NHRA Norwalk Nationals
Event 12 of 24 (Norwalk)
Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park
Norwalk, Ohio
June 22-24, 2018
DSR Norwalk Elimination Highlights:
- Matt Hagan locks in his second Funny Car win of the season
- Hagan’s victory was his first at Norwalk, and 28th of his career
- Hagan advanced from sixth up to a second place tie with Jack Beckman in the Funny Car points standings
- Leah Pritchett raced to a semifinal finish
- Hometown Factory Stock Showdown series racer Mark Pawuk advances to the final round at his second FSXX event
(EXCERPT)
Driver Information:
Funny Car:
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 14 (4.209 E.T. at 245.81 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 3.990 E.T. at 323.27 MPH defeated by Matt Hagan 3.994 E.T. at 327.19 MPH
Race Recap:
Beginning eliminations from the No. 14 position, Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T pilot Tommy Johnson Jr. faced off in an intra-squad battle with fellow DSR stablemate Matt Hagan. Johnson overcame his teammate’s slight edge off the starting line (a 0.071-second reaction time to Johnson’s 0.075) to put the nose of his Mopar Dodge out front at the 660-foot mark, but Hagan surged ahead to beat Johnson’s quicker 3.990-second effort to the finish by a razor-thin margin of about five inches.
Quotable:
“It’s a frustrating loss. To run so well and lose by less than one-thousandth of a second, all you can say is it was a great drag race. It was really, really close and I was happy with the way the car ran, it was just qualifying that bit us. Only having two runs and not getting a good qualifying run in on those two. The guys did a great job of hitting the tune-up on Sunday, it was just nine-thousandths of a second too short.”
NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Points Standings:
Funny Car
1. Courtney Force – 1038
2. Jack Beckman – 788
2. Matt Hagan – 788
4. Robert Hight – 771
5. J.R. Todd – 767
6. Ron Capps – 755
7. Tommy Johnson Jr. – 637
8. John Force – 577
9. Shawn Langdon – 537
10. Bob Tasca III – 532
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 R/T, 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 324 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.