NHRA Toyota Nationals
Event 23 of 24 (Las Vegas II)
NHRA Countdown, Event 5 of 6
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 26-28, 2018

DSR Las Vegas II Elimination Highlights:

• Leah Pritchett and Matt Hagan raced their chrome Pennzoil machines to runner-up finishes in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively
• Tommy Johnson Jr. claimed his career 400th round win on Sunday morning
• Tony Schumacher and Jack Beckman raced to semifinal finishes
• All four DSR Funny Cars advanced to the quarterfinals

Driver Information
Funny Car

TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger R/T

Qualified: No. 1 (3.879 E.T. at 327.82 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 3.938 E.T. at 326.08 MPH defeated Jeff Arend 7.197 E.T. at 92.39 MPH
E2: Foul (Red Light) defeated by Matt Hagan 3.919 E.T. at 326.08 MPH

Race Recap:
After securing his third No. 1 qualifier in a row, Tommy Johnson Jr. kicked off race day by driving to his career 400th round win when he defeated Jeff Arend in round one.

Round two found Johnson squaring off against teammate Matt Hagan, who had just laid down a stout 3.908 in the first session. Johnson was amped up, knowing he had stiff competition in his teammate. The DSR Dodges staged, and it was immediate heartbreak for the driver of the Make-A-Wish Dodge as he stood on the throttle early and activated the red light, allowing Hagan the automatic round win.

Quotable:
“It’s just frustrating and one of these days we’ll get it all put together on a Sunday. (Matt) Hagan ran really well first round and we know what he’s capable of and I knew I had to push and pushed a little too hard. We’ll regroup and go to Pomona for the Finals where we’ve had great success winning the last two years and try to finish this thing off with a win.”

NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Points Standings:
Funny Car
1. J.R. Todd – 2553
2. Robert Hight – 2479
3. Ron Capps – 2388
4. Tim Wilkerson – 2367
5. Tommy Johnson Jr. – 2362
6. Courtney Force – 2324
7. Matt Hagan – 2321
8. Jack Beckman – 2283
9. John Force – 2277
10. Shawn Langdon – 2204

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 333 NHRA national event titles and 17 world championships.