DSR Charlotte 1
Post Race Recap
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
Event 6 of 24 (Charlotte 1)
zMAX Dragway
Concord, N.C.
April 27-29, 2018
DSR Charlotte 1 Race Day Highlights:
- Jack Beckman retains the Funny Car points lead
- Tommy Johnson Jr. advanced to the final quad
(Excerpt)
Driver Information:
Funny Car:
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 3 (3.887 E.T. at 328.70 MPH)
The Results:
E1:
Tommy Johnson Jr. 4.374 E.T. at 215.00 MPH
Cruz Pedregon 4.156 E.T. at 243.55 MPH
Matt Hagan 5.145 E.T. at 127.07 MPH
John Smith 4.315 E.T. at 256.84 MPH
E2:
Ron Capps 5.233 E.T. at 140.44 MPH
Robert Hight 4.610 E.T. at 192.49 MPH
Tommy Johnson Jr. 4.007 E.T. at 314.02 MPH
Cruz Pedregon 4.055 E.T. at 309.20 MPH
E3:
Courtney Force 6.215 E.T. at 114.46 MPH
John Force 4.098 E.T. at 307.93 MPH
Tommy Johnson Jr. 4.143 E.T. at 275.39 MPH
Cruz Pedregon 4.059 E.T. at 310.84 MPH
Race Recap:
Tommy Johnson Jr. raced to a semifinal finish on Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
Terry and Doug Chandler’s Make-A-Wish Dodge Funny Car team started race day from third after making the second-best run of Q2.
After defeating John Smith and teammate Matt Hagan in the first round of eliminations, Johnson faced tough competition in his DSR teammate Ron Capps, reigning world champion Robert Hight, and eventual race winner Cruz Pedregon in round two. Johnson navigated the Make-A-Wish machine down the track in 4.007-seconds, defeating Hight and Capps, and earning a spot in the final elimination quad.
In the finals, Johnson kept pace until just before the finish line when the tires broke loose and Pedregon was able to drive away with the race win.
Quotable:
“It’s just a challenge for everybody out here today. The change of the track prep has really thrown the crew chiefs for a curve. We saw a lot of carnage and a lot of teams struggling to get a hold of the track. We made a nice run in round two and had low E.T., and we kind of thought we had a handle on it. Then, once we got out there for the final, it was really running well but broke the tires loose. We’ll have to figure it out. We’ll see if we can’t keep chipping away.”
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Points Standing:
376 points, ranked sixth
Leads seventh ranked Ron Capps (352 points)
Trails fifth ranked Robert Hight (381 points)