Dodge NHRA Finals Presented by Pennzoil
Event No. 11 of 11
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nev.
October 31 – November 1, 2020
Highlights:
- Don Schumacher Racing capped off the 2020 NHRA season by adding three new pieces of hardware to its collection of 358 national event trophies and 18 world championships.
- Newly-crowned 2020 Funny Car champion Matt Hagan and Top Fuel racer Antron Brown won in their respective categories, earning the 67th nitro double-up for DSR
- DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car drivers ‘swept the season’ by going undefeated in 2020 and extending DSR’s Funny Car win streak to a record 14 consecutive victories
- Each of DSR’s four Funny Car pilots contributed to the win streak, allowing DSR to finish the year occupying the 1-2-3-4 positions in the championship standings
- Brown and Leah Pruett earned ‘top five’ rankings in the Top Fuel category
- Mark Pawuk closed out his 2020 Factory Stock Showdown campaign with a third-place finish
(EXCERPT)
TOMMY JOHNSON JR
Driver of the MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 4 (3.915 E.T. at 319.14 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 3.942 E.T. at 323.74 MPH defeated Jim Campbell 5.047 E.T. at 154.56 MPH
E2: 3.939 E.T. at 323.81 MPH defeated Bob Tasca III 3.960 E.T. at 324.12 MPH
E3: 3.943 E.T. at 324.20 MPH defeated by Ron Capps 3.906 E.T. at 329.83 MPH
Race Recap:
Tommy Johnson Jr. started the year with a new cause adorning the side of his Doug Chandler-sponsored Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat ‘giving car.’ Bannering the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Johnson wasted no time parking the red-white-and-black machine in the winner’s circle when he drove to victory in Phoenix at the second event of the season.
Johnson then went on to claim the No. 1 qualifying position at the first event back after the four-month COVID-19 pause, racing to a runner-up finish at the first of four Indianapolis events and prominently positioning himself as a viable championship contender. By claiming two more victories in St. Louis and Houston, Johnson made sure he was in the title conversation heading into the final race of the year.
As the No. 2-ranked driver, Johnson began race day at the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil with a two-round deficit that would need to be overcome to oust teammate Matt Hagan from the No. 1 spot. Johnson took the No. 4-qualified MD Anderson Dodge to victory over Jim Campbell and Bob Tasca III in the first two elimination rounds, keeping himself solidly in contention until he suffered a semifinal defeat to Ron Capps, which abruptly ended his chase for a first Funny Car world title.
Johnson, a 22-time race winner, closes out the year ranked second.
Quotable:
“It was a great season, we came close. Matt Hagan and his team did a great job this season. I’m just so proud of my guys on this MD Anderson team. It was a very difficult 2020 year and to come down to the last few rounds of the year and to have a shot at winning the championship is nothing to hang our heads about. It’s disappointing to get so close and not get it, but at the same time it was a great season and I’m proud of our second-place finish. Hopefully something comes around and we can have a shot again next year. All-and-all a great season. Very happy for the Chandlers and to have their cars finish second and third is pretty outstanding.”
NHRA Camping World Countdown to the Championship Final Standings:
Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence – 1015
2. Doug Kalitta – 822
3. Billy Torrence – 793
4. Leah Pruett – 754
5. Antron Brown – 709
6. Shawn Langdon – 595
7. Justin Ashley – 594
8. Clay Millican – 493
9. Tony Schumacher – 464
10. Terry McMillen – 436
Funny Car
1. Matt Hagan – 1020
2. Tommy Johnson Jr. – 915
3. Jack Beckman – 848
4. Ron Capps – 828
5. Bob Tasca III – 679
6. J.R. Todd – 663
7. Tim Wilkerson – 615
8. Alexis DeJoria – 605
9. Paul Lee – 464
10. Cruz Pedregon – 436
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 358, and DSR is one of a very small handful of teams in the motorsports industry to surpass the 350 milestone. DSR owns 18 world championships in three different NHRA categories.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR currently fields seven 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 Mopar/Pennzoil dragster driven by Leah Pruett, and the Okuma/Sandvik Coromant 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 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat piloted by three-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.