E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals
Event 3 of 18
Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis
July 11-12, 2020
Highlights:
- After a four-month hiatus due to COVID-19, drag racing’s winningest team is focused on picking up right where they left off. Don Schumacher Racing closed out the last event (NHRA Arizona Nationals, Feb. 2020) with 347 race wins and looks forward to becoming one of the first organizations in the motorsports industry to reach the ‘350 wins’ milestone
- Top Fuel veterans and fan-favorites Cory McClenathan and Tony Schumacher recently announced their returns for the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals (Indy 1) and the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals (Indy 2), bringing DSR’s car count up to eight at the first Indy event
- Schumacher is the winningest NHRA driver in Indianapolis history having won the U.S. Nationals an unprecedented 10 times
- With his February NHRA Arizona Nationals victory, Tommy Johnson Jr. enters the race weekend as the most recent Funny Car winner on tour; he currently sits second in the point standings
- Funny Car point leader Jack Beckman won the 2019 season-closer, the 2020 season-opener, and raced to a runner-up finish in Phoenix. Beckman is seeking his fourth consecutive final round appearance, and third in 2020
- Beckman secured the Funny Car No. 1 qualifier and a runner-up finish during the 2019 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis
- A DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car has finished in the winner’s circle at the past five consecutive events dating back to Dallas in October of 2019
- After having earned the Funny Car pole at the first two races in 2020, Matt Hagan is seeking his third consecutive No. 1 qualifier
- Hometown event for DSR which is headquartered two miles away from the famed Indy dragstrip
- Home track for Brown and Johnson, who both reside in the greater Indianapolis area
DSR-Owned Track Records:
Funny Car, E.T.: 3.799 seconds, Matt Hagan (2017)
Funny Car, speed: 338.77 mph, Matt Hagan (2017)
Note:
Prior to the race weekend, DSR will host a mini press conference and driver availability session with all eight Mello Yello drivers on DSR’s current roster. The event, taking place from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Friday, July 10, is open to media only, and RSVP is required. To request to attend, please contact Allison McCormick at mccormicka@shoeracing.com
DSR Driver Information:
Funny Car:
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Indianapolis Highlights:
- 2002 event runner-up
- Two-time No. 1 (1999-2000)
2019 U.S. Nationals Recap:
Qualified 10th; First round exit (defeated by Shawn Langdon in E1)
Last Event (Phoenix):
Qualified fourth; Event champion (defeated Paul Lee in E1, Bob Tasca III in E2, Ron Capps in E3, Jack Beckman in E4)
2020 Season Statistics:
One event win; five round wins; ranked second in points
Career Statistics:
472 races; 20 wins (two Top Fuel); 18 No. 1 qualifiers (one Top Fuel)
Noteworthy:
- Enters the weekend as the most recent Funny Car winner on tour after having raced to victory at the previous event in Phoenix
- As a resident of nearby Avon, Ind., Johnson considers Indianapolis to be a hometown event
- Secured his first Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier at Indianapolis in 2000
Quotable:
“I’m certainly excited about going back racing, but it’s been a long period of downtime, and there are some jitters that go along with that. Being out of the car for so long, it’s going to take a few runs to get back into the swing of it. We were doing so well and had some good momentum going before the break and you hope that continues. You park the car and don’t touch it for so long, and it’s been sitting there ready to go for a while. We had an opportunity to improve on it, we put on a new front half. We have a great team and a great car. It’ll take a little bit of getting used to those first days back, but that’s the same for everyone. It’s going to be great to get back to some sort of normalcy, even though there will be some restrictions. I’d love nothing more than to pull off a win at both of these Indy races and take the lead in the points.”
About Don Schumacher Racing:
Established in 1998 as a single-car Top Fuel team, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) has grown to become the winningest organization in NHRA Drag Racing history. Including team owner Don Schumacher’s five NHRA Funny Car titles from the 1970s, DSR’s current win count stands at 347, and DSR is looking forward to reaching the ‘350 milestone’ early in the 2020 season. DSR owns 17 world championships in three different NHRA categories.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR currently fields eight professional teams competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. In Top Fuel, the Matco Tools/Global Electronic Technology/Toyota dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown, the Nordic Boats/Revchem Composites/Hawkeye Industries dragster driven by Cory McClenathan, the Mopar/Pennzoil/Okuma dragster driven by Leah Pruett, and the Global Electronic Technology machine driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher. 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 two-time series title-holder Matt Hagan, and in 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 MD Anderson Dodge.
DSR also campaigns two Factory Stock Showdown entries. The duo is piloted by Pruett, 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.