair on my arms stand up just thinking about it. I’ve had so many awesome experiences at Dallas over the years. What I have not had, is a winner’s circle, and we fully intend to fix that this year.”
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 353, 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.
