BROWNSBURG, Ind. (June 7, 2017) – Terry Chandler’s Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team continues on the “Eastern Swing” at this weekend’s 48th annual NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.
Driver Tommy Johnson Jr. believes the team’s progress at last weekend’s race in Epping, N.H., when it advance to the semifinals will continue at Englishtown.
“Coming off a semifinal definitely helps going into Englishtown,” said Johnson, whose team had not win a round of eliminations for four races after winning the event title at Las Vegas in early April.
“We’re trying to get back on track. We were in a bit of a slump and we’re trying to work our way out of it and no better time to do that then when you have four in a row.”
Englishtown is the second of four events in four weekends.
“The guys haven’t had to service for a while after first round so just getting a confidence and build that momentum.”
In 2016, Johnson and the team, led by crew chief John Collins and assistant Rip Reynolds, qualified fifth with a time of 3.932 seconds at 322.88 mph and advanced to the second round of competition.
But Johnson has tasted success in the Summernationals.
“I won Englishtown in ’07 and would love to go back and relive a little bit of that magic and keep this momentum going.
“Englishtown has tremendous avid fans. They’re diehard drag racing fans and it’s just a historic race. It’s one of the top-tier races that you want to win and have on your resume.
“We’d like to do it again and have multiple victories in E-Town. It’s just a great event and in such a great part of the country, right there near New York City and all the people there. It’s not a bad place to win.”
TOMMY JOHNSON JR., Terry Chandler’s Make-A-Wish 2017 Dodge Charger R/T
Pts Events Wins Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ W/L
2017 7th 9 1 0 3 1 4 1 0 11-8
CAREER 407 16* 24 56 99 168 15 44 347-347
Best Time, Speed: 3.837 sec. (Phoenix 2017); 330.80 mph (Seattle, 2016)
Last event (June 2-4, Epping, NH): Qualified No. 9, lost in semifinals to Matt Hagan
A year ago at Englishtown: Qualified No. 5, lost in second round to Del Worsham
Career at Englishtown: Wins 1 (2007), Runner-ups 0, Poles 1 (2007)
2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNNY CAR STANDINGS
(Official after Epping; 9th of 24 events; wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS)
1. RON CAPPS (4) 827 —–
2. MATT HAGAN (3) 748 -79
3. Courtney Force 564 -263
4. Robert Hight 561 -266
5. John Force (1) 555 -272
6. JACK BECKMAN 537 -290
7. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 533 -294
8. J.R. Todd 413 -414
9. Tim Wilkerson 393 -434
10. Del Worsham 341 -486
ABOUT MAKE-A-WISH
Make-A-Wish® grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. According to a 2011 U.S. study of wish impact, most health professionals surveyed believe a wish-come-true can have positive impacts on the health of children. Kids say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illnesses, and their parents say these experiences help strengthen the entire family. Based in Phoenix, Make-A-Wish is one of the world’s leading children’s charities, serving children in every community in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 27,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 37 minutes. It has granted more than 254,000 wishes since its inception in 1980; more than 14,200 in 2014 alone. Visit Make-A-Wish at wish.org to learn more.
About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields eight professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the Matco Tools dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown and the Papa John’s Top Fuel dragster driven by Leah Pritchett; and in Funny Car, 2016 world champion Ron Capps in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T; 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.
DSR has won 307 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368
Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988