NHRA U.S. Nationals
Event 18 of 24 (Indianapolis)
Lucas Oil Raceway
Indianapolis, Indiana
August 31-September 3, 2018
Noteworthy:
- DSR celebrates a milestone 20th anniversary at the 2018 Indianapolis event
- The Indy race marks Antron Brown’s 400th professional event
- Jack Beckman enters the race weekend as the most recent Funny Car winner on tour
- Brown is seeking his third consecutive final round appearance of 2018
- Ron Capps raced to the Indy Funny Car final in 2017
- Matt Hagan reset the track speed and Funny Car E.T. record en route to claiming the 2017 Funny Car pole
- Leah Pritchett and Mark Pawuk return to Factory Stock Showdown competition
- Tony Schumacher is the winningest NHRA driver in Indianapolis history having won the event an unprecedented 10 times
- Schumacher leads the Top Fuel class in the number of final round appearances (12) at a single event, occurring at Indy
- Brown has both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle victories at Indianapolis
- Hagan made his NHRA Funny Car debut at the 2008 U.S. Nationals
- Team patriarch Don Schumacher raced his Funny Car to the Winners Circle at the 1970 event
- Hometown event for DSR which is headquartered two miles away from the famed Indy dragstrip
- Home track for Brown, Johnson, and Pritchett who all reside in the greater Indianapolis area
- DSR-Owned Track Records:
Top Fuel, speed: 330.31-mph, Tony Schumacher (2016)
Funny Car, E.T.: 3.799 seconds, Matt Hagan (2017)
Funny Car, speed: 338.77-mph, Hagan (2017)
(EXCERPT)
DSR Driver Information:
Funny Car
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Riley Dodge Charger R/T
NHRA Indianapolis Event Highlights:
2002 event runner-up
Two-time No. 1 qualifier (1999, 2000)
2017 Indianapolis Recap:
Qualified 12th; First round exit (defeated by Jack Beckman in E1)
Last event (Brainerd):
Qualified fifth; Event runner-up (defeated Del Worsham in E1, Tim Wilkerson in E2, J.R. Todd in E3; defeated by Jack Beckman in E4)
2018 Season Statistics:
20 round wins; ranked sixth in points (tied)
Career Statistics:
439 races; 17 wins (two Top Fuel); 15 No. 1 qualifiers (one Top Fuel)
Noteworthy:
Since 2014, the Doug and Terry Chandler-funded Make-A-Wish Dodge has donned a special Riley livery once a year at the Indy event as a way to bring exposure to the Indianapolis-based Riley Hospital for Children
Hometown track (resides in nearby Avon, Ind.)
Quotable:
“Indy is the biggest drag race of the year, and with the way our car is running right now, I’m going into Indy as confident as ever. We had a great test session last week, ran really well, and with two semifinals and a final the last three races, I think the momentum is starting to swing our way. It would be great to go out there and put the Riley car in the winner’s circle. It’s always fun to run the Riley car living here in the Indianapolis area and that being the local children’s hospital. Going to visit the kids during the week and representing them on the track and raising awareness for what a great hospital we have here in Indy, it would just be great to put that car in the winner’s circle and hopefully have a bunch of Riley Kids right there with us.”
About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields seven professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown and the Mopar/Papa John’s Pizza/Pennzoil/FireAde/U.S. Army dragster driven by Leah Pritchett; and in Funny Car, 2016 world champion Ron Capps in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T; two-time world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, and 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in Terry and Doug Chandler’s Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge and the Chandlers’ Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.
DSR also campaigns two Sportsman teams. The two-car Factory Stock Showdown duo is piloted by Pritchett and veteran Pro Stock racer Mark Pawuk. Both drivers compete in Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Paks.
DSR has won 329 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at Shoeracing.com, on Twitter and Instagram at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.