Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals
Presented by Pennzoil
Event 14 of 24 (Denver)
Bandimere Speedway
Morrisson, Colo.
July 19-21, 2019
DSR Denver Elimination Highlights:
- After 35 years, Tommy Johnson Jr. finally conquered Thunder Mountain and captured his first Bandimere Speedway Wally trophy
- Johnson’s Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil win was his second victory of the season, 19th of his career and propelled him to the No. 2 spot in Funny Car point standings
- The triumph for Johnson was the sixth win by a DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car driver in 2019, and 339th overall victory for Don Schumacher Racing
- Antron Brown, Leah Pritchett, Jack Beckman and Ron Capps all recorded quarterfinal finishes
- Brown maintained his No. 3 Top Fuel point ranking; Beckman and Capps also maintained their ‘top five’ rankings
(EXCERPT)
Denver Victory for Tommy Johnson Jr. 35 Years in the Making
MORRISON, Colo. (July 21, 2019) – Tommy Johnson Jr. ended his 35-year quest for a victory in Denver, driving his MOPAR-powered Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to the win at the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo. near Denver.
Johnson’s win Sunday, his 19th career NHRA victory and second in 2019, was the sixth triumph by a DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car in 2019, and fifth in the last eight events.
The run to victory, one that had eluded him for nearly three-and-a-half decades, came in Johnson’s 51st career final. His first final round appearance came at Bandimere back in 1984, when at age 15 he raced to a runner-up finish while competing in Super Gas. Three years later he found himself in the Denver finals again while competing in Top Alcohol Funny Car, and four years after that (1991), he was defeated in his first professional final round while competing in Top Fuel. Two years ago, Johnson lost in the Funny Car final, but this Sunday he was not going to be denied.
Johnson, cheered on by event Honorary Starter and four-year-old Wish Kid Porter Johnson (no relation) from the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, started Sunday by driving his Make-A-Wish Hellcat to an opening-round win over Jeff Diehl, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with fellow DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat pilot Jack Beckman. A starting-line advantage was the difference in pushing Johnson past Beckman into his seventh semifinal of the season. Next in his way was Cruz Pedregon, and Johnson raced to another consistent lap in the John Collins-tuned Hellcat to advance to his third final of 2019.
Johnson was undefeated in seven previous meetings with Bob Tasca III and made it eight straight, and first in a final, by storming down the track with a final round pass of 4.102 seconds at 308.50-mph to capture his first Bandimere triumph.
“It wasn’t easy today, we had some close ones,” remarked Johnson. “Beckman was right there, Tasca was right there in the final. We struggled on Friday, like a lot of teams, and we felt pretty confident that Saturday would be okay. We had a nice get-down-the-track run on Q3, but last night we made a great run (3.978 seconds, 317.72 mph), my quickest and fastest ever up on the mountain, and that gave John, (assistant crew chief) Rip (Reynolds) and the guys a ton of confidence. I knew going into today we had a great race car and if we could control it on the track with the sun being out, we’d be good. They did a great job. We’re a much better team than we have been in the past and we’ve really grown as a team.”
For Johnson and his Doug Chandler-sponsored ‘giving car’ program, Sunday’s victory was extra sweet with the added addition of Porter Johnson in the Make-A-Wish cheering section, and a reminder of the importance of bannering the Make-A-Wish Foundation on the side of his race car.
“It speaks volumes of our whole program and what Doug Chandler is doing,” explained Johnson. “Make-A-Wish is such a great organization, and he funds this team and gives it away to raise awareness for that organization. We have Wish Kids out every Saturday and to see Porter come out today and also to see the sponsors get involved – that was a MOPAR/Dodge decision to have a Make-A-Wish Kid as the Honorary Race Starter – it was cool to see everyone get behind this. It’s obvious what a great foundation Make-A-Wish is and all of the great things they do for the kids, so to be a part of it is very humbling. I could’ve got runner-up today and been all bummed out again, but you see kids like Porter, and it puts everything into perspective. He was a natural, he’s four-years-old, and I was nervous for him going out on stage in front of the crowd, but he wasn’t nervous at all, so it was cool. I really enjoyed experiencing that with him.”
Johnson’s Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil victory marked event win No. 339 for Don Schumacher Racing, and allowed Johnson to advance to No. 2 in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship Funny Car point standings.
Qualified: No. 2 (3.978 E.T. at 317.72 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 4.156 E.T. at 268.54 MPH defeated Jeff Diehl 8.776 E.T. at 97.67 MPH
E2: 4.059 E.T. at 316.01 MPH defeated Jack Beckman 4.092 E.T. at 316.30 MPH
E3: 4.056 E.T. at 311.49 MPH defeated Cruz Pedregon 4.944 E.T. at 166.72 MPH
E4: 4.102 E.T. at 308.50 MPH defeated Bob Tasca III 4.158 E.T. at 302.14 MPH
NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Standings:
Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence – 1407
2. Brittany Force – 852
3. Antron Brown – 839
4. Doug Kalitta- 831
5. Clay Millican – 813
6. Mike Salinas – 763
7. Leah Pritchett – 714
8. Richie Crampton – 666
9. Scott Palmer – 613
10. Terry McMillen- 607
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight – 1159
2. Tommy Johnson Jr – 1010
3. John Force – 958
4. Ron Capps – 927
5. Jack Beckman – 904
6. Bob Tasca III – 865
7. J.R. Todd – 857
8. Matt Hagan – 794
9. Shawn Langdon – 727
10. Tim Wilkerson – 724
About Don Schumacher Racing:
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) is the winningest team in NHRA Drag Racing history, having claimed more than 325 NHRA national event titles and 17 world championships since opening its doors in 1998.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR fields seven professional teams competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series. In Top Fuel, the Matco Tools dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown, the MOPAR/Pennzoil/Sparkling Ice dragster driven by Leah Pritchett and eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher’s machine. 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 Matt Hagan, and in Terry and 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 Make-A-Wish Dodge.
DSR also campaigns two Factory Stock Showdown entries. The duo is piloted by Pritchett, 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.