50th annual NHRA Gatornationals
Event 3 of 24 (Gainesville)
Gainesville Raceway
Gainesville, Fla.
March 15-17, 2019
Noteworthy:
- Jack Beckman returns to Gainesville as the defending Funny Car event champion after racing to victory from the No. 1 spot in 2018
- Matt Hagan enters the race weekend as the most recent Funny Car victor on tour with his recent Phoenix win
- The DSR Dodge Challenger Drag Pak duo piloted by Mark Pawuk and Leah Pritchett return for the season-opening SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown Series event
- Pritchett, who will pull double-duty by also competing in the Top Fuel category, kicks off her Factory Stock Showdown Series title defense campaign
- Antron Brown made his NHRA debut at the 1998 event, competing in Pro Stock Motorcycle
- At age 15, Tommy Johnson Jr. became the youngest driver to enter a national event when he competed in the 1984 Gatornationals in the Super Gas categoryDSR-Owned Track Records:
Top Fuel, E.T.: 3.682 seconds, Tony Schumacher (2017)
DSR Driver Information:
Funny Car:
(EXCERPT)
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
2018 Gainesville Recap:
Qualified fifth; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Cruz Pedregon in E1; defeated by Shawn Langdon in E2)
Last Event (Phoenix):
Qualified fourth; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Jim Campbell in E1; defeated by J.R. Todd in E2)
2019 Season Statistics:
Three round wins; ranked fourth in points
Career Statistics:
448 races; 17 wins (two Top Fuel); 18 No. 1 qualifiers (one Top Fuel)
Noteworthy:
At age 15, became the youngest driver to enter a national event when he competed in the 1984 Gatornationals in the Super Gas category
Quotable:
“Gainesville is always a special race for me because my first ever national event was at Gainesville in 1984 (competing in Super Gas). It’s just a race we look forward to every year because it’s the unofficial ‘East Coast kickoff.’ The Gatornationals is such a great event and this year is the 50th anniversary. I’d love to win it; it’s one of my favorite races on the tour but I’ve never won it and I can’t think of a better time to do it than during the 50th anniversary. Our Make-A-Wish Hellcat has been performing so well lately. We had a couple of issues in Phoenix but we’re going to rebound and come out swinging this weekend. With the way our car has been running, I think this is the best chance we’ve ever had to win it. “
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.